PlanetCatfish.com

Ok I just got a trio of LF Albino BN and they look awesome! However i tossed out my pleco breeding caves a while back so I went to Lowes just to see about slate and they had the perfect sized stuff and then I went to petsmart to grab some aquarium silicone. I was just curious if the slate needed treated or something or just rinsed off? It said on the tag "natural slate" I know a lot of people make their own caves so I thought I'd ask around before I go throwing them in the tank. Thanks.

Zack

Should be safe, yes. As long as it's nice clean slate. A bit of rust isn't too bad, but if it's all covered, it may cause problems with iron in the water.

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Mats

Yea it's pretty clean not many rust spots at all actually. Thanks

I have used slate from Lowes and never had a problem.
(Don't tell my wife) What I do is put the new slate in her turkey pan and fill it with enough water to cover it by about an inch. Then bake it in the oven at 350 for half an hour. After that take out the hot pieces of slate and let them sit on a cooling rack or your counter top (if it's a stone counter). Once they are room temp they are ready to use.

FYI: the turkey pan is one of those heavy types that comes with a rack. The rack is perfect for cooling off the slate after it's cooked.

I wouldn't have thought there is much of a reason to "boil" the stones if they are dry (and can be reasonably thought to have been dry for the last few days or so). Very few things that are harmful to fish will survive drying out for any length of time.

Just wash with clean water (from the tap) to clean off any dirt, and put in the tank [or do whatever you fancy doing with it].

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Mats

MatsP wrote:I wouldn't have thought there is much of a reason to "boil" the stones if they are dry (and can be reasonably thought to have been dry for the last few days or so). Very few things that are harmful to fish will survive drying out for any length of time.

Just wash with clean water (from the tap) to clean off any dirt, and put in the tank [or do whatever you fancy doing with it].

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Mats

Yeah, I boil everything, just because you never know. I also test all the smaller stuff in my smaller tanks. Larger stuff goes in the outdoor pond, then gets re-boiled before entering the main tank. I'm always worried about something leeching into the water. I'm crazy (especially after you read my comments about cycling a tank) , I know, but we all develop our own quirks in life. I guess I'm like the Monty Python of fish keepers, lol.

Boiling something that leeches will not make any difference whatsoever. Leeching is a slow(ish) process, and if the stone is going to leech something, boiling it for anything less than MONTHS will not make any difference at all.

The only purpose of boiling a stone is to kill bacteria or other "critters" on/in the stone. Now, for nearly everything that may be harmful to fish, dyring it will be just as good as boiling. Just leave it outside in a place that doesn't get rained on for a week or so.

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Mats