Aquarium safe rocks?

[Sierra40]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of setting up my first tanks. I have one that I bought from a craft show and I love it so much I'm making more. I have some beautiful stones that I collected from a beach in CA (Cambria) and I also have some other natural stones (some have a beautiful aqua color) that I have used with succulents and landscaping. Is there any way to know if they will leach minerals into the water? And if they do are all minerals bad for the shrimp?

Here are my first three tanks. (I've removed the wood and started over with a natural sea fan in the third one).

Thanks much

[mike.d]

I wouldn't worry about it. Anything that was going to leach out of the rocks should have already done so long ago. You should be okay, as long as you're using natural rock and not something painted or otherwise altered.

[Mustafa]

There is no way to "know" for sure, but almost all rocks out there are pretty inert, and the ones that slowly affect the water (like limestone) are desirable in this case and won't harm your tank. Just rinse new rocks and possibly soak them in water (so that organic stuff leaches out) and you're good to go.

[crittersni]

They're beautiful!