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Re: Terra Cotta shards



> Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 16:45:31 -0700
> From: "Jeffrey C.H.Chow" <jeffchow at gte_net>
> 
> I have a question,  I have some terra cotta pottery shards, would these
> provide enough trace iron when submerged?  How much of a pH drop would be
> required for this to occur if any Fe was present in terra cotta.  I only

I sometimes clean old clay flower pots in an HCl solution to get lime
and other minerals out, and not only the acidic water, but the clean water
I use to soak the acid out get quite brown.  It's most likely ferric rather
than ferrous iron.  I suspect some would leach out over a period of time
in the aquarium, but whether this would provide enough iron to be useful
will depend on a lot of factors like natural amount of iron in your tap
water, frequency of water changes, pH, how fast your plants are growing
and how much they are competing for available iron, etc.  I wouldn't count
on it making much difference.

> asked this because I noticed the redness of the shards and I was thinking
> of tieing on some Riccia, if I can ever find a place that has this stuff.
> Whats a good substitute for Riccia while I have your attention?

Well, there's always Java moss... :-)