# Quartz crystals and other weird rocks?



## 0xDEADBEEF (Aug 22, 2014)

Has anyone tried using things like quartz crystals, geodes, carborundum rocks, obsidian and all other kinds of weird shaped and colorful rocks in aquarium landscaping? I am thinking about building a sort of an alien world, possibly with all red plants and some weirder ones like crinum calamistratum, banana plant etc.

I'd use only natural stones and real live plants (none of the glo-stuff).

Maybe with some small model of a crashed spaceship embedded in the substrate ;-)

What do you guys think?


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## Gravistunn (Aug 8, 2014)

I have used quartz and a few small pieces of petrified wood and my only word of caution (other then normal rock testing to make sure it's ok to go) would be I watch out for algae. When algae started growing on my quartz it was a pain to keep clean because I hadn't figured out how to keep algae growth down yet. 


~Travis


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## ChemGuyEthan (Apr 13, 2014)

Cool idea! I would say most crystals will be fine, especially quartz. The geodes...maybe. If I remember right, they're often encased in some sort of limestone-type rock which may affect your water chemistry. Maybe you could look into clear coat spray acrylic (or something of the like) to seal off the dull side? I don't have experience with that, but it was just a thought.

You could always get what rocks/crystals you want, then put them in a bucket of water (or maybe separate by rock type) for a few weeks to check and see if any of the common parameters (like KH, GH, and pH) change much with time. Petrified wood should be fine, I've seen lots of people using it.

I guess my only other caution would be to watch out for sharp edges on some of the rocks/crystals as they might harm the fish.

You could also (dare I say it) get high quality, plastic gems/crystals and mix them with real petrified wood or other stones. If done correctly, I think you could pull off a natural, but alien look with those and then not have to fret about water chemistry.

Good luck!


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## Yokai (Dec 7, 2014)

ya!! I used quartz in my tank! I love it.. not very good at aquascaping.. but here's a really really old picture of my tank.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=777569&highlight=

Actually there's the link with my setup. I should update with a new picture.


A month after planting.


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## MissOddi (Mar 2, 2011)

Now you've got me wanting to use amethyst in my new setup. It will be in my fairy/crystal room (I collect both) so it would be perfect! Great idea!


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

I have 2 rose quarts rocks in my husband's 12g long tank, it has otos, a dwarf puffer and cherry shrimp (because the puffer didn't quite get the concept that I put 5 in as food.. now I have no clue how many shrimp are in there...). The rocks have been in for several months and I've not seen any shrimp die (never find corpses) so I can say rose quarts is safe at least.... I really need to clean it though as its covered in algae (some gsa came in on penny wort.. wish I'd bleached it first...) but I'm hesitant to clean the rocks as the shrimp just LOVE foraging off them all day long.
Here's one of the rocks, the other is pretty much covered by pennywort now.


I will say you need to be mindful of what else is on the quarts, sometimes other mineral deposits are on there that can have bad effects.. some quarts I did not use was mostly covered in a rougher mineral deposit (not sure what) that jacked GH up.


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## lochaber (Jan 23, 2012)

All types of quartz, amethyst, obsidian, and agate should be perfectly safe - it's all SiO2

Geode is a more general term, but most of the ones I've seen were quartz/agate/amethyst, so should be fine, as long as you pay attention to the parent rock/rind/whatever as ChemGuyEthan mentioned. If they are a silicate in a carbonate matrix/rind, you could try burning off the carbonate with acid. *shrugs*

I always thought it would be really cool to put one of those big amethyst geodes in a tank like a cave. Those things are expensive though...


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## Ash1176 (Mar 17, 2020)

Hey, old thread I know but I wonder if you ever did your alien tank? I have another spare tank was looking at rose quartz as a rock for my daughters tank, thinking of some black substrate, I also have a really cool purple space background with loads of galaxies and stars, we could use. was thinking about ideas along those kinda lines anyway, this would a be a great idea...
Love the idea of using crinum calamistratum as a plant it looks so alien, was also thinking of using littorella spread thinly on the ground... 
was wandering what kind of fish you were thinking of using ? 
I was looking at some angelfish... 
do you have any pictures of that tank ?


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## reddhawkk (Dec 28, 2011)

I would be very careful about using obsidian as it is wicked sharp. Blades used to be made from it for eye surgery as it is sharper, and produces a cleaner cut, than surgical steel.


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