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

Actually it's not clay (unless porcelain is a clay substance?), it's the
same color pattern all the way through the tile (not just glazed on top).
They are the ones designed for outside/inside use and heavy traffic, so you
could scratch half the tile away and it would still look normal since it's
all the same color pattern throughout.

Harry

"Charles Spitzer" charlie.spitzer@nospam. .com wrote in message
news:c51hrb$5rf$1@transfer. .com...
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.

porcelain is clay. it is a certain type of clay fired at a higher than
normal temperature.

"Harry Muscle" wrote in message
...
Actually it's not clay (unless porcelain is a clay substance?), it's the
same color pattern all the way through the tile (not just glazed on top).
They are the ones designed for outside/inside use and heavy traffic, so
you
could scratch half the tile away and it would still look normal since it's
all the same color pattern throughout.

Harry

"Charles Spitzer" charlie.spitzer@nospam. .com wrote in message
news:c51hrb$5rf$1@transfer. .com...
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

"Charles Spitzer" charlie.spitzer@nospam. .com wrote in message
news:c51lec$677$1@transfer. .com...

"james" wrote in message
news:qlYcc.410$es.107@fed1read02...
In article c51hrb$5rf$1@transfer. .com,
Charles Spitzer charlie.spitzer@nospam. .com 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, , etc. incidental contact with lead bearing glazes
for
kitchen tiles wouldn't be ither. 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.



But what if the tile doesn't have a glaze on it? What if it's solid
porcelain, with the color pattern embedded throughout the whole tile?

Thanks,
Harry

"Harry Muscle" wrote in message
...
"Charles Spitzer" charlie.spitzer@nospam. .com wrote in message
news:c51lec$677$1@transfer. .com...

"james" wrote in message
news:qlYcc.410$es.107@fed1read02...
In article c51hrb$5rf$1@transfer. .com,
Charles Spitzer charlie.spitzer@nospam. .com 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, , etc. incidental contact with lead bearing glazes
for
kitchen tiles wouldn't be ither. 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.



But what if the tile doesn't have a glaze on it? What if it's solid
porcelain, with the color pattern embedded throughout the whole tile?

Thanks,
Harry


then it depends upon what is in the clay, which comes from the ground and
has LOTS of different metals in it, or could even be a blend of different
clays from different regions of the world. for sure, the tile manufacturer
won't know that, or at least, they won't tell. i've never seen an msds on
tile.

"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.