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Do you think slate looks natural in coldwater fish tanks?

30 May 2010 6 Comments

I might add slate to the tank. It's big by the way. What do you think, because I think it looks more natural in tropical tanks.

6 Comments »

  • noselessman said:

    i use it in my tropical tank to create a shelves, my fish love it, it is the same slate you can buy at petstores, it has not hurt the fish in 15 years, it dose not disolve like some types of rock like limestone, but make sure that it is actually slate, or granite, because some rocks will raise your ph. you should also use a sander of some kind to smooth of all the edges, fish can get hurt on sharp edges, especially big gold fish. it looks natural to me, and every one who sees the tank compliments it. but you might not want to limit the swimming space of the goldfish too much with it.

  • StellaCallieLuna said:

    I think it looks fine but again, I think it is like led and could kill them. My sister did that but with Malachite and apparently it was poisonous.

    The slate (if it’s ok to use which you should check) would look a lot better in a tropical tank. Goldfish and those don’t really match.

    I think tropical if I haven’t said that enough and it would look more natural.

    I think it’s relevant.

  • James said:

    yes

  • Dan M said:

    You would not find any slate rock in much of the tropics. Not in the Amazon River basin where there are few rocks of any kind. Not in the African Rift Lakes. I didn’t notice anything that could have been slate while I was vacationing in tropical Queensland, and hiking up and down some river beds, most rather dry with many rocks exposed due to the drought when I was there. Slate is common in some areas of the world where lakes and rivers freeze over in the winter. You would find slate in the Niagara River, in places all over the Great lakes in Canada and the US. It is still quarried in Wales as it has been for centuries, another decidedly NON-tropical area. Slate certainly reminds me of cold icy lakes and rivers, and does not remind me of the tropics in any way at all.

    If you have goldfish or koi, you could use slightly worn pieces of slate, with the sharpness taken off the corners and edges. Those fish are a little clumsy and might get hurt on a sharp corner.

  • sydney :) said:

    i have slate in one of my tanks with my goldfish..it looks really good. Just make sure you boil the slate for 10 minutes before adding it

  • John Quinn said:

    Hi, I’m a craftsperson who works with slate and therefore has lots of interesting shapes that lately have been finding their way into my aquariums.
    Can I put in a suggestion that

    is not the only way to go. After all, What is so natural about fish in a glass box? Slate is great for building dramatic aquascaping that can make your tank look exciting to the viewer and perhaps more interesting as a habitat for the fish. You do have to dull the edges of the slate but that is very easily done. I have added a number of pages about designs that use slate in aquariums, finding slate for aquariums etc. to my website.

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