cliffs and caves

[lgb]

I may have bitten off more than I can chew today. Found a pottery store
that was going out of business and bought 25 pounds of dark brown clay.
I figure if I can build cliffs for a model railroad, I ought to be able
to build them (and some caves) for an aquarium. My wife has a kiln
that's big enough to fire about a square foot at a time, so a background
cliff would be in at least 3 or 4 pieces.

It may be a month or two before I get around to doing it, but I'll let
you all know how it turns out. Right now the clay is in sealed bags in
the crisper tray of the refrigerator.

--
BNSF = Build Now, Seep Forever

[Logic316]

lgb wrote:
> I may have bitten off more than I can chew today. Found a pottery store
> that was going out of business and bought 25 pounds of dark brown clay.
> I figure if I can build cliffs for a model railroad, I ought to be able
> to build them (and some caves) for an aquarium. My wife has a kiln
> that's big enough to fire about a square foot at a time, so a background
> cliff would be in at least 3 or 4 pieces.
>
> It may be a month or two before I get around to doing it, but I'll let
> you all know how it turns out. Right now the clay is in sealed bags in
> the crisper tray of the refrigerator.

Make sure she glazes it so that stuff doesn't seep out of the clay and
end up dissolving into the water.

- Logic316



"Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has no heart; and any
man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains."
-- Winston Churchill

[Rocco Moretti]

Logic316 wrote:
> lgb wrote:
>
>> I may have bitten off more than I can chew today. Found a pottery
>> store that was going out of business and bought 25 pounds of dark
>> brown clay. I figure if I can build cliffs for a model railroad, I
>> ought to be able to build them (and some caves) for an aquarium. My
>> wife has a kiln that's big enough to fire about a square foot at a
>> time, so a background cliff would be in at least 3 or 4 pieces.
>>
>> It may be a month or two before I get around to doing it, but I'll let
>> you all know how it turns out. Right now the clay is in sealed bags
>> in the crisper tray of the refrigerator.
>
>
> Make sure she glazes it so that stuff doesn't seep out of the clay and
> end up dissolving into the water.

If you glaze, make sure the glaze used is food-safe. I believe some of
the artistic glazes could leach heavy metals into the food/water.

[A Man]

On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 05:12:00 -0400 in article >,
spoke thusly...
> Make sure she glazes it so that stuff doesn't seep out of the clay and
> end up dissolving into the water.

What would seep out of the clay that's dangerous for fish or invertebrates?
We just had a discussion over at petfish.net that lead is not harmful to
fish.

--
Sig: Say no to fixed width HTML tables. They look terrible in most browsers.

[lgb]

In article >,
says...
> Logic316 wrote:
> >
> > Make sure she glazes it so that stuff doesn't seep out of the clay and
> > end up dissolving into the water.
>
> If you glaze, make sure the glaze used is food-safe. I believe some of
> the artistic glazes could leach heavy metals into the food/water.
>

I was not planning on glazing for that very reason. The clay pots that
a lot of us use for caves aren't glazed, and I've never heard of them
harming any fish.

--
BNSF = Build Now, Seep Forever

[Logic316]

A Man wrote:
> On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 05:12:00 -0400 in article >,
> spoke thusly...
>
>>Make sure she glazes it so that stuff doesn't seep out of the clay and
>>end up dissolving into the water.
>
>
> What would seep out of the clay that's dangerous for fish or invertebrates?
> We just had a discussion over at petfish.net that lead is not harmful to
> fish.

Can you give me a direct URL to that discussion board area?
From I understand, lead isn't toxic only as long as it's in it's solid
elemental form. However, people HAVE contracted lead poisoning by eating
and drinking out of unglazed contaminated clay vessels because the lead
exists there as minute particles capable of dissolving into water. Maybe
I'm wrong and fish with their simpler nervous systems might not be
susceptible to lead poisoning as we are, but if something can injure me
I wouldn't risk putting it in my fish :-)

- Logic316



"Bureaucracy: The process of turning energy into solid waste."

[Elaine T]

Logic316 wrote:
> A Man wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 05:12:00 -0400 in article
>> >, spoke thusly...
>>
>>> Make sure she glazes it so that stuff doesn't seep out of the clay
>>> and end up dissolving into the water.
>>
>>
>>
>> What would seep out of the clay that's dangerous for fish or
>> invertebrates? We just had a discussion over at petfish.net that lead
>> is not harmful to fish.
>
>
> Can you give me a direct URL to that discussion board area?
> From I understand, lead isn't toxic only as long as it's in it's solid
> elemental form. However, people HAVE contracted lead poisoning by eating
> and drinking out of unglazed contaminated clay vessels because the lead
> exists there as minute particles capable of dissolving into water. Maybe
> I'm wrong and fish with their simpler nervous systems might not be
> susceptible to lead poisoning as we are, but if something can injure me
> I wouldn't risk putting it in my fish :-)
>
> - Logic316

lazes with lead as part of the pigment are not safe for containers that
food or drink. Pottery from Mexico used to have this problem. Under
acidic conditions dissolving lead is rather easy and it leaches out of
both contaminated clay and glazes with lead-based pigments (also from
leaded crystal and old-fashioned lead pewter). Fortunately, most of us
have alkaline tap water so it's really not much of an issue for fishtanks.

The cave project sounds really beautiful. I'd leave the clay unglazed
myself, since the gradual covering of algae and diatoms that will grow
on the matte surface will make the clay look more natural.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com