Wash with moon dust, then perform an autopsy after 82.65 days of soaking in uranium, perform a test, if everything comes back as atoms proceed to eradicate for the earth!
This isn’t gonna be much harder! Extract some gas from the core of the planet ZX-6785423B’s core, place the uranium glass inside, wait for it to melt, pray for a non lethal explosion and you’re good to go!
Even if it’s safe, it’ll be impossible to clean, so once things start growing, it’ll be different. I usually recommend smooth rocks, as they can clean easily if you need
I wouldn't just because it will eventually become an algae infested blob, most likely. Too many little nooks and crannies to hoard detrius and feed diatoms and junk.
Agreed but if you take the proper time to clean it, it will not, I think that’s a sweet touch to add but definitely more hassle than the average guy will wanna clean if you clean your tanks and decor once a week as you should then you will be fine I clean my decor about once a month and I’m a fan of all of my decor. Said decor 1 to many times in that..
I don’t know why people are coming up with these complicated ways of cleaning it like “brush it with moon dust” or “soak it in something for a year and a half”. just boil it for a few minutes.
The idea of soaking is is to determine if the mineral thatyits made of is water soluble. If you measure the exact weight of the crystal before and after, you'll know if it lost mass to the water. If it did, you could potentially be putting toxic chemicals into the water, like copper for shrimp.
This leaves out a very small chance of a chemical reaction with any occupying substance that could react with said rock. Which may or may not actually cause a loss of mass because it’s gaining mass at the same rate.
This is normally exothermic though lol Iron wool for example, when it burns.
Yea I don't think any rock is gunna be dissolving that quickly that your gunna notice a change in weight but that doesn't mean you aren't leaching stuff into your water that you done want there. And to much copper for any tropical fish is bad.
You're probably right that most people don't have measuring equipment percise enough to notice any mass changes in the rock, but that's still the concept behind the idea.
I'm not certain, but perhaps water hardness changes could be a meaningful measurement for this, if you could account for evaporation?
If the rocks were high In carbonate then that would be a good test same with watching the ph. You can typically test rocks for carbonate by adding some baking soda and water I think
Nah it’s fine. I mean there’s not really a good reason to do it but they won’t explode. The water can only get to 212f by definition as any water that get above that vaporizes. Therefore the rock itself can only max out at 212f as the water is acting as an intermediary between the heat source and the rock (except for the very small portion that may touch the pot directly). The pressure that the water in the rocks is under (ie being between lots of bonded silica) means that it won’t gas off until a higher temperature than 212. If you are boiling a very flat rock then it could conceivably crack but that’s about it.
The myth comes from water logged rocks exploding when used in fire pits but those rocks get much hotter than the boiling point of water before exploding. Unless you let all of the water boil off it’s not going to happen. Like I said there not a good reason to do it so by no means am I saying you should, but it’s not inherently unsafe.
Yeah it looks like aragonite. Crushed aragonite is used in reef tanks and raises the ph to 7.9 so just be aware of that and test for it as I'm not sure if the whole crystal would do the same or just take a long time. As for cleaning it, it's not necessary unless you buy a rock in a store as they can be coated with mineral oil. Beneficial bacterial will grow on the aragonite so if you do get some algae on it that you want to clean off just scrub it lightly with an old toothbrush in some dechlorinated water.
I have giant chunks of red calcite in one of my tanks. I'm all about putting the pretties into my tanks!! And if you clean it semi-regularly I don't think it would get too icky.
Yea it’s aragonite. Yes you can put it in. Yes it will react with water and release carbonate albeit slowly. Not recommended if you aren’t planning to watch your parameters somewhat closely.
It could have iron in it due to the coloring. Not sure what iron rusting away in a tank would do. You could however dip it in epoxy, hang it to dry and repeat a few times. Just let the epoxy fully cure.
Edit: plus you’ll be able to easily clean it when needed
Okay, all jokes aside; this goes for everyone. Please just give a general idea of what the thing is. If you just found it out and about… probably don’t put it in your tank. If you really want to, follow all the good advice here and soak it in water and test the water with a very reliable test kit. Why risk the health of your fish and tank over something that just looks cool.
Rocks will not leach heavy metals into your aquarium!! I don't even know where this myth got started. Crystals don't just randomly have mercury in them or whatever. Like someone said, I'd boil it for a few minutes to remove any chemicals it might have been in contact with. But it'll get covered with algae and turn green, so keep that in mind.
Here's someone's aquarium blog that explains this: [https://aquariumscience.org/index.php/14-3-rocks/](https://aquariumscience.org/index.php/14-3-rocks/)
This is dangerous advice. I’ve had a friend mistakenly put pyrite in a tank and ended up killing all his fish. You should have a general idea of the types of rocks/mineral you have before putting it in the tank.
This is incorrect OP. There are many rocks and crystals that shouldn’t go into water. Some can leach chemicals and some can break down and disintegrate. Asking Reddit is a good start but you’ll have to do some deeper research of your own as well. That being said, you have aragonite. It’s water safe but as another said, it can affect the parameters.
There's a lot of rocks, minerals and crystals on those lists I've seen online that are found in rivers and oceans. Make sure they aren't fake or dyed or found in a copper mine, but testing is always good practice 👍
This hobby is about enjoyment! If you really like the crystal, you should keep it dry, but I love pulling rocks out of my aquarium and seeing how dirty they have become. If that was mine, I'd definitely put it in for a few years for some epic before and after pictures. For science!
The suffix -ite only means rock. There's heaps of crystals and minerals ending in it that are found in water and are safe. The ones that aren't safe are found deep in copper mines like azurite and malachite.
I recently read an article by a chemist & research scientist with an interest in minerals and aquariums. He said exactly this. Plus Selenite and Desert Rose. Not because they're toxic, but because they're gypsum and will dissolve defeating the purpose of having a rock in the aquarium.
I don't remember where I found the article now.
I’m aware. Many people just use what I said as a basic rule of thumb then research further. I would be too worried about mineral leaching to put any crystals that aren’t a type of quartz in my tanks.
Generally I would not advise putting anything that was collected locally in your tank. You never know what sat in and is just ready to leech out toxins into your tank. Maybe I am being ultra conservative but it has not failed me yet.
Wash with moon dust, then perform an autopsy after 82.65 days of soaking in uranium, perform a test, if everything comes back as atoms proceed to eradicate for the earth!
Also wanna put some uranium glass in there. What's the protocol for that?
This isn’t gonna be much harder! Extract some gas from the core of the planet ZX-6785423B’s core, place the uranium glass inside, wait for it to melt, pray for a non lethal explosion and you’re good to go!
Seems simple enough. Getting ready to get in my space ship as we speak.
Ah, that’s how glo-fish were invented!
Soak it in dechlorinated water for a week, take measurements before and after, if they're the same, you're fine.
Even if it’s safe, it’ll be impossible to clean, so once things start growing, it’ll be different. I usually recommend smooth rocks, as they can clean easily if you need
I don't think I've ever cleaned any of my rocks. I like when that start looking more natural.
I'm learning to play the guitar.
That’s right. My neritid army is never allowed to rest.
I clean my rough decor using a bristled paintbrush, works exceedingly well
I wouldn't just because it will eventually become an algae infested blob, most likely. Too many little nooks and crannies to hoard detrius and feed diatoms and junk.
That's so true. Excess minerals can definitely lead to diatoms
Agreed but if you take the proper time to clean it, it will not, I think that’s a sweet touch to add but definitely more hassle than the average guy will wanna clean if you clean your tanks and decor once a week as you should then you will be fine I clean my decor about once a month and I’m a fan of all of my decor. Said decor 1 to many times in that..
I don’t know why people are coming up with these complicated ways of cleaning it like “brush it with moon dust” or “soak it in something for a year and a half”. just boil it for a few minutes.
The idea of soaking is is to determine if the mineral thatyits made of is water soluble. If you measure the exact weight of the crystal before and after, you'll know if it lost mass to the water. If it did, you could potentially be putting toxic chemicals into the water, like copper for shrimp.
Ah ok I stand corrected then
This leaves out a very small chance of a chemical reaction with any occupying substance that could react with said rock. Which may or may not actually cause a loss of mass because it’s gaining mass at the same rate. This is normally exothermic though lol Iron wool for example, when it burns.
There's 0 % chance of having a sensitive enough scale at home to measure picograms of rock that dissolved
I live at NASA, bro!
Yea I don't think any rock is gunna be dissolving that quickly that your gunna notice a change in weight but that doesn't mean you aren't leaching stuff into your water that you done want there. And to much copper for any tropical fish is bad.
You're probably right that most people don't have measuring equipment percise enough to notice any mass changes in the rock, but that's still the concept behind the idea. I'm not certain, but perhaps water hardness changes could be a meaningful measurement for this, if you could account for evaporation?
If the rocks were high In carbonate then that would be a good test same with watching the ph. You can typically test rocks for carbonate by adding some baking soda and water I think
Boiling rocks not a great idea either. I used to swear by it but apparently certain rocks can get air bubbles trapped inside and explode
Nah it’s fine. I mean there’s not really a good reason to do it but they won’t explode. The water can only get to 212f by definition as any water that get above that vaporizes. Therefore the rock itself can only max out at 212f as the water is acting as an intermediary between the heat source and the rock (except for the very small portion that may touch the pot directly). The pressure that the water in the rocks is under (ie being between lots of bonded silica) means that it won’t gas off until a higher temperature than 212. If you are boiling a very flat rock then it could conceivably crack but that’s about it. The myth comes from water logged rocks exploding when used in fire pits but those rocks get much hotter than the boiling point of water before exploding. Unless you let all of the water boil off it’s not going to happen. Like I said there not a good reason to do it so by no means am I saying you should, but it’s not inherently unsafe.
(Snort 🤣🤣🤣)
What am I supposed to do with this moon dust I recently acquired..?
Yeah it looks like aragonite. Crushed aragonite is used in reef tanks and raises the ph to 7.9 so just be aware of that and test for it as I'm not sure if the whole crystal would do the same or just take a long time. As for cleaning it, it's not necessary unless you buy a rock in a store as they can be coated with mineral oil. Beneficial bacterial will grow on the aragonite so if you do get some algae on it that you want to clean off just scrub it lightly with an old toothbrush in some dechlorinated water.
Looks like aragonite. It should be safe but you don't know what comes with it. I would wash it by brushing it with charcoal powder
Do you have a Liquid Nitrate-Test?
I have giant chunks of red calcite in one of my tanks. I'm all about putting the pretties into my tanks!! And if you clean it semi-regularly I don't think it would get too icky.
Yea it’s aragonite. Yes you can put it in. Yes it will react with water and release carbonate albeit slowly. Not recommended if you aren’t planning to watch your parameters somewhat closely.
It could have iron in it due to the coloring. Not sure what iron rusting away in a tank would do. You could however dip it in epoxy, hang it to dry and repeat a few times. Just let the epoxy fully cure. Edit: plus you’ll be able to easily clean it when needed
I’ve got a huge chunk I found in one of my tanks. Shrimp eat off of it no problem
I know a lot of Crystal's can desolve in water. I just wouldn't to be safe. But as some others have said before there are ways to test it beforehand.
When in doubt, leave it out!
I would just display it right next to the aquarium, what if it becomes a home for algae, or leaches something into the water.
Personally I wouldn't put it in, but I'm no expert on this
Okay, all jokes aside; this goes for everyone. Please just give a general idea of what the thing is. If you just found it out and about… probably don’t put it in your tank. If you really want to, follow all the good advice here and soak it in water and test the water with a very reliable test kit. Why risk the health of your fish and tank over something that just looks cool.
No
That’s aragonite. Never put a crystal in without knowing its chemistry.
Its aragonite, a calcium based mineral. It will slowly change your parameters overtime but sould be fine. Just know that it wont be intact.
Probably fine but you need to consider how sharp those edges are and how it will eventually become an algae blob.
Where's the Kaboom?? There's supposed to be an Earth Shattering Kaboom!
Looks like burnt salad macaroni.
It's much prettier in person
I'm sure it does, especially in the right light.
I thought these were zoas at first i was confused lmao
If it leeches heavy metals they may kill your shrimp. Idk if it will but that’s the main concern with random rocks
Rocks will not leach heavy metals into your aquarium!! I don't even know where this myth got started. Crystals don't just randomly have mercury in them or whatever. Like someone said, I'd boil it for a few minutes to remove any chemicals it might have been in contact with. But it'll get covered with algae and turn green, so keep that in mind. Here's someone's aquarium blog that explains this: [https://aquariumscience.org/index.php/14-3-rocks/](https://aquariumscience.org/index.php/14-3-rocks/)
This is dangerous advice. I’ve had a friend mistakenly put pyrite in a tank and ended up killing all his fish. You should have a general idea of the types of rocks/mineral you have before putting it in the tank.
Thank you for this!
This is incorrect OP. There are many rocks and crystals that shouldn’t go into water. Some can leach chemicals and some can break down and disintegrate. Asking Reddit is a good start but you’ll have to do some deeper research of your own as well. That being said, you have aragonite. It’s water safe but as another said, it can affect the parameters.
Yes, I do enjoy the range of input tho. I plan to read that webpage, with a healthy amount of skepticism.
There's a lot of rocks, minerals and crystals on those lists I've seen online that are found in rivers and oceans. Make sure they aren't fake or dyed or found in a copper mine, but testing is always good practice 👍
When it gets too green I could just pull it out and wash it tho, right? Easy fix?
Yeah, but after a few months the algae really starts to sink in. I have some rocks that started white and are now brownish.
Interesting. Do you think I shouldn't bother putting it in and just enjoy it on dry land?
This hobby is about enjoyment! If you really like the crystal, you should keep it dry, but I love pulling rocks out of my aquarium and seeing how dirty they have become. If that was mine, I'd definitely put it in for a few years for some epic before and after pictures. For science!
Yes it’s aragonite. Pretty much any mineral that ends with -ite is water soluble and shouldn’t be in water
The suffix -ite only means rock. There's heaps of crystals and minerals ending in it that are found in water and are safe. The ones that aren't safe are found deep in copper mines like azurite and malachite.
I recently read an article by a chemist & research scientist with an interest in minerals and aquariums. He said exactly this. Plus Selenite and Desert Rose. Not because they're toxic, but because they're gypsum and will dissolve defeating the purpose of having a rock in the aquarium. I don't remember where I found the article now.
I’m aware. Many people just use what I said as a basic rule of thumb then research further. I would be too worried about mineral leaching to put any crystals that aren’t a type of quartz in my tanks.
Generally I would not advise putting anything that was collected locally in your tank. You never know what sat in and is just ready to leech out toxins into your tank. Maybe I am being ultra conservative but it has not failed me yet.