Broken Asphalt ?

[carolinafishkeeper]

I'm setting up a 10g grow out tank for a 1.5 inch FH. It will be a bottomless tank since he will be moved as soon as he's big enough for the other tank.
My ? is can pieces of asphalt be used as "rock", i planned on picking up a few stones from outside the house and cleaning them for use in the tank. Then i can across a few adequate sized Asphalt pieces and was wondering if they could be used as deco. Any help would be greatly appreciated Thanx in advance.

 

[cbfreder]

I don't think that's a good idea. Asphalt is the nasty stuff that is left over when they are refining crude oil.

Brandon

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

Agreed, Im not sure what it would do to your water but I would not risk it. If you really want to know for sure what would happen place some asphalt in some water for awhile then test the water. If you wanna use some cheap easy to find decor why not use more "natural" rock. I say natural because you might want to test out rocks the same way. Depending on the type of rock, it can still change your water chemistry.

GL and keep us updated!

 

[IITUFFTOBEATII]

I don't know for certain that it would not be harmful. But some food for thought:

asphalt concrete is widely used as pavement, pavement increases storm run-off, storm run-off goes to storm drains, storms drains empty into rivers and streams, fish live in rivers and streams. There are envirnomental constraints and laws that all construction has to adhere to, if asphalt was detrimental to wildlife you can bet it would not be used the way it is.

 

[GJC]

I would not.

 

[me_wee_todded]

there are areas of exposed tar in broken asphalt pieces. im not sure that this would have an effect on your fish but it might be better not to risk it

 

[Nic]

the answer was really simple petroleum product+water+fish=you do the math not a good idea get some pieces of field stone won't affect water at all

 

[IITUFFTOBEATII]

there are areas of exposed tar in broken asphalt pieces. im not sure that this would have an effect on your fish but it might be better not to risk it

There is no tar in asphalt, the black sticky stuff in asphalt is bitumen which is made of a mixture of organic liquids. Tar refers to the material obtained from the destructive distillation of coal and is chemically distinct from bitumen.

Upon further reading I found that bitumen is comprised of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which are chemical compounds that consist of fused aromatic rings. These compounds can be point source pollutants (oil spill) or non-point source (atmospheric deposition) and are one of the most widespread organic pollutants.............

So yea, I wouldnt put it in with your fishies

 

[santoury]

Why?
Just use nice natural stones

But yes, it's just... too risky.