Brick

[NEON98101]

I probably should post this at the tank or decoration topic.

But I got some corys and I know more foot traffic here and so on. Anyway, I can use some opinion.

I have this tetra community tank. So PH is about little acid to neutural 6.8~7. I know you all gonna tell me to get the test kit but I don't have master test kit. So I can really measure the hardness. But it shouldn't be too high. I live in Seattle and tap water is usually 25 ppm. And I've been keeping tetras fine for over 2 years or so. And I spend lots of time taking care of them and frequent water change. And I see them scatter eggs all the time. And I haven't lost many fish. I wish I never had lost any but I lost 1 here and there.

Ok.I got sidetracked but here is the question.

"Can I use some bricks in the little acid tank?'

The reason is, I have some sand substrain(sp) for my corys but I do want to create some hill and terrain in the tank. But I heard that using more than 1~2 " of sand wouldn't be smart. Since sand would be packed in over time. So I am thinking to stuck some brick and put some sand over it. Yes, there are more than few kind of bricks out there but I'm thinking the red brick made out of the clay. I'm pretty sure this should be ok but I could use some reassurance.

[magnum4]

I'm thinking the red brick made out of the clay

Yeah it's inert and safe to use.

[NEON98101]

Hey. Thanks for your help, magnum4!
Then, I'll put it to my project list. Hopefully, I can creat the hill and terrance for my fish. Especially, my corys. And I can see them more often.

[jenkys baby]

have you thought of adding a couple of cats that turn over the sand? i have 2 small bango`s in my trigon and there always moveing the sand around burrying them selves seems to work fine to me

[racoll]

bricks are quite abrasive. make sure they're ok for corys, you don't want to damage their little whiskers.

[pturley]

I'm thinking the red brick made out of the clay. I'm pretty sure this should be ok but I could use some reassurance.

You should do an acid test on the bricks prior to use. They typically mill sand and fine gravel into the red clay to extend the raw materials (after all, clay is more expensive than gravel.)

Two possible methods.
One, place several bricks in a closed container of aged water at a known stable pH. Leave it for a week and then check the pH. If it moved up, the bricks contain limestone, if it drops, they'll likely contain feldspar. With tetras and other soft water fishes, down is of less concern than up as Feldspar breaks down quite slowly. Either way, it's your judgement call from there. Warning signs not to use them would be significant (whole digit) changes either way. If it drifts a few tenths, over a weeks water change, it shouldn't be much of a problem.

Second (and quicker) method: Do this one outside! Get some Muratic acid (pool cleaning acid, be carefull this stuff is pretty strong, even the vapors are dangerous). Place a brick in an acid safe container (glass or plastic), add enough acid to cover a good surface area. If it bubbles vigorously, you have exposed limestone, don't use them. Once in the tank, keep an eye on the pH just in case it causes the pH to fall though.

[NEON98101]

Wow All the tips. Thanks all for TRY to educate me I appreciate that.
I don't know I can remeber them all. But here we go.

I do have some corys in the tank who I think qualify as sand shifter or turner. But I do not planning to get the bigger catfish than that. So how deep the cory dig. I'm sure it depends on the kind of cory but 1~2". One of the reason why I consider put the brick in the tank is I heard that if I put the sands too deep, it packed tight and cut off the circulation of water and air. Also packed sand make tougher for the plants to grow. But I would like to create the valley and hill and terrace.
And cory should be fine since brick will be under the sands. i just have to figure out how deep.
And I would do the aged water method acid test.

Anyway, thanks all for your tips.