quartz in a freshwater tank

Hi Everyone,

I am wondering if anyone has tried or know if its safe to use White quartz in a freshwater tank ? I have access to some real nice pieces and think that using quartz with the white sand along with dark sand with dark rocks will give me some cool contrast effects. I also have some pieces of driftwood I am boiling and will soak. The driftwood was picked up on the seashore and has spent some time in the salt water then washed up on the land where it has likely spent years drying in the sun.

any things that I should be careful of or need to do to make these pieces safe in a 150 gal tank. ?

thanks

Jim

I forgot to mention that my goad was crystal clear water without the brown or yellow tint from tannin

There should be no issues using quartz in either a freshwater or marine tank.
There are no special issues with the wood as long as it is well cleaned and free of any pollutants picked up on the beach. However the wood will release some tannins into the water no matter how long you boil and soak it beforehand. It will not be a lot,even if the wood came from a tree species that has a lot of tannins in its makeup originally, so as long as you are doing normal water changes, and especially if you use activated carbon in your filter, the water should not be stained by tannins . You will likely find it takes a longtime to waterlog the wood so it sinks naturally . You'll most likely have to tie or glue it to some of your quartz rock to keep it submerged.

Thanks Dave,

I haven't seen anyone who has used the quartz and am guessing that people steer clear of it because it would show the algae very quickly. I'm going to give it a try and hope that running the uv sterilizer from day one it will keep the algae out of the tank...