Utah Ice

[Sky042]

Anyone use it or heard of it?
I'm thinking about putting some in my tropical setup. I used to have it in my oscar tank but they kept knocking it over and I wound up taking it out before I could be sure it was safe.

Anyone here familiar with it?

 

[Sky042]

The LFS called it utah ice. It might be something else.

you can kinda see some of it in this picture in the lower left corner of the tank. This pic is from the last time I setup the tank. Doesn't look like that now.

 

[Bol]

Do you mean a crystal that looks sort of like melting ice?

If so, that's selenite, a form of gypsum. I think I remember reading that it will disintegrate if immersed. That may not be a good thing, as gypsum is

CaS04*2(H20),

so it seems reasonable to assume that if it disintegrates, it will leach some forms of calcium and sulfer. Just guessing here, though.

 

[Sky042]

Do you mean a crystal that looks sort of like melting ice?

If so, that's selenite, a form of gypsum. I think I remember reading that it will disintegrate if immersed. That may not be a good thing, as gypsum is

CaS04*2(H20),

so it seems reasonable to assume that if it disintegrates, it will leach some forms of calcium and sulfer. Just guessing here, though.

Perhaps I'll have to get a better pic of it. From the outside it appears like sheets of quartz but I'll post a better picture tomorrow.

 

[jeffrey]

glass rocks?

my LFS has them too, looks like that, and htey call it glass rocks.
they want 3.50 a lb though. Forget that.

 

[Bol]

Yep, sky, I think that's the same stuff. It's a form of gypsum.

 

[Sky042]

heres the picture

 

[tsr770]

It looks to me like mined salt, but probably isn't. I have seen salt chunks from the mines under Detroit and they look just like that. I used to have colored glass rocks from the Mammoth Caves area of Kentucky... They were selling them along the sides of the roads, but that was fifteen years ago. I am not sure where they have went, kinda just dissapeared from my house.

 

[Tropjunky]

haven't heard of it but i don't c da point of it if it's going to be clear. u might as well use glass lots saffer and u can get it to look like dat stuff

 

[cometcattle]

I think it looks cool, but I dont think I would put it in my tank if
it could dissolve.

 

[-=DG=-]

Hi,

I saw that being used for a water feature on 'ground force'. If its gonna melt, i doubt they would have used it. As for what it will do to the water chemistry, i have no idea.