missi

I got some rocks called MANGD at Ikea. They are listed online as being glass, but they appear to have a dusty powder on them. I washed one, it came clean, and it came back when it dried. It seems to be only in appearance, not coming off, but do you think it is safe in my tank? They look really cool, and I got a good deal, but I am not really wanting to put my fish at risk....

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40065688

Thanks!

jdhef

It sounds to me like it would be okay to use them.

hkirchen

Just to be safe, you may want to boil them first. They are probably okay thogh!

missi

Wouldn't boiling make them crack? Could I just soak them in bleach instead? then soak them in a prime solution to get it off?

But that is a really good idea, thanks!

namehater

the texture that your seeing/feeling is because they are more than likely 'frosted' which nothing more than they were roughed via sand or something to have a special appearance.

missi

ah. That makes sense. Thanks!

So I guess they are safe? After I clean them really really well of course.

articwolf

If they are etched, then chemicals were used to do that, I don't know if any residue would still be left behind. Glass shouldn't crack when boiled, extreme temp changes cracks glass that is not annealed properly. I would boil to be safe...just my opinion. Are they supposed to be safe for aquariums?

Lori

missi

No. they are not noted to be safe for aquariums, but most of the glass stuff I have in my tanks weren't either, but they were easy to clean, and no funny stuff. I will boil them then for sure. If they do crack, it will only be $2 down the drain. haha. Better safe than sorry!

Thanks!

articwolf

I hope it works! If they make it through a boiling, then you can feel pretty confident adding them to the tank. Let us know how you made out, I'm particularly curious to see if they have been annealed.

Lori

missi

I boiled them for a good 20 minutes, and they came out just like they went in. In fact, as I pulled them from the water, they started having that weird powdered look as soon as it hit the air. So.. I guess they are ok! No cracks, and the ones that were already present did not get worse (there is a chip on one, probably from being shipped or dropped or something)

Thanks!

Shawnie

those area way cool!! can you find out what they are made of? id love some if it had an ingredient part on the tag!

Butterfly

A note of caution ( I know I'm a worry wort) anytime you boil any thing like rocks, chunks of glass etc, let them cool down naturally instead of exposing to cool air or running cold water over them. They can explode causing serious harm.
Glad they didn't break when they boiled They are way too cool
Carol

missi

I just took them out of the hot water and put them on a towel.

As for the ingredients, I looked. grr. And the tag didn't even say GLASS. I saw that part online... lol. They look a lot nicer in the picture, but I wanted to add a little flair to my new betta-boys tank. And maybe a few to my big tank, since I like to just randomly add to that one. haha. I am seeing a fault in that though, as it is just more I need to take out and clean!

gremlin

Sounds like the eggs and bunnies I have. They are sandblasted to get the "ocean glass" frosted look. I have had them in a fish tank with no problems. I've had the two eggs for years and they used to be in a tank with neons and danios. The bunnies I recently bought at Fry's (just because I thought they were cute). They should be fine as long as you wash them off really well before putting them in the tank.

As for boiling and then cooling real quick - We used to crack marbles that way. We would set marbles in the fireplace when we had a fire going, then when they were really hot we would take them out and drop them in cool water. They crackled really neat. If you let them get too hot or if your water was too cold, they would shatter. If you had everything set just right, they would crackle but not break. It was fun.

Attached Images

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