Is this safe?

[jacobfata]

I was rearranging some plants outdoors today and I ended up with and extra, empty clean clay pot and an idea came to mind. Would it be safe to put this in my aquarium? I have a discus aquarium so my water quality is important. I see photos of clay flower pots being used in aquariums all the time. But is it a specific type of flower pot that has to be used or is this one safe to use also? My fear is that this will cause the pH to spike or cause harm to these sensitive little guys. Going to the store and buying a new one it’s no problem I just need to understand how the clay flower pot process works and is safe with the discus. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Rocksor]

I've used a pot just like that which had plants. I soaked in used tank water, changing the water out when I did a water change. I did this for about a week (3 water changes and up to 75 gallons of water rinsing the used terracota pot).

 

[TwoHedWlf]

Yeah, terracota pots are fine. Tons of people use them, I've had several in my tank for a decade. They're completely inert, no effect on PH.

 

[Fishflyer]

I was rearranging some plants outdoors today and I ended up with and extra, empty clean clay pot and an idea came to mind. Would it be safe to put this in my aquarium? I have a discus aquarium so my water quality is important. I see photos of clay flower pots being used in aquariums all the time. But is it a specific type of flower pot that has to be used or is this one safe to use also? My fear is that this will cause the pH to spike or cause harm to these sensitive little guys. Going to the store and buying a new one it’s no problem I just need to understand how the clay flower pot process works and is safe with the discus. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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I just wanted to say that you have a really nice aquarium. You have already have your answers on the pots. Another member will only use crocks that are rated safe for food storage.

Probably your own used pots might be slightly better than new ones that may have residue from the manufacturing process. In either case I would follow Rocksor 's advisory and do a thorough soak and rinse with either new or used pots. Terracotta pots are slightly porous, so if you used insecticides on your plants, including the the organic soaps; I would be very thorough about the clean and soak process or just skip using those pots. I have used my used plant pots without harm to my fish.

 

[jacobfata]

I just wanted to say that you have a really nice aquarium. You have already have your answers on the pots. Another member will only use crocks that are rated safe for food storage.

Probably your own used pots might be slightly better than new ones that may have residue from the manufacturing process. In either case I would follow Rocksor 's advisory and do a thorough soak and rinse with either new or used pots. Terracotta pots are slightly porous, so if you used insecticides on your plants, including the the organic soaps; I would be very thorough about the clean and soak process or just skip using those pots. I have used my used plant pots without harm to my fish.

Thank you for the kind words. It’s still under construction and I thought the pot might look nice mixed in on the left side but I’m so worried about it releasing chemicals or residue that I’ll probably end up not doing it lol.