Rocks are very important for our fish tanks because it serves many purposes such as the provision of shelter, hiding places, and many more to your Aquarium animals and even for decoration.
It is very hard to find a fish tank without rocks.
There are many types of aquarium rocks you can buy from shops and online, but we are not talking about that in this article.
Despite that you can buy and keep them in your fish tank which I strongly recommend, you can also pick random rocks and keep them in the aquarium too.
Picking random rocks that are suitable for Aquariums, for instance, river rocks requires sterilization to eliminate any bacteria on them.
Sterilization of Aquarium rocks could be done in many ways, but the most popular and cheapest is boiling.
Many people often ask if they could boil their Aquarium rocks or not, knowing the dangers of doing so, if you are among them, then this article will help you.
Can I Boil My Aquarium Rocks?
Aquarium rocks could be boiled to eliminate any bacteria on them, but it is not recommendable because they could explode.
There are many types of Aquarium rocks and gravel that are safe for a fish tank but they are not entirely safe until sterilized.
What am trying to say is, unless you buy from a store which must have already been taken care of, do not ever pick random gravel or stone and keep it in your aquarium unless you sterilize it.
To sterilize the Rocks, there are many options such as boiling them, Soaking them with bleach and other bacteria killers, etc.
In this article, we are going to focus more on the boiling method.
To answer your question, yes, you can boil Aquarium rocks but it is too risky.
Why I said it is too risky is because rocks are known to explode when heated and this is caused by a sudden change of temperature.
When rocks change temperature all of a sudden, the moisture of the rock and probably some air in them will enable them to explode.
Because of this, I don’t encourage you to go about and start boiling rocks for your fish tank because you might die in the process, so I recommend buying ready ones.
How To Boil Aquarium Rocks
As I explained above, boiling rocks is highly dangerous and could be fatal, but if you are interested to know about it, then here are the methods to boil your aquarium rocks.
The first method is to put the rocks in a pot, put water, and put the pot on the fire to boil for 10 to 15 minutes, and you are done.
Allow the rocks to cool and pour vinegar on each of them to see if they are safe to go into your tank.
If they react, then they are not safe but if nothing happens, then wash the. very well in running water, allow them to dry before putting them in your fish tank.
The second method is to boil the water to 100°C, then off the fire and put the rocks in the hot water and cover for 15-20 minutes and repeat the same process of applying vinegar after they might have cooled off.
Disclaimer– Though you can boil rocks, but it is very dangerous and I don’t in any way recommend that no matter what! This article is just for educational purposes.
Conclusion
You Can Boil Aquarium rocks but that is not the only option left for you to eliminate the possible bacteria on rocks.
You may want to use their methods which are safer and more recommendable.
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