Vinegar and Rocks?

[monster]

Good day fellow froggers, hope everyone and there frogs are having a good start to the day. I have a quick question I was wondering if someone could explain to me. So I was reading in a post for FBT's something about a vinegar test on rocks. I have never heard about this, I just started keeping frogs in august and have tried to educate myself on the spieces I have and also others as much as possible. But I haven't came across this vinegar thing yet, could someone educate me please and thank you. And I hope I put this thread in the right spot. And im very curious about this because I have variety of different kinds of rocks I my FBT enclosure in the water and if there is something in there making them sick I have to get it out.

[teslas intern]

A quick google search seems to indicate that the test is to find calcium (carbonate etc) in rocks. Here is the deal though, this should be a good thing for frogs (having a bit of calcium in the water) UNLESS the calcium is strong enough as to dramatically change the PH of the water, and slowly poison the frogs. If you are worried about it, get a PH test kit for pools, and see where you are at with your water bowl water. I'm assuming you change your water bowl water frequently, an as such, I don't think you will run into an issue. But if you are the type to leave it in there for weeks (bad thing to do), check the Ph every day over time and see if it climbs, this will tell you if your rocks are leeching minerals. Again I want to stress this is not necessarily a bad thing, if it were me I would purposefully add reactive rocks to give a tiny calcium boost, but prolonged soaking might cause problems if it was the right type of rock (like chalk, which is pretty much pure calcium carbonate). Even then I'm not sure it would hurt, as it should reach an ionic equilibrium, but there do exists toxic alkaline pools in nature, so the correct minerals are out there somewhere. Where did you collect the rocks? If they are from your backyard, and were not surrounded by death, I suspect they will be fine, just change your water daily... I would also look into the mineral names themselves if you purchased the rocks, a vinegar test won't detect the mercury in cinnabar, etc.

[monster]

Thank you Scott. I have my enclosure split into 2 with a piece of plexiglass. I have a filter in the water so I do weekly water changes of about 50%. I got the rocks from my neighbour, he was doing a big chiclid tank and had tons left over. I believe he got them from work, they never went into the fish water and even though he said he boiled them I did it again to be sure. Maybe im just stressing.

[deranged chipmunk]

the practice of using vinegar on rocks is from the aquarium world. it is a base test to check for alkalinity in rocks. some rocks, such such as limestone, would alter water chemistry, making it too alkaline (hard) in a closed environment. most animals prefer a more acidic (soft) water. a majority of plants prefer acidic environments as well. very few plants will survive in a hard water environment. as with anything, too much calcium can and will cause a calcium overdose in frogs. that is why we try to use only neutral rocks in our environments

[monster]

Thank you very much Bill/Deranged Chipmunk, not sure which one you prefer. MY oldest daughter gets a kick out of your user name. And I think tomorrow when the kids are at school I will rearrange my water area. I have a lot of different size rocks in there water so im going to take a lot out, I find my water gets kinda cloudy looking and am now thinking the calcium could be the problem. Would that make sense?

[deranged chipmunk]

Bill is fine cloudy water could be from a lot of biological waste in the water. What is your filtration like?


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[monster]

I use a Tetra Fauna repta-filter, and its the smallest one I believe. It is for a 10 gallon, and I have small rocks around the intake to prevent any frogs from getting a foot stuck in there. My water area is about 3 to 4in deep, and contains roughly about 7 litres of water. Should I upgrade my filter?