# Crystals in an aquarium?



## sheridan (May 13, 2014)

Hi everyone,

I am setting up a new tank and I love crystals so I wanted to combine the two. I've done some research and I know that clear quartz is fine for aquariums, but all the other crystals on the websites are questionable...

Do you know any that are not going to harm my fish? 
Do you have any experience with putting crystals in fish tanks? I'd love to see any photos! :-D:-D


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## VivianKJean (Aug 20, 2013)

I would not put crystals in a tank, even clear quartz. 

They will mess with water quality, mostly the hardness and the ph. 

I am a huge fan of crystals as well and use them for many things but I would not use them in a fish tank. 

also if they have sharp edges (most good crystals do) then they can rip your fish's fins.


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## PurpleJay (Jan 4, 2015)

There are some artificial aquarium decor shaped like crystals, if you'd like. I get the idea of you wanting real crystals and all that but artificial aquarium-safe crystals may work. Personally I wouldn't put real crystal in my tank either. The safety of the fish is much more important than the looks of the tank.


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## Matilda (Apr 25, 2012)

While I do agree about not having things with sharp edges in an aquarium, I must respectfully disagree with the idea that they are unsafe. The likelihood of a piece of quartz breaking down & affecting water quality is almost nonexistent. 

I have several pieces of quartz in my aquariums as well as different river rocks, even granite & limestone. They have made no measurable impact on water parameters. Gh, Kh & Ph are unaffected. If your tank is on the acidic side though, it might be a slightly different story.


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## allied123 (Dec 11, 2014)

I don't know how you feel about slices or chunks of agate but I have one of those big agate chunks in a different non betta tank but it doesn't effect anything, I also plan to make some decor with slices of agate


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## Shelaum (Mar 27, 2015)

*Water changes on a 55 gal?*

So, I'm still learning about keeping aquariums. I had my 20 gal for a little over a year. Kept it up fine. Had mollies, and bettas. And 2 guppies. Replaced maybe 8 gal out a week. Switched to a 55 gal, 48 inches long. How much of a water change should I do weekly? I've had it up for maybe 2 or 3 months now..Forgot that I needed to up the amount of water I do weekly.

How much should I take out a week for changes?

(Any other tips are welcomed!!)


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## allied123 (Dec 11, 2014)

It depends on the amount of nitrate that adds up, if you have 20ppm nitrate and you change 50% of the water then you have 10ppm nitrate ideally you should keep nitrate under 40ppm in a cycled tank. Ammonia and nitrite should be 0


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## VivianKJean (Aug 20, 2013)

Shelaum said:


> So, I'm still learning about keeping aquariums. I had my 20 gal for a little over a year. Kept it up fine. Had mollies, and bettas. And 2 guppies. Replaced maybe 8 gal out a week. Switched to a 55 gal, 48 inches long. How much of a water change should I do weekly? I've had it up for maybe 2 or 3 months now..Forgot that I needed to up the amount of water I do weekly.
> 
> How much should I take out a week for changes?
> 
> (Any other tips are welcomed!!)


please make your own thread. It isn't nice to just jump on to someone else's


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## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

I had the same idea a few years back. I did a bunch of research and eventually just scrapped the whole idea because I couldn't find anything that was completely safe beyond any reasonable doubt. I think (and don't quote me because it's been years since I did this research) that clear quartz was the only thing that was safe and everything else was either unsafe or questionable.


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## sheridan (May 13, 2014)

Thank you everyone for your responses. It's very much appreciated!



Matilda said:


> I have several pieces of quartz in my aquariums as well as different river rocks, even granite & limestone. They have made no measurable impact on water parameters. Gh, Kh & Ph are unaffected. If your tank is on the acidic side though, it might be a slightly different story.


Did you just have clear Quartz in your tank? Or did you have any rose quartz/amethyst/citrine/etc. I've heard they're all okay except for amethyst.


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## sheridan (May 13, 2014)

allied123 said:


> I don't know how you feel about slices or chunks of agate but I have one of those big agate chunks in a different non betta tank but it doesn't effect anything, I also plan to make some decor with slices of agate


I really quite like agate! Did you just have clear agate slices or were they coloured/dyed? Also have you ever tried agate geodes?


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## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

I've seen fake geodes sold at Pet Co. so maybe try those.


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## sheridan (May 13, 2014)

DangerousAngel said:


> I've seen fake geodes sold at Pet Co. so maybe try those.


I'm from Australia and we don't have PetCo over here... and the majority of the aquarium decor around here is either ugly or extremely overpriced.


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## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

sheridan said:


> I'm from Australia and we don't have PetCo over here... and the majority of the aquarium decor around here is either ugly or extremely overpriced.


Ohh okay. Maybe ordering something like that online? Unless you've already tried that.


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## Matilda (Apr 25, 2012)

sheridan said:


> Thank you everyone for your responses. It's very much appreciated!
> 
> 
> 
> Did you just have clear Quartz in your tank? Or did you have any rose quartz/amethyst/citrine/etc. I've heard they're all okay except for amethyst.



*I don't right now but I have had all different kinds in my tanks. Amethyst is perfectly fine to use in a tank. People say to not use amethyst either due to the geodes in which they form or because they contain a minute amount of iron. I've been an rock & gem collecting for years & usually end up putting them in my tanks if I don't display them! 


I'm very sorry to not respond sooner, I'm not getting notifications for some reason. :-(*


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## allied123 (Dec 11, 2014)

Same sorry I just saw the notification let me attach a picture to show you my agate chunk I definitely think you could find something similar being sold as a book end that's what mine was


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## Shelaum (Mar 27, 2015)

VivianKJean said:


> please make your own thread. It isn't nice to just jump on to someone else's


I didn't mean to. I'm sorry. I thought I was making my own post (new on here, still figuring this site out) I tried to delete it, but I couldn't figure out how!! Sorry!

I was reading this thread, and saw something that said make a new post, and I thought that was what I needed to hit to start a different thread. Still can't figure it out.


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## sheridan (May 13, 2014)

Matilda said:


> *I don't right now but I have had all different kinds in my tanks. Amethyst is perfectly fine to use in a tank. People say to not use amethyst either due to the geodes in which they form or because they contain a minute amount of iron. I've been an rock & gem collecting for years & usually end up putting them in my tanks if I don't display them!
> 
> 
> I'm very sorry to not respond sooner, I'm not getting notifications for some reason. :-(*


Yay!!! I love amethyst and it is so easy to find and i was really keen to put some in my tank but thought i shouldn't. Did you have raw or tumbled crystals, or both? Did they ever change the water chemistry that you noticed?


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## sheridan (May 13, 2014)

allied123 said:


> Same sorry I just saw the notification let me attach a picture to show you my agate chunk I definitely think you could find something similar being sold as a book end that's what mine was


Wow! That's beautiful! I was really keen on doing something like that! Did it change the water chemistry that you noticed? And so it's agate, do you know if it was natural or dyed?


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## copperfish (Jan 21, 2014)

Thanks for digging into this sheridan! I'd like to use crystals too, I understand the sharp edges and all. But if ok regarding water quality, I'd be happy to move ahead also with adding some crystals.


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## sheridan (May 13, 2014)

copperfish said:


> Thanks for digging into this sheridan! I'd like to use crystals too, I understand the sharp edges and all. But if ok regarding water quality, I'd be happy to move ahead also with adding some crystals.


I've been researching for agessss but I could never find anything, and I obviously didn't want to kill any fish, but I love crystals and wanted to combine the two. I was thinking of using tumbled crystals, which would completely eliminate the issue of sharp edges, but I want to mix it up with some raw crystals too. 

I'm really excited to start experimenting with it


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## AndreDecasa (Apr 9, 2014)

I do have opal and sugilite in my aquarium, no effects at all. I rinsed them first. But I dont have any Betta's in that aquarium.


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## sheridan (May 13, 2014)

Andre Decasa said:


> I do have opal and sugilite in my aquarium, no effects at all. I rinsed them first. But I dont have any Betta's in that aquarium.


Oo, polished or raw crystals?? 
I'm not sure if I'll be putting the crystals in with my bettas or in another tank, still haven't fully decided. What fish have you got with them?


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## Matilda (Apr 25, 2012)

Hey Sheridan! I should have clarified about why people say not to put them in a tank. The geode or iron comment is the one I hear most often but neither is accurate. Amethysts won't change your water parameters at all. I live in an area with very soft water, Gh & Kh are practically nil & I've never had any rock change the water or mess up my numbers.

I've used both tumbled & raw crystals but you need to be sure that the raw ones won't injure your fish. It's not just a matter of "sharp" either. I had one tank with guppies & tetras & when I turned on the light one morning, one of the guppies was startled & ran right into a crystal formation I had in there & poked a hole in her side & raised a few scales. I was able to save her but I'm REALLY careful now.


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## sheridan (May 13, 2014)

Matilda said:


> Hey Sheridan! I should have clarified about why people say not to put them in a tank. The geode or iron comment is the one I hear most often but neither is accurate. Amethysts won't change your water parameters at all. I live in an area with very soft water, Gh & Kh are practically nil & I've never had any rock change the water or mess up my numbers.
> 
> I've used both tumbled & raw crystals but you need to be sure that the raw ones won't injure your fish. It's not just a matter of "sharp" either. I had one tank with guppies & tetras & when I turned on the light one morning, one of the guppies was startled & ran right into a crystal formation I had in there & poked a hole in her side & raised a few scales. I was able to save her but I'm REALLY careful now.


Thank you so much for your reply!!
I'll be careful with the types I choose, but I'm definitely not thinking about getting anything to expensive; so I'm sure whatever i pick will be no more dangerous than the rocks you can buy from aquarium stores


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## Matilda (Apr 25, 2012)

sheridan said:


> Thank you so much for your reply!!
> I'll be careful with the types I choose, but I'm definitely not thinking about getting anything to expensive; so I'm sure whatever i pick will be no more dangerous than the rocks you can buy from aquarium stores




*You're very welcome! Make sure to come back & post pics when you get it all set up!*


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## sheridan (May 13, 2014)

Matilda said:


> *You're very welcome! Make sure to come back & post pics when you get it all set up!*


I sure will, I'm currently in the process of planting up my tanks and choosing some fish, and I'll get to a crystal store toooo, very excited!


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## AndreDecasa (Apr 9, 2014)

sheridan said:


> Oo, polished or raw crystals??
> I'm not sure if I'll be putting the crystals in with my bettas or in another tank, still haven't fully decided. What fish have you got with them?


Polished ofcourse, I have platies, mollies and angels.


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