Rock wasn't quartz - it dissolved

jojo · Post by **jojo** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 9:49 pm

I moved my new loaches from quarantine to the big tank this afternoon and decided that the nosy gouramis needed to stay out of the caves so I checked my rock box where I have been keeping rocks I have had in my tanks for decades, and pulled out some the right size and shape to use to make them harder for the gouramis to enter. I always boil them before I put them in the rock box then rinse them well before I put them in the tank. I have quite a few nice pieces of quartz - the one I grabbed today obviously was not anything I had in a tank before nor could it have been quartz. It was about twice the size of your fist and was completely dissolved in under an hour. I looked everywhere in case I just took it out or didn't use it but can't find it. Yes, I am freaking out here.

pH is 7.0, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are still 0, obviously. The petshop is closed so I can't get a fresh bottle of reagent for KH testing, and the stuff I have here isn't doing anything with either tank or tap water so I don't trust it. I even was bold enough to taste the water - not salty at all. I have no idea what the rock was. The fish are not acting odd at all, but I did a 50% water change (tank is 70 gal) and am watching them.

What more can I do? I have never in 40+ years at this done anything like it.

jojo · Post by **jojo** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 9:58 pm

I just boiled down 1/4 c. of tank water and 1/4 of tap water and the tap water left more "lime" behind than the tank water even with the fish funk in it. Might suggest that the tap water is harder than the tank water?

chefkeith · Post by **chefkeith** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:14 pm

Keep looking for the rock. No way it dissolved that quickly.

jojo · Post by **jojo** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 1:46 pm

Fish were fine this morning, but still no sign of the rock. Hope I have fish when I get home.

palaeodave · Post by **palaeodave** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:55 pm

For a carbonate-based rock to have dissolved that quickly, your tank would have to have been so acidic that all your fish were already dead. I'm struggling to see halite (rock salt) dissolving that quickly either, although it would be the best candidate. Hmm...

chefkeith · Post by **chefkeith** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:36 pm

Perhaps someone stole it. Do you have a fish called Wanda?

Diana · Post by **Diana** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 10:30 pm

That is a very large rock to have dissolved that fast.
Maybe the fish did not like it and threw it back out of the tank?

andyroo · Post by **andyroo** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:17 pm

Poorly consolidated sandstone, and it fell apart.
That or a big block of soap, or sugar.

andyroo · Post by **andyroo** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:22 pm

ps: Tank water should be less hard then pipe water, particularly if you're area is serviced by a well. Exposure to air/atmospheric Co2 (filters, bubblers) precipitates CaCo3 and reduces hardness. Snails and fish etc... also use up Ca for bone, shell etc...

shari2 · Post by **shari2** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 12:37 am

Was it pretty?
Could someone around the house have decided they liked it?

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Rock wasn't quartz - it dissolved

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