Can you put any type of rocks and/or sand in a tropical fish tank?

[..Neofytos..]

I am not an expert but i think rocks and sand have nothing to do with pH. They affect ammonia and nitrite levels but as long as you have a filter and do regular cleaning it's ok. You can buy some tests from a pet shop and do it by yourselves. I think the first shop from where you got your fish is correct.

 

[offshoremetal]

The first guy is correct. Many of the products are specially made for Marine OR Freshwater aquariums. Thay may look the same to your eyes but it is not, In fact a marine aquarium is not the same at all than a Freshwater aqua.
Ask a refund for the gravel or sand or buy new one. You will have to redo the whole aquarium. Removing all the gravel and changing all of the water.
And for the products you have put in there , read carefully on the label if it says for freshwater or marine.

 

[Vi-e-per]

you definetely can have rocks and sands in an aquarium... but the problem remains with the composition for example calcium carbonate...

the compositions are most likely to play with pH of the water. varying pH is very stressful to the fish... fish can tolerate unacceptable pH as long as it is consistent (literally), however it is very stressful if it is in varying side.

on the positive side though, a good substrate, rock helps buffer the pH...

some types of rock/ substrate have tendency of raising the pH (basic: shells), whereas few can lower it (acidic).

so the type of rock should be based on the fish you are having in your aquaria... few fish prefer acidic whereas few prefer basic...

Live rock is not just a pile of rocks in an aquarium. Live rock not only provides houses for tank critters, it also serves as a biological filter base and platforms for corals, anemones and coralline algae. Most people have at least some live rock in their marine tanks while true reef tank enthusiasts have a lot of it in their tanks and consider it an important asset

Sand is not a good choice for a planted tank if using rooted plants, it’s also undesireable if you have an undergravel filter system. Another thing to keep in mind if the tank is made of Acrylic is the extra care that sand requires.

The benefits of a sand bed typically outweigh most of the negative aspects. Most fish seem to prefer sand as the substrate, and some actually require it to feel at ease and for natural spawning behaviour.

please do some reasearch on the specimens u have and u want to have and also if u can figure out the compositions of ur rock...

 

[Sara C]

We really need help from people who know their fish?!

Myself and my partner bought a tropical fish tank 5 weeks ago. We also bought (from the same shop) sand and rocks as well as fake plants and a backdrop. We set the tank up, added the water and the correct safe start styled chemicals and let the water mature for 2 weeks. We also had a heater and a filer in the tank. The tank is 120L tank with 3 lamps over head - no lid.

After the two weeks we took a sample of water to a different fish shop (as we had heard bad reviews on where we bought the tank from) who tested the water said it was fine for our fish and bought the following: x1 male Siamese fighting fish, x5 Tetra styled fish and x2 cat fish styled fish. The week following these fish we purchased 2 Angel fish... all seemed fine. Just short of one week after this we noticed foam on the top of the water and so went to another fish shop which we had been in to look for more fish and decided would be our main shop we would use as we liked the staff, the shop and their fish, they knew their stuff should we say. When I went he gave me a fish bag which would keep any samples pure, and asked me to bring a sample of the water, which I did. When he checked the water, all the chemical levels were off the chart, way to dark. He asked me some questions and soon discovered what he thought was the problem - the rocks and sand. I took a rock and a sample of the sand with me the next day and he confirmed we had been sold marine products which were letting off to high a PH for tropical fish and they could die. This was today. We were advised to remove our fish from the tank, store them in another tank or a bucket if we did not have one and start all over again with the main tank. This means buying all new sand and rocks, and housing all our fish in a bucket. We think they may die which we are worried about and so will see if we can house them somewhere else whilst we re-build the tank.

We have also today, telephoned the shop which sold us the tank and other products and complained, he said it's 'rubbish' there is no reason you can't put 'any' type of rock or sand with any fish... and also said the people telling us you couldn't are trying to get money out of us and that if the fish die it's our fault.

We need help.... who is correct... please advice?

Sara & Barrie

 

[Ghapy]

Ouch.

No, coral sand and marine rock can indeed raise the ph and such, and the more you greater the change. Most rocks and sand are fine for fish tanks, but not all. But your tank is also in the middle of a cycle - did they test for ammonia as well? If not, I'm not convinced that the rocks caused the problem.

Ok. First off here is what I would do for your fish.

Empty the tank and refill it. Run it for 12 hours with the filter and all, and then you can introduce the fish back into the tank. You do not need your tank set up for 2 weeks empty - it's pointless. This is just in case you can't get them into someone elses tank.

There are a lot of people confused about the very start of setting up a fish tank. There are two stages to making the tank safe for fish. The first involves letting it sit empty, but running. This aerates the water and makes it safe for fish and takes no more than 12 hours on a properly filtered tank. Having the tank sit longer then this (or we can say 24 hours just to be safe) does nothing at all. No reason whatsoever to have a tank sitting empty for 2 weeks!

The second stage is the actual cycle, and this doesn't start until a source of ammonia is added to the tank, like fish. Fishless cycles come highly recommended, but since you already have the fish, that's not an option anyway.

So once it is aerated it is ready for fish. To avoid a second shock to the fish gradually, over a period of a couple of hours, add the proper water from the tank into the bucket with the messed up water, until it's about half/half. Then transfer the fish back.

Do a 25% water change the very next day, and you need to buy an ammonia tester and check regularly while your tank cycles, because any time it gets too high you will want to do a water change. If it's not too high, you should still do a water change every week.

Oh yeah, and chemicals. chemicals chemicals. Do yourself a favour and use nothing in the water except conditioner. Fish stores love to sell stuff. You don't need it. KISS, less will go wrong.


Not all marine rock is live folks.

 

[Parachromis]

Sand/rocks for marine environments as sold through a shop are distinctly different (you can use most decor designed for freshwater in saltwater with more buffering,but NOT specific decor for saltwater in freshwater).
The difference is in the buffering capacity you want high alkaline pH (above 8.0) in a saltwater environment with high alkalinity.

Your two choices are:
Strip the substrate and rocks out,redecorate with proper decor ... or ....
change the fish you are keeping to Tanganyikan Lake cichlids like Frontosa and Calvus.

Personally,I'd take the lfs to the mat for selling improper decor (you did tell them it was for freshwater,right?) and have them cover the replacement cost of either decor or fish (depending on which way you want to go). There's always BBB,the internet,and "word of mouth" to throw down some leverage.