Various ornamentation… effects on water…

[Magnum Man]

It’s a big job, but I’m working on cleaning out one of my old 45 gallons to set up again…We live in an area that close by there are large amounts of limestone… yep I know what that does to the water… in some of those areas there are a lot of fossils… for example, I have a 4 inch fossil of a snail shell… I’m assuming these would be about the same as adding a piece of limestone the size of the fossil… but also in this tank I had several pieces of petrified wood… not sure if that has the same composition, as a fossil from a chunk of limestone, I they are wood color, not the color of limestone, and I’m not positive where they came from… do you guys think they will leach anything into the water, the way limestone does???

 

[Magnum Man]

45 gallon is 3/4 full… I emptied my RO reservoir… not all the components are here, but at least the tank is ready, when everything gets here… no leaks, so far… I have refilled 8 larger tanks, so far with no leaks, after all being used, and sitting empty for 20 years… I’m probably jinxing myself… but I only have 2 old 30 gallon longs left to fill sometime… no plans on those anytime real soon…

 

[rebe]

You could try the acid test? That's how I test beach stones I want to use in aquariums

 

[Magnum Man]

Btw… the sand will be level… I just assumed it would flow more with the water during filling

 

[Back in the fold]

I don’t know the answer to that but petrified wood is my favorite aquarium decoration . I have several nice pieces . Never had a problem but @rebe has a nice way to find out with his post .

 

[Seisage]

I also have pieces of petrified wood in my tank and I love them! When wood fossilizes, it usually gets mineralized by quartz and other silica-based minerals. There should be little to no calcium carbonate in them. I didn't test my petrified wood before putting it in the tank since I was pretty confident in its general composition, but testing never hurts.

 

[MaloK]

If it's real petrifaction, it occurs with silicification of organic fibers, Since it's nearly all made of Quartz. It is very stable and resistant to leaching.

 

[Myrkk]

I had some granite, fossilised stones in my first tank. Thought they would be pretty impervious to tank conditions. They were originally bookends. Took them out and they are seriously pitted, just goes to show the power of water and fish. I have quite soft water here so that was probably adding some minerals into the water.

I now only have two large pieces of oak root in the tank. Thinking of adding some stones back in though

Loving that video on how to test if rocks are suitable for your tank.

 

[FranciscoB]

granite

It sounds as if you did not have granite, but marble. Granite is an igneous rock, rarely if ever associated with fossils. Usually chemically stable, good for aquarium. Marble, fossils, carbonate rocks.

 

[Myrkk]

Ah ok FranciscoB, I bought as granite but would have no clue what rock it was tbh. Whatever it is, I now use them as bookends, they are seriously rough and pitted after being in the tank.

 

[Uberhoust]

@MaloK is correct, most petrified wood is created by the replacement of the organics by silica. The fossils found in the limestone are sometimes re-crystalized with the CaCO3 being replaced by MgCO3, don't entirely know the process by which this occurs, but you can use the difference to dissolve out fossils, with acid, from the host limestone if you are careful. I have some fossiliferous limestones from the Rockies that I can use in a softwater tank because its affect on the water is so slow that if I do normal water changes it does not affect the pH in any significant way. You might find you can use your rocks with the fossils in them. I have also used an acid wash on questionable rocks to remove the surface CaCO3 from rocks. Muriatic acid in a polyethylene container with the rock in a polyethylene strainer allows you to dip the rock in full strength acid. Use with caution as the reaction does bubble and spray a lot and can heat up.