Slate

[Goonermatt]

Hi guys and girls
Have a quick question about using some nice purple slate in an aquarium. This slate has been in my garden for a while not doing a lot and I thought it could look good but want to make sure it wouldn't harm the chemical balance if I gave it a good clean and stuck it in. What do you think?

 

[El_diablo]

Just to let u kno it's a pain in the *** to clean, are u intending on using this rather than gravel or jus as a small feature of ur tank?

 

[Deep Seven]

One of the common tests people use on rock/slate is to pour a couple drops of vinegar on the slate, and watch it for a few minutes. If it bubbles or fizzes it means it with affect your pH and is no good.

You also might want to soak it in a bucket of clean treated tank water and see if it affects the water quality over a week or two.

 

[Goonermatt]

Just a feature in the tank. What makes it so difficult to clean?

 

[El_diablo]

Just a friend of mine had slate as his substrate and he couldn't clean his tank in the same way as he could if he'd used gravel, with gravel you can vacumn easily with slate it's not so easy, should look nice as a feature tho I like that idea

 

[BigJim]

I'd be very cautious if the slate has been in your garden. It could have picked up fertilizers and pesticides that won't do your tank any good.

 

[Goonermatt]

Good point Bigjim!
I would be surprised if it did to be honest though. Plus I live in England so it would have had plenty of rain to wash that kind of thing away! Lol

 

[WhiteDevil]

Slate is layers of rock rather then a solid mass, there are little spots in these layers that accumulate stuff, I personally dont use anything from the outside that is within 50 yards of a manicured landscape.

 

[mfdrookie516]

When collecting rock/wood from the wild, its best IMHO to get it upstream from any traffic, roads, etc. This means at the foot of the hill/mountain where the creek starts, or on up on the hill/mountain. Nothing but animals up in there.