Can i use this stone?

[ADJAquariums]

I found this piece of what appears to be coping, the corner piece of a building's roof or walls. I found it in the ocean actually, in Cape Cod Mass. i wan't to know if it's safe to use. I think it's really cool, i've had it in tanks before, just without fish in them. Mostly for a weight to hold stuff down.

[lochaber]

I thought the pic looked really odd until I read your post. makes sense, a lot of times old construction rubble is used as riprap to prevent erosion/build jetties. So, a lot of building stuff ends up in the ocean, and some will get broken/weathered loose, tumble around a bit, and show up somewhere else. (or it could've just washed down a river, been dumped at sea, whatever...)

Since you seem to have an idea of what it was intended for, any idea of what it's composition is? I'm not having much luck guessing at it's composition from the pics. do you think it's cut/shaped stone, or something akin to brick, terra-cotta, cinderblock, concrete/cement?

Maybe if you could get a macro/close up of the piece itself, so we could take a guess at it's composition/qualities?

[ADJAquariums]

Originally Posted by lochaber

I thought the pic looked really odd until I read your post. makes sense, a lot of times old construction rubble is used as riprap to prevent erosion/build jetties. So, a lot of building stuff ends up in the ocean, and some will get broken/weathered loose, tumble around a bit, and show up somewhere else. (or it could've just washed down a river, been dumped at sea, whatever...)

Since you seem to have an idea of what it was intended for, any idea of what it's composition is? I'm not having much luck guessing at it's composition from the pics. do you think it's cut/shaped stone, or something akin to brick, terra-cotta, cinderblock, concrete/cement?

Maybe if you could get a macro/close up of the piece itself, so we could take a guess at it's composition/qualities?

It looks a lot like a molded cement, however you see that black stripe down the stone long ways? i have no clue what could have made it like that, i think it may be clay because of how that stripe goes down the middle

[lochaber]

If it's cement, it may affect your pH and hardness somewhat, but depending on what you have in your tank, and how big/often your water changes are, that may not be an issue.

No idea on the black stripe. If it was used with building/roofs, it may be some sort of residue from a tar-like compound. The good thing about it kicking around in the ocean for a while is that anything likely to leach out hopefully has already done so.


Sorry, I don't have anything more helpful for you, maybe someone else on here can think of something.

[ADJAquariums]

Thanks for your help, ill probably soak it for a week or so until i'm going to rescape my tnak completely, then i'll incorperate it in that, thanks again!

[thesawguy]

I use rocks that I find in the woods but test them with muriatic acid, if they fizz it's no good.

[ADJAquariums]

Thanks! i am not willing to buy my stones as i find it a waste, instead i planned on looking in the woods near my home to find nice looking rocks to scape with, i think i'll pick some muriatic acid before i do this, thanks for the tip!