Home depot clay bricks

[Charney]

Are the clay bricks from home depot safe to use in the aquarium?

 

[deeda]

You need to be more specific on which product you are referring to using. I like to check the mfg. website to see what materials they use and if they are meant for long term submersion or are just dyed with colorant.

 

[Charney]

You need to be more specific on which product you are referring to using. I like to check the mfg. website to see what materials they use and if they are meant for long term submersion or are just dyed with colorant.

Home depot just lists it as clay brick

 

[RD.]

Online they state: Note: product may vary by store.

….. which isn't surprising, as I suspect that their source of "clay brick" would vary depending on different geographic locations across North America.

 

[deeda]

I did see some older posts regarding using red bricks in tanks and some people did use them. Others recommended putting the brick in a separate container of water to see if it changed the water parameters that we often test for which is usually pH or KH.

 

[Andyroo]

Concur with Deeda - don't trust blindly. In Uni, one small terra-cotta flowerpot killed everything in our 85Gal overnight.
If it's an unfired then the there may be contaminants or there may be a cement holding it together.

 

[RD.]

then the there may be contaminants

This is one of my main concerns when buying items from places such as HD. Unless it is in a sealed or shrink wrapped container, there is no way in knowing what that construction item has been exposed to, from factory to the end retail establishment. Even if it starts out its life as safe/inert. I probably worry too much sometimes, but as you just mentioned regarding your 85 gal disaster, sometimes it's better to be safe, than sorry.

 

[Andyroo]

Dust off the ol' Library card & sign yourself up for a pottery class - DIY!