Are these rocks safe

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Vinegar test and also probably you want to boil it for 10-15 min just to be sure any weird things are eliminated usually i just do this.

Next if you are really really concerned you can soak in water for a week or so and test the PH, which i dun think is really very necessary.

I have a few pieces which looks similar and they were alright.
 
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Lepisosteus said:
Well I'm very close to being a geologist, rocks are good to go. The clear is quartz so that's inert. If you are ever doing a fizz test you should scratch the surface of the rock prior to adding the acid. Calcite will fizz without the scratch which is caco3 however dolomite is also a calcitic rock and will not fizz unless its powdered as its MgCa(co3)2. Send me a better picture there's a high sheen on the rocks tough to see. To me looks to be a volcanic glass with quartz intrusions and phenocrts.
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Will do
 
Lepisosteus said:
Well I'm very close to being a geologist, rocks are good to go. The clear is quartz so that's inert. If you are ever doing a fizz test you should scratch the surface of the rock prior to adding the acid. Calcite will fizz without the scratch which is caco3 however dolomite is also a calcitic rock and will not fizz unless its powdered as its MgCa(co3)2. Send me a better picture there's a high sheen on the rocks tough to see. To me looks to be a volcanic glass with quartz intrusions and phenocrts.
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I love rocks. Those are so beautiful. Even if you didn't pick them up out of convenience, I'd pick them purely for how beautiful the quartz is. Haha

You already have good help and suggestions. So I'll just add what I do too.
I'm out in farm country. I have so much rock from farmers collecting it and dumping big piles all over along my wood line. I use it for everything I can. When using it in my pond or tanks I just scrub it really good, soak for a day, scrub again, then use it.

But again, I'm out in the country and the rocks I use have been sitting for years with no pesticides or the like being used on or near them.
 
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Lepisosteus said:
They appeared more glassy in the other pics which made me think they were obsidian with a vitrophyre texture but looking at these they look more dull. To me they look like an igneous basalt with quartz intrusions and a trachytic texture. Composed of quartz, some plagioclase, hornfels, pyroxenes. They will be aquarium safe
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Hahah thanks man all i understood was "aquarium safe"

Do you work in the geological field?
 
I always went to the landscape/stone supply company in my area (Halquist).
They would weigh my truck when I drove in, I'd park next to the pile of rocks I wanted, load um up, and they'd weigh the truck as a drove out, and charge accordingly.Just not needing to carry rocks any further than a few feet was worth it to me.The cost was a fraction of LFSs.
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Ditto - I have several hundred pounds of river rocks in my tanks and kicking around the yard. Not only were they dirt cheap, but I could pick out exactly what I wanted, including many large stones with flat bottoms for ease of using in a glass box. A quick rinse and they are good to go.

Personally I'd be a little leery of using rocks from a paving company, but that's just me.
 
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Generally speaking I bring home like 50 billion rocks from my desert trips, annoys my dad.
Usually for me it's granite, slate or shales, gneiss, sandstones, lava chunks, quartzites, agates etc, anything pretty looking with lots of crystal formations. On my last trip I even found some really nice multi color jasper and chalcedony or calcite pieces, one was a green clear one that was near gem quality, but I lost it in the jeep I think. Just collect them from an area that isn't in a protected wilderness or where the gubmint is watching you or something and you should be fine. :p

My water is liquid rocks (plus cichlids and livebearers anyway) too so I don't worry about the hardness changing too much. Never had an issue with anything. Just be careful. You can pour boiling water on them a scrub them with a toothbrush to get any gunk off of them. But full on boiling them can make them explode.
 
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GamerChick5567 said:
Generally speaking I bring home like 50 billion rocks from my desert trips, annoys my dad.
Usually for me it's granite, slate or shales, gneiss, sandstones, lava chunks, quartzites, agates etc, anything pretty looking with lots of crystal formations. On my last trip I even found some really nice multi color jasper and chalcedony or calcite pieces, one was a green clear one that was near gem quality, but I lost it in the jeep I think. Just collect them from an area that isn't in a protected wilderness or where the gubmint is watching you or something and you should be fine. :p

My water is liquid rocks (plus cichlids and livebearers anyway) too so I don't worry about the hardness changing too much. Never had an issue with anything. Just be careful. You can pour boiling water on them a scrub them with a toothbrush to get any gunk off of them. But full on boiling them can make them explode.
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Thx i left them in a bin over night and tested for ph differences from the tap sae nine so threw them in the tank
 
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