| How Your Toilet Could Help Your Fish |
Well, spring is here and we are all outside again. Many of you are like me and can't wait to get your
feet wet in some of our local streams and ponds, maybe even the river. On your way to or from you are
bound to see something cool and think, "hey, this would look great in my tank!" You may be right, it
may look good in your display but all the little critters that are clinging to it won't look so good when
they cause havoc with your defenseless tropical fish! So what can you do?
There are a million ways you can prep locally found rocks and other pieces for safe addition to your
tank. There are methods that involve chemicals (you all know I'm not a big fan), and methods that
involve heat among other things. These are time tested, and they work! But if you want to add another
layer of safety between the river and your prized fish, consider the following...your toilet!
Perhaps this would make more sense if you had some background. Long before we could
successfully keep most fish in captivity we were diving deep into the ocean and bringing up artifacts
from shipwrecks. It didn't take long to realize a very serious problem existed with collection of many of
these artifacts, especially things like ceramics which are relatively porous.
Over time the salt in the ocean water penetrates deep into the material. This isn't a problem while the
item is submerged, but when it is brought to the surface and dried...CRACK! The salt crystallizes
during the drying process and literally cracks the artifact from the inside out. It didn't take the breaking
of many priceless ship wreck finds to determine that there was a better way.
The salt must be removed completely from the material before drying it out. Easier said than done. It
may have taken over 100 years to penetrate, it's not coming back out overnight. So the items must be
bathed in water, over and over. This was not an inexpensive task back in the day. Water is and was a
commodity and it costs money. So how can you get more bang for the buck? Someone was thinking
and came up with the idea to place these priceless artifacts in their toilet! Mind you, not the part where
they would become...*clears throat*...soiled, but in the toilets tank. This allows them to be repeatedly
bathed with freshwater, a new batch every time the toilet is flushed. It is rumored that this idea came to
the creator while he was taking a...well...never mind.
So back to the topic at hand. If you aren't in a big hurry you can add a layer of safety to your collection
process. Put the rocks in your toilet tank, head to your favorite Mexican restaurant and rinse away. You
will have a steady flow of chlorinated water rinsing your new finds every time you flush!
feet wet in some of our local streams and ponds, maybe even the river. On your way to or from you are
bound to see something cool and think, "hey, this would look great in my tank!" You may be right, it
may look good in your display but all the little critters that are clinging to it won't look so good when
they cause havoc with your defenseless tropical fish! So what can you do?
There are a million ways you can prep locally found rocks and other pieces for safe addition to your
tank. There are methods that involve chemicals (you all know I'm not a big fan), and methods that
involve heat among other things. These are time tested, and they work! But if you want to add another
layer of safety between the river and your prized fish, consider the following...your toilet!
Perhaps this would make more sense if you had some background. Long before we could
successfully keep most fish in captivity we were diving deep into the ocean and bringing up artifacts
from shipwrecks. It didn't take long to realize a very serious problem existed with collection of many of
these artifacts, especially things like ceramics which are relatively porous.
Over time the salt in the ocean water penetrates deep into the material. This isn't a problem while the
item is submerged, but when it is brought to the surface and dried...CRACK! The salt crystallizes
during the drying process and literally cracks the artifact from the inside out. It didn't take the breaking
of many priceless ship wreck finds to determine that there was a better way.
The salt must be removed completely from the material before drying it out. Easier said than done. It
may have taken over 100 years to penetrate, it's not coming back out overnight. So the items must be
bathed in water, over and over. This was not an inexpensive task back in the day. Water is and was a
commodity and it costs money. So how can you get more bang for the buck? Someone was thinking
and came up with the idea to place these priceless artifacts in their toilet! Mind you, not the part where
they would become...*clears throat*...soiled, but in the toilets tank. This allows them to be repeatedly
bathed with freshwater, a new batch every time the toilet is flushed. It is rumored that this idea came to
the creator while he was taking a...well...never mind.
So back to the topic at hand. If you aren't in a big hurry you can add a layer of safety to your collection
process. Put the rocks in your toilet tank, head to your favorite Mexican restaurant and rinse away. You
will have a steady flow of chlorinated water rinsing your new finds every time you flush!