river stones

[snakebiter]

hi everybody,well here i go ive got a 15gallon tank at the min which houses my 5 clowns which are only small but i love them there simple.anyways im getting a 55 gallon tank in 2weeks time and have been preparing and none stop thinking about what i will do to make it great for my clownys and others,i was walking up the tweed last week and got a load of river stones ,ive tested them we vinegar and they didnt froth but im still a bit doubtfull of putting them in just incase what do you,s think or am i just being paranoid...thanks

[plaalye]

I use lots of local river stones in my tanks. Their makeup will vary with your local geography.I try to avoid anything that looks like it may contain metals. Quartz, anything that looks like it's rust-stained. I clean the stones with a mild bleach solution and rinse well. Then I put them in a bucket of water for a week or so and test the TDS to see if anything is leeching. If the TDS is rising, I determine which stone is the culprit and discard it.

[snakebiter]

i might be sounding thick but what is tds?????

[plaalye]

Total Dissolved Solids. It's a handy little meter that you can get cheaply(about $20.) on ebay.It measures all (total) the stuff in your water. So, you test your tap water first and any rise will be due to leeching or some additional source. It doesn't tell you what the solids are, just that they are present. I test my tanks regularly. A rise in the TDS in a stable tank can be related to higher nitrates and signal the need for a water change.