Clay in a tank

[RedStarFishy]

I am currently taking a ceramics class in college and our teacher said with any free time we have we are allowed to create whatever we want and they will fire it for us. This got me to thinking of making my own aquarium decorations! I could finally customize my own caves and such! but i am wondering if i can place anything made of clay into a tank? its earthenware clay, it will be bisque fired, and i was thinking of finding a non toxic glaze to put on it.

i have an empty ten gallon and i'm kinda tempted to stick a piece i've done in there and stick a fish in there, and see what happens, but i feel bad that something might happen to the fish if there is something wrong with the clay.

any suggestions/opinions?

thanks!
Jess

 

[Teelie]

If you have it fired and properly glazed, it might work. I'm not sure if non-toxic water proof glaze exists though.

 

[Inchworm]

...i have an empty ten gallon and i'm kinda tempted to stick a piece i've done in there and stick a fish in there, and see what happens, but i feel bad that something might happen to the fish if there is something wrong with the clay.

Hi RedStarFishy

Please do not do that until you learn more. Some ceramic pieces can leach toxins into the water, although it is probably more from the glaze over it than the clay inside.

While you might not see immediate problems, the poisons that come from it could cause long term damage to the fish involved.

I'm pretty sure that some one of our members has more specific knowledge of ceramics than I do, so please be patient until you get a more definitive response.

I hope that it turns out that you can make your own caves and other decorations. They will be awesome!

 

[The-Wolf]

most glazes are still lead based and are therefor lethal to all aquatic life.
ask you teacher what type he uses.
other than that un-glazed terracotta is ok for aquarium use.

 

[OohFeeshy]

So will a fired, unglazed terracotta poece be OK then? Hmmm, I wonder if I can rope Catty into making me something....

 

[corykitty516]

I made some pieces in a ceramics class a few years ago that were "food safe" meaning they didnt have any lead or other things that are toxic to humans. We mixed the glazes ourselves so we knew what was going into them. they are alsoi dishwaser safe.
My professor was commenting on one of my pieces saying that it would make a good aquarium decoration (I was scupting fairies and flowers at the time) Then she launched into a story about a friend of hers that used to put her own ceramics in her tank but THEY WOULD DISSOLVE OVER TIME. SO I'm not putting any of my stuff in the tank because of the dissolving thing.
Oh and teracotta is a whole clay/firing process that makes it MUCH tougher and harder than "normal" ceramics. I use teracotta garden pots in my tanks all the time and dont worry about it.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I suggest you contact the folks at Rosenthal Pottery They make pottery caves for fish breeders. i have some of their products. They may be willing to tell you what is involved in making your ceramics tank safe.

I also use plain old terra cotta pots obtained from garden centers for both planting and as caves in my tanks and have so for years.

 

[Max Action]

I have two fired clay sculptures in my tank - one glazed, one not. So far, so good. I won't claim to know it's perfectly safe, but it seems to be working out alright. No signs of them dissolving, no inexplicable illnesses and deaths.

 

[RedStarFishy]

Max Action- just out of curiousity, what type of clay?

I have asked a few different people, from both the clay side of things and the aquarium side and they all believe clay won't dissolve over time in water, since fired clay has been used for thousands of years as jugs and such.

Thanks everybody who responded. I think I am going to make something out of clay, fire it, and stick it into my empty ten gallon. Test the water every day for awhile and if it appears nothing is happening (water color, increase of ph, or chemicals, etc), then i will stick it into my tank.