# Slate and rocks



## FishN00b (Apr 17, 2007)

I have aquired some nateral welsh slate and want to split it down into rough sheets and build a cave system for my new tank.

This would require some sort of adhesive, silicone or the like. Has anyone done anything similar before? Which waterproof adhesives would be harmless to the fish?

Does slate affect the chemistry of the water? Would it need to be soaked for a while?

If I found nice rocks on or around the the coast, would I be able to use these in my FW aquarium if they were soaked first etc?

Any comments appreciated


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

hi
aquarium sealent is what you want to sick the 
slate together.
i don't know about slate by the sea.
however the other slate you picked up should
be ok with a good scrub with very hot water.


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## FishN00b (Apr 17, 2007)

Thanks for the reply willow.

I was looking at the aquarium sealant the other day. The tube says its to bond clean glass with clean glass. 

I was thinking that it may have trouble bonding a different material which has a rough surface?


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

hi
i've never used it myself,however,people
who have built their own caves,have,and
don't seem to have had any problems with
lumpy surfaces,i would say just plop a good
dolop of the stuff on then put the slate on top.


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## Amphitrite (Sep 8, 2006)

Hi FishN00b, I have used aquarium silicone sealant to stick rough rocks together in the past without any problems. As long as you use enough to fill any gaps, I think it should be ok.


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## FishN00b (Apr 17, 2007)

Thats great, thanks for the advice guys. I'll let you know how I get on, I'll upload pics of the result, when I learn how to.


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## Amphitrite (Sep 8, 2006)

Here's instructions on how to upload pictures 

http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=5213


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## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

A member called Siant has recently done something like this. The link to the thread is http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=5646.

It's not exactly the same as what you want to do but he/she has made a really good job and it will give you an idea of what you could end up with.

Good luck!


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## Mr.Todd (Mar 8, 2007)

I would be very careful when putting rocks into the tank. If it where my tank I would make sure the rocks where free of any metals (such as pyrite) which can oxidize and produce toxic acids... 

After an extreme cleaning of the rocks a good way to test them is to place them in distilled water with a bubbler and monitor the pH over the coarse of 1 or 2 weeks to check for any major pH drops. You could also test for phosphates or any other substance you expect it of leaching....

:lol:


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## tophat665 (Sep 30, 2006)

Green slate can leech copper. Other slates are fine.


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## Mating Slinkys (Apr 17, 2007)

Damn it, i just, got all excited cos i set up a nice looking tank with green slate, now i'm worried about the copper leeching! is there any way to test for this or do i just have to wait for fish to die (not my prefered method really...) it's quite a light green though...


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## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

Mating Slinkys said:


> Damn it, i just, got all excited cos i set up a nice looking tank with green slate, now i'm worried about the copper leeching! is there any way to test for this or do i just have to wait for fish to die (not my prefered method really...) it's quite a light green though...


If in doubt I would prefer to remove it if it were me, rather than wait for them to die. If you have snails, and they have died recently then that is an indication that copper is leaching because they are more sensitive to copper than fish but again - I would remove it until I know whether or not it does leach copper.


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