A Slate question

[rvm]

A while ago, I asked about a piece of slate I had that I wanted to put in my tank. It looked like there was rust running through it, and I was a bit concerned. Anyway, I was told it'd be OK, so I put it in, today I was scraping some algae, and as I rubbed that bit of slate, the "rust" seemed to just rub off into the tank. I also had some Java Fern tied to it with an elastic band that had also gone orange from the rust, and when I lifted it up, the bit of slate under had a big rust mark on it as well!!
The fish in this tank have been very shy and lethargic since I got them, so I took the slate out, and am doing a water change now, but could this be a problem??

 

[tstenback]

quite possibly. Any contaminant can cause this or other behaviour in your fish. Did you boil and scrub the slate before adding it?

 

[rvm]

yes, boiled it loads, and scrubbed it loads too!!!! but was told that this rust was just a discolouring of the slate. Not so sure about that now. I think it was just an odd bit. Definately some sort of iron ferrite in it seeping into the water though!!

 

[fishatron7429]

perhaps theres some metals in the slate that have rusted, i've had slate in my tank for months now and my boys and girls are fine!