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Is Biotite aquarium safe?
I collected a bunch of nice river gravel from a local river. I boiled it
to kill off any nasties living in the gravel (I saw some larvae and worms),
but I'm a little concerned about one of the minerals in the gravel. It looks
like something that I've always called "fool's gold", and I thought it was
pyrite. It's small shiny gold flakes. After a little research, I now
think that it's actually Biotite, which commonly occurs as flakes.
Here's a website that lists info about biotite:
http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/silicate/biotite/biotite.htm
It lists the chemical makeup of biotite as
K (FE, Mg)3 AlSi3 O10 (F, OH)2, Potassium iron magnesium aluminum silicate
hydroxide fluoride.
So, is this stuff safe in my aquarium? It didn't react to the vinegar test.