Oscar scratches?

[CassieLEO]

I have a whole bunch of Quartz that me and my daughter mined ourselves this summer. I want to put it into Sweet Peas tank as I have lots of different varieties such as Smokey, Rose, Amethyst, Beryl and a lot of Mica...I think it will fit in nice in the tank. But, I was wondering if they would be ok with her in there. I dont want her gettng scratched up and scarred. Do they have tough skin? Will she be ok with them? I want to do something with her tank to make it look nice, as right now there is nothing good looking about my tank other than HER.... LOL!

[Lady Hobbs]

Don't see how it would hurt other than her picking pieces up and perhaps getting some lodged in her mouth. They are known to do that with stones.

[CassieLEO]

They are about the size of half dollars and larger. Would that be small enough for her to choke on when shes a adult?

[teddscau]

Is the quartz rough? It should be okay as long as it doesn't have any sharp edges. Plus, most fish ornaments have sharp jagged parts in the inside, but the fish never seem to get hurt. As with the size of rock one of the fish can swallow, no idea. Fish can get almost any size of rock jammed in their mouth. I watched a show and some guy's goldfish somehow managed to jam a piece of gravel in it's mouth. You could propbably keep the quartz in until your fishy gets bigger.

[CassieLEO]

Well, it isnt treated rock as we broke them ourselves with the hammer and chisel in the mine, but nothing sharp or jagged. It is rough rock, but not sharp. Im not sure how to explain it LOL!!

[teddscau]

Yeah, I understand. Do you have a rock tumbler? You could perhaps buy one (do not buy a cheap one!). You and your daughter would probably enjoy finding nice rocks for your fish and getting them polished up. If you get one, only do the steps it says to do until the rocks are smooth! I kept did each step it says until the last step. I had these gorgeous rocks with sparkles, but the stupid thing over-polished them and rubbed all the sparkles off!

[CassieLEO]

Yeah, I will have to look into them, Thanks!! :D

[Taurus]

Cassie, I'd just put the quartz rock into the tank as is as long as there are no sharp edges. The rough surface of the rock with give good bacteria a place to grow. I would not put them into a tumbler.

[CassieLEO]

Ok, I will do that and if I notice scratches on her ill take it out. Its not super jagged edges, its just raw cut stone...It looks beautiful in there, I will have to get a picture of it for you guys...