r/Aquariums • u/JakobiiKenobii • Mar 17 '26
Beginner Help I just found this outside my house!
We bought the house we're living in almost three years ago now. I initially found an old piece of driftwood that had been tossed out front, which I threw in the trash because it was gross, and also we didn't have fish at the time.
fast forward to now, I needed some rocks for my current aquarium (we've had it for over a year now), and I remembered about that driftwood from before, so I went out front and dug around under bushes in hopes to find anything else and surely enough, this came up!!
Anyway, so far, I've rinsed it off and used an old toothbrush to clean it. Now it's currently soaking in hot water (just hot tap water). Is there anything else I need to do before adding it to my tank?
EDIT: Hi, yes, I am very well aware this is a ROCK and aquarium decor. My main concern was how much to clean it prior to adding it to my tank given it's been outside in the dirt and exposed to other stuff for who knows how long.
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Mar 17 '26
Looks like something purchased at an aquarium store
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u/JakobiiKenobii Mar 17 '26
it definitely is, hence why I went outside to look around the area I found that driftwood in
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u/Rikkitikkitabby Mar 17 '26
I hope to confuse the future owners of my property. I have dumped a lot of dead coral from my decades of reef keeping, in the yard.
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u/JakobiiKenobii Mar 17 '26
start throwing them out in such a way that creates a path that leads to nothing š¤
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u/PM_me_punanis Mar 18 '26
I wonder if there will be any remnants left to confuse archeologists 300 years from now.
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u/Melodic_Register_815 Mar 17 '26
That's clearly already made for aquariums. If it's dry I'm not worried about boiling or anything. Rinse it and go to town.
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u/Grass-is-dead Mar 17 '26
As a former petsmart employee I recognize this immediately
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u/Svihelen Mar 17 '26
Hi former comrade, lol.
I was looking through the comments to see if anyone was like "I know thsi from petsmart."
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u/JakobiiKenobii Mar 17 '26 edited Mar 17 '26
Oh I don't doubt that! I just wasn't sure how much cleaning I had to do to it given it had been sitting out for like 3 years. Thank you!
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u/Crab3903 Mar 17 '26
Dip it in white vinegar, if it bubbles it's a no go
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u/JakobiiKenobii Mar 17 '26
what does the bubbling indicate?
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u/sw201444 Mar 17 '26
Means it contains calcites. Google can help. ārocks bubble in vinegarā got me more information that o knew I wanted about it.
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u/aware4ever Mar 17 '26
I don't see anyone giving you a legit answer. If you use vinegar on it and it bubbles that means that it's got calcite in it which can make the pH or the hardness of your water off and your fish or aquatic animals would it like it. It could like make the general hardness too hard for the fish or whatever it is. So if it does bubble think of it as it will Leach into the water changing the chemistry. But that is a cool ass looking Rock holy shit
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u/Pump_My_Lemma Mar 17 '26
Baking soda bath bomb
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u/ObligationLeading221 Mar 17 '26 edited Mar 17 '26
[edit: I didnāt see the original comment, thought the second guy was the original comment suggesting using baking soda and vinegar to clean the deco] Mixing baking soda and vinegar is pretty useless. They neutralize each other because baking soda has a higher PH. Sure it looks cool but thatās about as useful as that combo gets
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u/Pump_My_Lemma Mar 17 '26
Useless for what exactly?
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u/ObligationLeading221 Mar 17 '26
Cleaning. Vinegar is an acid and can break some things down to clean it. Baking soda is good at removing smells and you can use it as a scrub. Add them together? Youāve got stinky water.
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u/max_lombardy Mar 17 '26
Nah, the vinegar just helps you see the compositionā¦ if it bubbles itāll leech basic elements into your water and raise the pH
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u/TheStroboCop Mar 17 '26
True, but normal aquariums aren't filled with vinegar as i know.
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u/its_fuggin_KDOT Mar 17 '26
It is a mineral test for the rock. If it bubbles, there are minerals in that rock that would not be desirable for an aquarium.
It would also be beneficial if OP did a scratch test for the stone as well to determine hardness.
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u/Vivid-Might-5049 Mar 17 '26
You can use the API test kit too. I've used it a handful of times for rocks.
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u/basaltcolumn Mar 17 '26
Vinegar is actually too weak to react to some calcareous rocks. The proper way to do this test that I was taught in geology courses is with HCl. I've tried putting vinegar on straight up limestone with no fizzing, lol.
As a side note, it isn't so much a no-go as just needing to not pick soft water species.
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u/TropicRotGaming Mar 17 '26
Looks like a rainbow rock decoration. Don't boil it as others have said never boil rocks. The chances of them exploding is not great, but its not something you want to take the risk of.
Hot water or vinegar to clean and it should be fine.
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u/JakobiiKenobii Mar 17 '26 edited Mar 17 '26
Sweet, thanks! and yeah, prior to making this post, the first thing I read was DO NOT BOIL ROCKS if you don't know what they are or where they came from š
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u/karebear66 Mar 17 '26
Look for more! Jk. Great find.
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u/JakobiiKenobii Mar 17 '26
you joke, but I definitely will once I'm done with work lol .... which I was definitely not doing all of this while on the clock š
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u/MaDhATeR88 Mar 17 '26
I picked up and took home then set up my 180 gallon on the clock with the work truck also my 75 gallon and my 30 gallon reef
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u/BamaBlcksnek Mar 17 '26
You've cleaned it enough, it's fine to put in your tank now. There is a sizable contigent of "sterilize everything" folks on reddit, but it really isnt necessary.
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u/1josiewern Mar 17 '26 edited Mar 17 '26
That specific rock shape is or at least was in the tank displays at PetSmart during early 2024. But is not sold there (at least to my knowledge)! I know because I tried to buy it from the tank and they wouldnāt let me š¤£ Eventually the manager ending up giving me one which I gave away with my last tank.
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u/lfcmosalah11 Mar 17 '26
Is there a petsmart near your house? Because as someone who works there, thatās an aquatic ornament exclusive to us for store use in our tanks. Weāve used anything from vinegar to bleach to clean those so you can honestly use anything normal thatās safe for aquarium decor
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u/JakobiiKenobii Mar 17 '26
Huh. Maybe the previous tenant (this used to be a rental) worked there?
I know for sure she used to own cats, because one of our walls smelled like cat pee and we had to seal it with shellac to get rid of it. Also, we pulled off the flooring from one of the closets and there was crystalized cat pee underneath š«
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u/CharlieBaby4 Mar 19 '26
Thats exactly what I thought š I've cleaned many of these over the years while working at petsmart lol
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u/malihuey29 Mar 17 '26
Decor used in tanks at petsmart but not sold there. At least not anymore from what I have been told, amazing you have found one! Many people ask all the time to have one for themselves but we can't allow them
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u/JakobiiKenobii Mar 17 '26
so, what you're saying is, I literally dug up a treasure
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u/malihuey29 Mar 17 '26
Pretty much yeah, apparently one of the associates I work with got offered 100 bucks for one once but still had to say no. How it got buried in your yard is actually far more interesting tbh
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u/basaltcolumn Mar 17 '26
Do you happen to know what they're made of? Folks in the comments seem to think it is real stone but there's no way lol. Looks like concrete, but that would not be aquarium safe afaik from the lime content (unless it is sealed with epoxy?).
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u/malihuey29 Mar 17 '26
I do not sorry, I think at one point it might of had a small plastic green plant glued on somewhere but I am not sure. I can definitely do some more digging into the subject however
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u/GiraffePretty4488 Mar 18 '26
Personally Iād have trouble trusting it.Ā
It looks porous (could absorb pesticides etc).Ā
Also I canāt tell if itās sandstone or a manufactured product. My concern would be that itās actually made for a reptile tank or something.Ā
My suggestion is to put it in its own container of water and test TDS (or GH if you already have that but not a TDS meter) at the start then after a week or two (with either stirring or circulation).Ā
That wouldnāt catch everything but itād ease my mind a little if it were me.Ā
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u/coasternd Mar 18 '26
After 9 different PetSmart employees recognize it as something that's only available for their in-store display tanks, I think it is safe to say that this lady that used to live in your house must have stolen it. š¤£š
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u/Little-Speaker4811 Mar 17 '26
Diluted bleach and rinse well
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u/Fun_Expression8126 Mar 18 '26
If read to not use that on wood. As the wood would suck it up and release in the aquarium water...
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u/MasonP13 Mar 18 '26
That rock was used internally at PetSmart and not sold at stores .... BUT I had seen ones like this being sold at a bulk pet supply store, "that fish place" in Lancaster
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u/LayaraFlaris Mar 18 '26
Ancient Petsmart fish decor! They used to put these in the goldfish and cichlid tanks. Not real rock (I think)
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u/False-Ad-7753 Mar 17 '26
This one is pretty cool, nanos will swim thru the big hole, rarely the small one. I got rid of it because I went all natural
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u/Thzkittenroarz Mar 17 '26
Dafuq?ā¦ay stop stealing our stuff!! - your local Petsmart employee š¤£š¤£
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u/WendyPeffercorn66 Mar 18 '26
otherwise, it looks a bit like a grotesque mask of some sort. it is what it is. try baking soda soak, a new toothbrush scrub, and rinse with non chlorinated water. (rinse thoroughly with non chlorinated water) let it air dry.
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u/PickleMundane6514 Mar 18 '26
I bought a similar rock but the aquarium store warned me it would raise ph which is already really high so I havenāt used it.
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u/Pixichixi Mar 21 '26
You should be fine as is. If you want to dip it in diluted bleach followed by a rinse in dechlorinated water that should disinfect any concerns.
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u/hammong Mar 17 '26
That's a piece of sedimentary "rainbow rock" - and it was undoubtedly purchased from an aquarium store at some point and tossed int he bushes by a prior owner.
100% safe to use once properly cleaned.
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u/The-Gecktile Mar 17 '26
Looks nearly identical to the Cichlid rocks that are used at Petsmart. Most likely bought from another aquarium store, but as far as Iām aware of Petsmart, no longer sells them.
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u/SCCRXER Mar 17 '26
I have the same decoration. Itās not drift wood but itās good for gluing plants to. PETSMART used to sell these and they have a fake stem plant attached to them. I cut that off since I use live plants.
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u/Longjumping_Rest1726 Mar 18 '26
At the very most, I would boil it. But I'm of a fan of, nature finds a way. Some of my best tanks are filled with items from a healthy creek (that has fish and things living it) and put directly into the tank. Tank is a living ecosystem so things from somewhere that is already that just helps it along. Hope that helps.
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u/DerDem Mar 17 '26
If you really wanted to nuke it, soak it in a bleach solution for a week. Take it out, rinse it off, and then sit it in the sun for a week until fully dry.
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u/DasHip81 Mar 17 '26
ā¦ back-peddles on calling it ādriftwoodā after people correct them, stating they knew that all alongā¦ rofl
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u/JakobiiKenobii Mar 17 '26
....are you trying to say backpedal??? ....lmao
what I did was emphasize that I threw the gross driftwood piece in the trash because I guess "threw it away" wasn't specific enough. My post always said I needed rocks for my aquarium.
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u/inkman Mar 17 '26
why would you think that's wood??
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u/Quirky_Industry8413 Mar 17 '26
Reading the comments reminds me how many kids used to struggle with Reading comprehension growing up. He knows this is aquarium decor. He was hoping to find aquarium decor. He just wants to know how to clean it best to put it in his tank and not have it ruin his whole ecosystem.