Is quartz stone with orange dirt with gold glitter in safe to put into a tropical fish tank?

Question

I found a lovely white quartz stone in the Cambrian mountains. On one side where it's very crevassey there's a kind of orange soil with gold glitter in. I've boiled the stone for 10 minutes. I've given it a good scrub with a suede brush and got most of the soil off but it's going to be impossible to get it all out of the crevasses and it's proving to be not soluable, unless I scrape it with the point of a sharp knife. Will it be safe for me to put this stone into a tropical fish tank? Will it change the Ph of the water?

Answer 1

I wouldn't suggest it. If you can flake it out of the crevasse and some came out with boiling, then more will leech into the water over time. Without knowing the composition of the soil it could affect the pH or even contain poisonous materials that could eventually kill your fish.

MM

Answer 2

Quartz is relatively non-reactive in water unless you've got a high pH. The glittery stuff is probably flakes of weathered mica (these will look like thin bits of plastic, gold flakes are thicker) - again not a problem. The only thing that I would be concerned about is the "orange dirt" and it's composition. Orange dirt might be a high concentration of iron (which may also bring sulfur with it and lower the pH), or it could be decomposed feldspar (the third component of granite, along with quartz and mica). It's relatively non-reactive, but if it's decomposes to the point where it's more like soil than rock, if it softens in the water, it will release the mica in it and you'll get "glitter" floating everywhere.

Since you haven't removed it all, I'd recommend using a warm bath with oxalic acid (see if you can get this at a drugstore or through a lapidary website) and a soft toothbrush to remove the rest. Just rinse well before adding it to the tank.

Answer 3

Why not give it a try in a sample of the water? Remove a jugful of the tank water when you do a change and test the pH and conditions, then leave the stone in it for a day or two and see if anything changes? Obviously don't move to the tank if anything does change.

After a good scrubbing and boiling, it should be clean, scrape off as much of the 'soil' as you can.

It should be fine, I had a similar chunk of quartz in my tank for years, but you might want to check. The only thing I did notice is that it grew algae more quickly than the other stones or the glas, but that's probably because it has a rough surface and is more easy for the algae to adhere to and harder to clean.

The only concern would be bacteria, but there's likely to be more on your hands than on the rock after boiling!

Answer 4

First, add some vinegar to the dried rock. If it bubbles, then definitely not..no matter what you do to it.
If the PH level rises, that is not necessarily a bad thing. You haven't mentioned what fish you have in the tank. African cichlids like high PH and hard water.
Other than that? Try leaving the rock in a bucket to leach out any tanins from the orange soil. Even if it IS safe for the fish, you certainly don't want a brown watered aquarium. If it is going to leach, it WILL leach into your aquarium.
Personally, I wouldn't put it in until I was absolutely certain it wouldn't hurt the biosphere.

Answer 5

i'm certain it really is suitable possibility-free -- for the rock, it really is. To be extra certain, i'd go away it in a good vinegar bathtub for an afternoon or 2, then sparkling water for 2 days, with time-honored swishing contained in the water and adjust it two times an afternoon. The boiling will be extra to kill any germs or spores.

Answer 6

As long as you have sterilized the stone and the glittery contents of the stone is a natural occurance, then i see no problem with putting it in your tank.
I have lots of semi precious stones in my tank and other stones and pebbles that i have found.
Just check your ph balance weekly.

Answer 7

If it has gold glitter in it I wouldn't because I have read that fools gold is toxic to fish.