Not many natural materials, whether it is driftwood or stone, are originally in a good shape. Even if you find a shapely item, you cannot produce a good layout unless it fits the tank size. We usually look at the shape when we choose layout materials, but what is actually more important is to see if the material is an appropriate size for the tank used for layout production.
It is best to choose the item with the best shape from the materials that are the appropriate size for your aquarium. This is because, to a certain extent, we can make up for unsatisfactory shape using aquatic plants while it is impossible to adjust the size. Particularly for driftwood, even the wood in rather poor shape can still be well used in the layout by attaching ferns to it or wrapping its overall surface with moss
Please focus on the size first and then on the shape second when choosing driftwood.
Either installation of a softenizer or use RO water.
With the effect of ion exchange resin, the softenizer removes calcium ions and magnesium ions to lower the total hardness.
Scrubbing aquarium stone hard with brush easily causes water turbidity due to stone powder produced by scrubbing, and this results in higher total hardness. If you see water turbidity due to stone brushing, change the aquarium water immediately
In fact, minerals are released from stones, but aquatic plants will not grow healthy just with these minerals.
Minerals contents vary among stones and how the minerals are released from stones differs with water quality.
Usually the amount of minerals released with stones is less in almost neutral water. It is thus hard to supply a sufficient range and amount of trace elements necessary for aquatic plants just relying on minerals from stones
We have measured the total hardness of water for each case where the portion with more blue grey parts and the portion with whitish lines parts of rock are added in the water, and the result showed that there is no difference in the rise of total hardness caused by the two portions.
From this observation, we decide that the rise in hardness does not relate to the color of the aquarium rocks.
Despite the color difference , both these portions contain calcium carbonate which may lead to a raise in the total hardness of water
Calculating the amount of stones in kilograms you are going to need for your tank is a two-step process.
Step -1 , use the following rule of thumb as a guideline:
Gross volume of your tank in liters divided by 6 = the approximate amount of decorative stones in kilograms.
For your convenience you’ll find a rough overview of the most common tank sizes in the following:
- 20 Ltr Nano aquarium or ADA Mini M needs approx : 3.5kg (20 Ltr / 6)
- 30 Ltr Nano Cube needs approx : 5 kg
- 54 Ltr standard aquarium needs approx: 9 kg
- 182 Ltr standard 3 Ft Aquarium or ADA 90-P needs approx : 30 kg
- 250 Ltr standard 4 Ft aquarium or ADA 120-P needs approx: 42 kg
Step -2 , The approximate weight resulting from above formula can be adapted to the type of stone you have chosen a bit more precisely. To do so, we need to multiply the result of the rule-of-thumb-formula with a factor specific to each of the stone types listed below.
This factor is the so-called bulk density, also known as bulk weight. The lighter the stones, the smaller the factor! You’ll need considerably less of light types such as lava and more of heavy stones.
One example: We’ll apply the rule of thumb for our standard 54 liter tank: 54/6 = 9 kg of stones.
We have chosen Lava Rocks, and therefore we need to multiply the result with 0.7.
This gives us a necessary amount of nearly 6.3 kilograms of Lava Rocks. Should you decide against Dragon Stone since you want to use the heavier Rocks instead, multiply amount of 9 kilograms with 1 – resulting in a mere 9 Kg
- Factor 0.7 : Lava & Black Lava
- Factor 1 : Seiryu, Dragon, Black Pagoda
- Factor 1.1 : Elephant Skin Rocks
- Factor 1.2 : Frodo Stone
One of the most common mistakes people make when putting rocks inside their tank is piling them up against the glass. When put under enough pressure and weight, glass will crack. Most aquarium glass panes are quite strong but under additional stress from the weight of the rocks, they could easily break. What you need to do is to place the rocks wisely inside the tank. Avoid cramming the rocks in one area of the aquarium. A better placement would be to have them uniformly placed inside the aquarium. However, if cramming of rocks is unavoidable (due to the design you are going for), just make sure that the glass pane can handle the additional weight of the rocks.
You also need to secure the rocks in place. If you do not secure your rocks inside the aquarium, a rock can be knocked down by a rogue fish causing it to fall into the aquarium glass ultimately cracking it down. Obviously, you don’t want that risk. To prevent that from happening, use aquarium silicone glue. Always make sure that you use non-toxic glue though. Most fish stores will have them on their stock.
If you follow all these tips, you would safely create a safe and attractive environment for your fish.