Boiling Rose Quartz

[Kira696]

Hello, I wanted to ask for some advice, I bought some rose quartz for a aquarium I'm gonna set up and started pouring boiling water over it, I heard a crack and immediately took the quartz out, there's not much damage accept for a small white mark on the stone, would it still be ok to use? I heard that quartz doesn't chemically react so was hoping if i rise it with some cold water i can use it now.

 

[Essjay]

The problem with boiling rocks is the possibility of air pockets inside - they heat up and expand causing the rock to crack, as you have discovered.

A good wash in cold water should be enough now. In future, just pour boiling water over a rock. That way the heat won't be in contact with the rock long enough to heat it right through, but anything on the surface will be killed.

 

[Kira696]

Ok thanks, thats actually all i did started pouring it over then heard the little crack and took it out straight away and rinsed it with cold water shortly after.

 

[FroFro]

Ok thanks, thats actually all i did started pouring it over then heard the little crack and took it out straight away and rinsed it with cold water shortly after.

A chunk of rose quartz? Would the edges be too sharp for fish though?

 

[Kira696]

Really? I don't think its that sharp, people use it quite a lot, also dragon stone is sharper i'd say

 

[Kira696]

Well I don't think I can use any of my rock anyways as my friend told me to soak them in diluted bleach for 12 hours and now i just found out thats a bad idea, really sucks as they cost me around £20 all together Even worse the bleach he used on my rocks had fragrance in it, I'm so mad to be honest, he's supposed to be a marine biologist.

 

[StevenF]

Well I don't think I can use any of my rock anyways as my friend told me to soak them in diluted bleach for 12 hours and now i just found out thats a bad idea,

Quartz is inert and will not react with bleach. The bleach will however react with organics including bacter and parasites and kill them. The after a half hour rinse off the bleach with room temperature water a couple of times (to insure you get all the bleach off) and then put it in the aquarium. The bleach doesn't harm the crystal and no bacteria is left when you put in the aquarium. I fail to see how that is a bad idea.

started pouring boiling water over it, I heard a crack and immediately took the quartz out, there's not much damage accept for a small white mark on the stone, would it still be ok to use?

What happened here is that the hot water caused the surface of the crystal to expand while the interior did change. This stress caused the crack. Its like dropping a hot glass into cold water. It will shatter. If you had

1. Put the crystal in a pot of room temperature water.
2. Put the pot on the stove.
3. Slowly heated put he water to a boil.
4. Slowly cooled it off to room temperature.

it would not crack and it would be sterile and ready for placement in the aquarium

A chunk of rose quartz? Would the edges be too sharp for fish though?

Quartz crystals are naturally not sharp (Ihad them in the past). However they have properties very similar to glass. I crack off a piece that fragment may be sharp. However the edges on a none cracked crystal are not.