Betafish305ca

How do you tell if a ceramic piece is safe for a fish tank?

thx

Tony G.

As far as it isnt painted or glazed.... Im sure the plain white never painted ceramic should be fine in the tank

Betafish305ca

oh, it is painted though

sirdarksol

It's tough to know unless you have studied ceramics. Different types of clay have different minerals. If there's a rich, brown color, there's likely iron in it (likely not a problem). A green color could mean copper, which would be really bad for inverts. Most naturally occurring minerals can be found in one clay or another. Glazes and slips (densely-colored clay) have higher concentrations of minerals than normal clays, so unless you made it yourself and know the contents, it would be a good idea to avoid them.

With paint, if you don't know that the paint is specifically aquarium safe, then it would be a good idea to avoid it.

Betafish305ca

is there anyway to re-paint it to know its safe? i'm not sure if its really, really painted....

sirdarksol

You could coat it with plastic resin. You'd have to be absolutely sure that everything was completely coated, though.
I've read several web pages that have said that Krylon Fusion is aquarium-safe once dried.

You say you're not sure if it's painted. What does it look like? A picture or two may help identify.
Also, I forgot to state in my last post that unpainted, unglazed terracotta is aquarium safe.