Do you have an aquarium and you are worried about the decoration? Then you are at the right place where we are going to share our knowledge with you. Having an aquarium is cool, but properly decorating it needs knowledge and proper ideas. As if you want to use Lava rock in your aquarium, then you have to follow some process. We will discuss how to prepare lava rock for the aquarium.
Lava rocks make aquariums more lovely and suitable for fishes. But you cannot use it directly in an aquarium, you have to process it before placing it there. So, we will discuss the process with you.
We hope the process will help you to make things better and you can make lava rocks workable for use. And we can guarantee, your fishes will love to play with them.
Check this video for more idea:
Benefits of Lava Rock in Your Aquarium – YouTube
How to prepare lava rocks for aquarium
Lava rocks are available at your nearby aquarium accessories shop, but you cannot put them directly there. You have to clean it properly and then place it in the aquarium. Now we will tell you the process step by step.
- You can clean them with fully clear water and make them clean. But we will mention some more useful methods with you. We can wash the rocks for 30 min with clean water, then it will be clean to use in the aquarium.
- You can boil the lava rocks in water for 30 minutes. It will remove all dirt and clean the potential diseases from the rocks. After boiling them, wipe them with a clean towel, then we have to cool them for one hour. Then we can use them in aquariums.
- We can also use bleaching powder. We can use 1:10 portion in water and keep the rocks in the solution for 24 hours. They will be clean and disinfectant. Then we can use them for aquariums.
Now we will discuss the both good and bad side of cleaning the rocks. But why are we cleaning them like this? The main reason is the dirt and the germs on the rocks. We cannot use them in aquariums directly.
Today, here you will get every possible solution for, How to prepare lava rock for aquarium. But how are we cleaning them? We are using clean water, or boiled water or bleaching solution to clean them. Here we can do one thing, we can just clean them well for use. But is the process right, we are following?
We are using clear water that is effective for cleaning and moving away dirt. But in the case of germs it is not effective. We need a much better process to clean the germs. It cleans around 10%-20% germs with clean water.
Cleaning in boiled water is a more effective and long lasting way. When we are boiling the rocks, the dirts are going away and the germs are cleaned around 90%. This is a much better effective way to clean the rocks. But we have to cool them and wash them with clear water again before using them.
In the same way, the bleaching powder method is more effective. It kills 99% of the germs 99%. It is perfect but we need to clean them with clean water. Here we have to ensure that no bleaching substance stays on the rocks. They will kill the fishes. When using bleaching powder, we need to clean the rocks with clean water for a longer period.
So, as per above discussion, we can tell that the most effective ways are using boiled water and bleaching water solution. But we have to follow all the processes to make things better. As when we put all the rocks in an aquarium, they should not have any side effects.
Check this awesome article on : How to trim Aquarium plants.
How to prepare aquarium for using lava rocks
We cannot use lava rocks in an aquarium, as the rocks are heavy and the aquarium may crack. So, we can use some methods to use them in aquariums. We can use styrofoam under the rocks. We can distribute the rocks on the floor of the aquarium, as the load is distributed. This is a safe method.
There is another method to put rocks in the aquarium, you can make a layer of clear sand. It will not make rocks create any scratch on glass or acrylic. So, it can become another effective method to use.
Check this article on Aquarium Driftwood.
We can also glue the rocks with each other, as it does not move or hurt the fishes. So, gluing them with each other will be an effective way. Whatever we use in the aquarium, we should not use the rocks in a method that harms the aquarium or the fish.
We hope the above information will be a great help for you and you can use lava rocks in aquariums. You can also make caves with rocks in your aquarium and the rocks will keep good water quality too.
Some important FAQ
Can I put lava rocks in my aquarium?
We can easily put lava rocks in aquariums, but we need to make them clean properly. We can use any of the boiled water or bleaching solution methods to clean them and put lava rocks in the aquarium.
Does lava rock affect pH aquariums?
Lava rocks do not hamper the pH level. So we can use rocks in aquariums. It helps to grow bacteria, it will help to control the nitrates. In this way we can use lava rocks in aquariums.
What do you put under lava rocks?
Putting lava rocks directly in an aquarium may cause cracks or scratches. For both glass and acrylic they are dangerous. We can also use a styrofoam or sand layer to separate them from the bottom of the aquarium.
How much lava rock do I need for my aquarium?
If we want to make a layer of the lava rock under the aquarium, then we need according to the size of it. We can also make caves by using glue. Use of rocks will make the fishes happy and the water level gets better.
Last few words
As we have shared our expertise with lava rocks, that may help you. You can apply these methods while using rocks in an aquarium. Not only for decoration, these rocks will make your fishes happy and have a better life. Let’s make their life enjoyable and superb. We have covered every issues related to, How to prepare lava rock for aquarium, in this article.
Check this excellent article on- Cleaning plastic aquarium plants.
