Porcelain Tiles in a tank?

Anybody know if porcelain tiles (like the ones that go on the floor) are
safe in an aquarium. Sinks and such are made of porcelain, so the porcelain
itself is fine, but the tiles are colored porcelain. Anyone know what kind
of chemicals they use to color porcelain, and if this stuff would be pretty
well encased inside the porcelain so none of it leaches out? I'm hoping to
use these tiles for a background.

Thanks,
Harry

clay. it's not encased at all because the tiles are only glazed on top of
porcelain.

neither the glaze nor the tile may be safe. there's a lot of glazes that
aren't food safe (contain lead, cadmium, etc) and could leach metals from
either a basic or acid solution in contact with it. you'd have to find out
what is in them from the manufacturer, and they probably don't know since
tiles typically don't have a msds.

"Harry Muscle" wrote in message
...
Anybody know if porcelain tiles (like the ones that go on the floor) are
safe in an aquarium. Sinks and such are made of porcelain, so the
porcelain
itself is fine, but the tiles are colored porcelain. Anyone know what
kind
of chemicals they use to color porcelain, and if this stuff would be
pretty
well encased inside the porcelain so none of it leaches out? I'm hoping
to
use these tiles for a background.

Thanks,
Harry

In article ,
Charles Spitzer wrote:

neither the glaze nor the tile may be safe. there's a lot of glazes that
aren't food safe (contain lead, cadmium, etc) and could leach metals from
either a basic or acid solution in contact with it. you'd have to find out
what is in them from the manufacturer, and they probably don't know since
tiles typically don't have a msds.

Anybody selling a kitchen tile laced with toxic heavy metals is just
asking for litigation...

A way to test them is to put some lemon drops on the surface of the tile...
Also, u can find different kind of tiles, porcelain is a high temperature
clay, and then should be a lot more resistant to anything.

--
Paulo
"james" wrote in message
news:qlYcc.410$es.107@fed1read02...
In article ,
Charles Spitzer wrote:

neither the glaze nor the tile may be safe. there's a lot of glazes that
aren't food safe (contain lead, cadmium, etc) and could leach metals from
either a basic or acid solution in contact with it. you'd have to find
out
what is in them from the manufacturer, and they probably don't know since
tiles typically don't have a msds.

Anybody selling a kitchen tile laced with toxic heavy metals is just
asking for litigation...

"james" wrote in message
news:qlYcc.410$es.107@fed1read02...
In article ,
Charles Spitzer wrote:

neither the glaze nor the tile may be safe. there's a lot of glazes that
aren't food safe (contain lead, cadmium, etc) and could leach metals from
either a basic or acid solution in contact with it. you'd have to find
out
what is in them from the manufacturer, and they probably don't know since
tiles typically don't have a msds.

Anybody selling a kitchen tile laced with toxic heavy metals is just
asking for litigation...

not really. also, OP didn't state that they were kitchen tiles. could be
floor, bathroom, pool, etc. incidental contact with lead bearing glazes for
kitchen tiles wouldn't be bad either. the OP is talking about leaving them
inside the tank, which is full contact forever.

they allow lead crystal to be used for decanters as long as you don't store
wine in them. long term contact with lead crystal leaches out the lead into
the wine. it's all a matter of how long the contact is.

"Harry Muscle" wrote:
Anybody know if porcelain tiles (like the ones that go on the floor) are
safe in an aquarium. Sinks and such are made of porcelain, so the porcelain
itself is fine, but the tiles are colored porcelain. Anyone know what kind
of chemicals they use to color porcelain, and if this stuff would be pretty
well encased inside the porcelain so none of it leaches out? I'm hoping to
use these tiles for a background.

It's going to be very dependent on the glaze. Back when I did lots of
pottery, I had to be pretty picky about which glazes I could use for food
containers (especially pitchers). Lots of the prettier colors used heavy
metals as the pigments -- not good to ingest. If you don't know the contents
of the glaze, you're living on the edge.

"Harry Muscle" wrote in message
...
Anybody know if porcelain tiles (like the ones that go on the floor) are
safe in an aquarium. Sinks and such are made of porcelain, so the
porcelain
itself is fine, but the tiles are colored porcelain. Anyone know what
kind
of chemicals they use to color porcelain, and if this stuff would be
pretty
well encased inside the porcelain so none of it leaches out? I'm hoping
to
use these tiles for a background.

Thanks,
Harry



Totally inexperienced suggestion here, but could you secure the tiles
together with a piece of backing like fabric or thin wood and hang that on
the back of the tank on the outside? Maybe that doesn't give the desired
effect.

Just a thought.

"Harry Muscle" wrote in message
...
Anybody know if porcelain tiles (like the ones that go on the floor)
are
safe in an aquarium. Sinks and such are made of porcelain, so the
porcelain
itself is fine, but the tiles are colored porcelain. Anyone know what
kind
of chemicals they use to color porcelain, and if this stuff would be
pretty
well encased inside the porcelain so none of it leaches out? I'm
hoping to
use these tiles for a background.

Thanks,
Harry

How about brushing a thin layer of a marine epoxy over them, to seal
whatever is or isn't there to leech.

Case closed ? ;~)
NetMax

"NetMax" wrote in message
. ..

"Harry Muscle" wrote in message
...
Anybody know if porcelain tiles (like the ones that go on the floor)
are
safe in an aquarium. Sinks and such are made of porcelain, so the
porcelain
itself is fine, but the tiles are colored porcelain. Anyone know what
kind
of chemicals they use to color porcelain, and if this stuff would be
pretty
well encased inside the porcelain so none of it leaches out? I'm
hoping to
use these tiles for a background.

Thanks,
Harry

How about brushing a thin layer of a marine epoxy over them, to seal
whatever is or isn't there to leech.

Case closed ? ;~)
NetMax



I actually thought of that idea last night. I'm just debating whether
that's going to be too much work, and if I should just go for slate tiles
instead.

Thanks,
Harry

Harry Muscle wrote:

Anybody know if porcelain tiles (like the ones that go on the floor) are
safe in an aquarium. Sinks and such are made of porcelain, so the porcelain
itself is fine, but the tiles are colored porcelain. Anyone know what kind
of chemicals they use to color porcelain, and if this stuff would be pretty
well encased inside the porcelain so none of it leaches out? I'm hoping to
use these tiles for a background.

Check with some of the major pool manufacturers. Pools have been lined
using tiles for decades. Hell, if it's good enough for the YMCA pool...