Slate Substrate

[joeskandal]

Got a bag of plum slate yesterday.
Anyone have any idea how long do i need to soak it, and rinse it etc?
We want to put it into a tank asap but need to know how long it should be treated, if any?

Is it a good idea to use this more rounded slate as a substrate?

The tank will be 60% slate, and 40% fine sand substrate, chilling area for plecs etc.

 

[joeskandal]

anyone else got slate in their tank?

 

[micko]

What do you mean by plum exactly? That blue/purple colour? I'd clean it and soak it in boiling water, any signs of orange or red then don't put it in. Its usually iron ore. There's a test you can do by pouring white vinegar on it to see. If it fizzes then don't add it to your tank. I've also heard there are more effective ways as this doesn't always work. I'm unsure of them though.

Never heard of it being used for substrate but I'm imagining it would have sharpe edges to it, therefore could cause an injury to your fish.

 

[joeskandal]

yeah, cool, thanks for the tip.
The plum slate is a different type to the normal purple/blue, sharp layed stuff.
Its more like rocks of slate, all the ends are quite smooth, but i will make sure they all get checked and rounded off if so...

 

[Proxo]

By looking at some google pics of "plum slate" i think this the kind of slate i smashed up a few months back, It was a big rock lol.
I'm using it in 2 tanks atm with no problems - i just soaked it, rubbed sharp edges on another bit of slate (if there's any).

 

[joeskandal]

cool, well this is from a garden centre, so in its bag i've found a whole array of cack already!
Including, loads of other types of rock, sand, hazelnuts, leaves etc etc.
It was £4 for a huge 25-30kg bag.
It wicked, its a lot more red than normal slate.
The kinda stuff you see in bricks in council estates, like a reddy purple colour!

Its currently soaking now in a big dirty bucket out the back.
Later on i will scrub it all, flush it through a few times, then boil it all up in a pan or 6 to get all the remaining vileness out of it,
then tomorrow the tank will be getting emptied, and the new stuff put in.
Where's Carol Smiley when you need her?!?