Clay Pots For Caves?

[GT3050]

I am wanting to buy some clay pots for my cichlid tank to use as caves. I have seen some at Walmart that are very cheap and I am wondering what I should do before I put them in my tank. I'm not sure what they're made of; does anyone know if Walmart's pots are safe and if so how to prepare them for the aquarium? Thanks.

[MrArapaima]

Itreat mine like driftwood, clean thoroughly, and rinse well. at times i even soaked them

[125gJoe]

If it's the regular 'clay' pots, then they will be fine. One problem is the Price Tags and the residue they may leave behind... Clean that stuff off real good, or ....... You know...

[Tetratastic]

If you are talking about terra cotta pots (the orange kind) they are to the best of my knowledge, just clay and water (like cement, add water and wait for it to harden - no strange bonding agents, adhesives or glazes).

[Dahlia]

Well, they don't quite work like cement does in that they need to be fired in a kiln. This prevents them from being water soluble anymore. However, they are just clay and are fine to put in your tank. Just avoid buying any that look like fertilizer may have spilled on them. I saw some once with chalky residue all over them positioned underneath a shelf of fertilizer and decided not to buy them.

[NJ Devils Fan]

Yea, there isn't much you have to do for clay pots. Thoroughly rinsing them should be fine. I boiled mine when I got it, but I like to boil everything before I put it in my tank, it's just a person preference.

[thekrib]

a kiln fires clay at about 1700 farenheit, so boiling is kinda worthless, but if it makes you feel safer then go for it. i just rinse mine and put them in and i havent had any trouble.

[Cearbhaill]

I think the boiling is more to clean/kill things that might have come in contact with the pots after manufacture.
Sitting around in gardening warehouses for years gives them a lot of time to come in contact with odd substances.
I agree that they are safe as long as you choose those that don't look too old or look as if anything has been spilt on them.
Grab from the middle of the stack!

[NJ Devils Fan]

Yea cb, I do it to kill germs.

BTW, I like your avatar, its awesome. I enjoy looking at it.

[Cearbhaill]

That's my girl "Newman" when we say "smile"!
She's a pip.

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

the only "problem" i found with pots is that they make the darn fish spawn to often which and become a problem if you have large colonys of fsih with 5 brooding females at 1 time and no where to put them but other than that their awsome

[MaryPa]

I got a terra cotta strawberry pot for my 55gal.All i did was boil it for a few minutes, the water looked clean when i took the pot out.I put plants in a couple of the holes and it looks so pretty.Not sure but I heard the clay pots does something to the water chem..

[wetmanNY]

No Mary they're inert.

[125gJoe]

Something else to think about, use only 'new' terra cotta pots.
If they have been used for houseplants, etc., there may be some insecticide residue that seep from the pot into the water and harm the fish.. I will only use new pots, just to be on the safe side, and they are not expensive..

[MaryPa]

Thanks Wetman.What`s inert mean,sorry i`ve never heard that before.........Oh yes i never use old pots.

[beviking]

NJ - boil everything EXCEPT the fish right? Me too! Who knows what "Joe Walmart employee" was doing b4 he handled those pots (no offense 80gJoe!)

MaryPa - inert essentially means it will not react with anything (and therefor won't release any bad chemicals or have adverse effects with water parameters) so it's safe to add to your aquaria.

wetmanNY - keep it simple, try not to get into a long drawn out explanation!;)