Found some rocks, can I use them?
- Thread starter tmy420
- Start date
I used to be into rocks and fossils and ornamental stones and everything like that until I saw a dragonfish and was instently hooked. What you are descrirbing seems like obsidian. If that is the class then it can be come quike dangerous if a piece or more break off as they break off into sharp lyropecten bivalve shaped (shells) indents. (It used to be that I could remember that off the top of my head, but I hold to dig out an olld book or too for this one :joke: )
I did not take a lok at any other posts or the pics before I posted laste and that is not odsidian. Agate? like I said I'm not as sharp on this thing as in the past
Yah, looks like a quartz agregate... Vinegar test never hurts, but otherwise, I think your mineral content should be pretty harmless. I think! You're boiling it, so no worries about insects or chemicals.
I can think of a few caveats to be aware of. Quartz can have sharp points. Run your hands all over.. anything that can hurt your fish? Doubt it. But on the hardness scale, Quartz is an 8. Make sure it's not going to scratch your glass, and be super carefull putting it in, or moving it around. A little layer of gravel or sand to keep it from rubbing on the glass bottom might not be a bad thing.
Where in the country do you live? I find pieces like that in western North Carolina.
I can think of a few caveats to be aware of. Quartz can have sharp points. Run your hands all over.. anything that can hurt your fish? Doubt it. But on the hardness scale, Quartz is an 8. Make sure it's not going to scratch your glass, and be super carefull putting it in, or moving it around. A little layer of gravel or sand to keep it from rubbing on the glass bottom might not be a bad thing.
Where in the country do you live? I find pieces like that in western North Carolina.
i love rocks! so am followingthis thread. i read somewhere not to use rocks with any type of metal formation. how can you tell? i hvae seen many rocks around here that look like they have metallic deposits which flake off when broken along the deposit.
thanks!
years ago, i placed a 2" piece of malachite in my tank. i didn't know at the time that the green came from copper....so, does it leach copper? could other semiprecious stones be a problem? could this be a contributing factor to why my ghost shrimp went gypsy?
sorry if this is taking over your post....just thought posting here would be good since it applies.
thanks!
years ago, i placed a 2" piece of malachite in my tank. i didn't know at the time that the green came from copper....so, does it leach copper? could other semiprecious stones be a problem? could this be a contributing factor to why my ghost shrimp went gypsy?
sorry if this is taking over your post....just thought posting here would be good since it applies.
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i know that invertebrates are often the first victims in instances of copper poisoning of water systems.
not sure if malachite will leach in normal aquarium settings, but the copper industry has used vats of sulfuric acid to extract the metal from rocks containing malachite.
??? now i'm curious.
not sure if malachite will leach in normal aquarium settings, but the copper industry has used vats of sulfuric acid to extract the metal from rocks containing malachite.
??? now i'm curious.
Copper will leach from malachite over time. How much and how fast depends on your water acidity. I've dealt with metal leaching in my spring water for quite a little while now, from copper to lithium carbonate (yes, lithium is a light metal), to iron. It's something to be wary of, but it's also fairly uncommon to have those materials at hand. If you want to use gemstones, don't use the mineral deposit gems. They can break down over time. On the other hand, quartz is pretty darn water resistant, and holds interlaced minerals better..
As a rule of thumb, look up the mineral hardness scale? Just an idea...
As a rule of thumb, look up the mineral hardness scale? Just an idea...
Don't think the MOHs scale will help with this. I tested some of my various soapstones (1-3 on the scale), catlinite (about a 2-3), and my Black Pearl Soapstone (which is actually a steatite and about 4-5 MOHs) with hydrochloric acid (bottle #1 in my Aquarium Pharm. nitrate test) and they were all inert.Halo said:
Talc is the lowest on the MOHs scale and a few of those carving rocks are mostly talc.
Roan
