Can you change a rocks pH?

[Wolfgangs246]

Hi Guys,

Sounds like a silly question, but has anyone tried to neutralize an alkaline biased rock before? I'm not sure if I remember all the details from my Secondary school Chemistry class. But if vinegar can prompt a reaction from the stone, that means that the vinegar is being neutralized through a chemical reaction with something in the rock.

Has anyone tried giving such a rock a vinegar bath? I'm just curious if it might be possible to eventually neutralize a rock through this process by eliminating all the alkaline based elements on it's surface.

[eviltrain]

Bro. A bit difficut unless you are an alchemist. There is now way to neutralize a rock ph. The composition of the rocks wil disintigrate with time. Thats where weathering comes in. Whats left on your rock will be those which are ph neutral. Those rocks with alot of holes like what i use in my scape tank is call shou rocks. Its still not inert. The best is to get rocks which are inert if you wants to carry on rearing shrimps. But for your info. Shrimp tanks are very basic. Shrimps seldom goes well with planted or scape tanks.

[Wolfgangs246]

Hah hah I know Bro Eviltrain. Scape and CRS breeding tank don't mix. I've already given up the scape and taken all the rocks out of the tank. Now bored cause I have reached my 'tank limit' for my room as designated by my soon to be OC. So now just messing around with the rocks and trying to see what I can do with them in terms of cleaning off the algae and making them look nice.

Actually a vinegar bath seems to work very well in cleaning the surface scum off the rocks, after a 2-3 hour soak in artificial vinegar and a scrub with a plastic brush, the rocks look very nice and very scape worthy. Sadly they are tested and confirmed to still raise the ph level of the water they are left in.

So perhaps the conclusion is the vinegar bath is a viable option for those wanting an easy rock cleaning experience?

[alvinchan80]

I still don't agree with shrimps and scape cannot mix.. Right now my rockscape tank has stable down and CRS are breeding well.. But also maybe I haven't yet trim my HC so there might be a stress tension coming up in my tank soon.. Haha..

But I do agree that it's really hard to start a scape tank to stabilize as I have had a bad crashing period before this stabilization..

[jiajuen900]

Well.... i still am in secondary school haha ^.^. I couldnt help picking up my chemistry textbook to take a look.....

Depending on what compounds the rock is made of, reaction with acid will produce different results. But in most cases stated in the textbook..... a salt and by-products such as gas, water e.g CO2, H20, NH3, H2..... yeah so what Alan said is more or less correct according to the secondary school chemistry textbook....

^^

[eviltrain]

bro Adrian, some site for you to refresh your sec. school chemistry. hee hee

http://www.e-aquarium.com.au/rock-aq...-ornaments.htm

and

http://www.sydneycichlid.com/aquarium-rocks.htm

or

Alchemy ( ok.. this is a joke XD )