The Puffer Forum

In north America, we have a lot of "junk" grade quartz which is very milky/cloudy and barely seems to resemble the beauty of slow-growth quartz at all.

Lol, doraemon, if I were in the UK I'd take you up on it.

Yes, quartz is safe. =) It's still good to wash it first just to make sure there's nothing on the surface, but it's nonreactive and pretty; it's the same stuff as sand (SiO2). Jasper is just microcrystalline quartz with impurities that make the pretty colors, and is also safe. Either one can be sharp - not sure how much that matters with puffers? - but they won't leach, or make your water harder.

I'm not sure about "jade" buddhas - a very common substitute for jade is serpentine (mimics jade very well, with the exception that real jade has a greasy sheen, and serpentine doesn't) but they might also be dyed, and dyes can be toxic. If you want one in your tank, try putting it in water for a week or so and see if it (or the water!) changes color. If so, I wouldn't use it.

Serpentine is probably safe - I can't find anything on use in aquaria, though people use it for chopsticks and dishes and the like, so I can't imagine that it does anything horrible.

Wikipedia also says that carnelian and chalcedony (microcrystalline quartzes again) or soapstone are common faux jades - using a scratch test to determine hardness should help you identify the mineral in question, if you want to. =)

Fast and dirty:
A copper coin will scratch most soapstone, but not serpentine or the quartzes (carnelian, chalcedony).
A knife blade will scratch serpentine, but not the quartzes. (Not even a good tool-steel file will mark quartz.)

that is good to know!

I have a tone of quarts that I wanted to put in the tank but never did because of the sharp edges

Puffers won't like that at all

thanks ppg

I did the scratch test and i am able to scratch it..well scratch as i used a knife and cut it and it did leave a mark ( i cut it rather than scratch) tried a copper coin and the copper came off the coin but it was easily wiped off..so does this mean its unsafe?

All those rocks have smooth edges and no sharp edges at all

heres a pic of the cubed one


Sixwing i will go to the store again and see if i can find one simular to that round one and if i do i will send it to u to slab hehe but in all honestly when i brought these rocks they were dusty and i didnt even realise how nice they were till i had them in water.

Heres some pics i just took of the underside of the brown round rock











Front

under is white and top is green? algae?

The underside is a lighter green than the top, algae? lol can algae be in a hard form?

I am not sure but it can get into places you wouldn't expect. I'll reserve judgement till Six chimes in. Just that the top is more green than the bottom, I am inclined to go the algae route

The green doesnt even scratch off

as for the scratch test if i just take a swipe with a knife it leaves no mark at all but if i cut into the white milky part i get residue.

if it is algae that is because it is in the pores of the rock and the rock is stronger than the metal in the knife

J-P wrote:that is good to know!

I have a tone of quarts that I wanted to put in the tank but never did because of the sharp edges

Puffers won't like that at all

M3 emery cloth. About 220 grit will take the "biting" edge off just about anything, without messing it up too much.

sorry won't hijack the thread.

Nick: I took a large hunk of Quartz and took a sledge hammer to it to hopefully make a "crystal" substrate. It didn't work out and just ended up getting shards of quartz glass everywhere.

I can not, and do not, recommend anyone using crushed quartz as a substrate. Far too dangerous.

Sculpted pieces that is a different story

Sounds like your little buddha is serpentine. =)
Serpentine by itself should be safe, unless it is dyed. You can find out if it's dyed by putting it in warmish water and ignoring it overnight, then scrubbing at it with an old toothbrush or a paper towel - if it, or the water, changes color, it's dyed and NOT safe. I don't know what kind of dye it takes to color rocks, but I sure wouldn't want it in my tanks..
On the other hand, if it stays the same color, it's probably safe.

That brown rock is SO cool! XD Looks like some kind of conglomerate that got shattered and concreted a few times, with all those sharp-angled shapes and different colors.

I'd not conclude that it's algae right away, especially since you can scratch the white but not the green. That makes me think they're different minerals entirely, and have different hardness. If you're worried about algae, you can always boil it/put boiling water on it - but if you do, be careful! Sudden temperature changes can shatter rocks if they have air pockets inside. (I know this from experience.)

J-P: Too bad quartz breaks so sharply, huh? Maybe it would work as a substrate for a crayfish or something, that won't shred fins on sharp rocks..? /derail

The brown rock is not scratchable White or green parts, the White parts are actually very light milky green colour but maybe the pics looks more White.

It's the other rock which I can cut into but not exactly scratch.

Oh and i did have them in boilng water in a bucket beforehand but no change in colour at all.