Slate tile reef safe

[DVH]

Hey everybody, got's a question for you all. I run a fragging and colony coral business(not trying to solicit), but I have an order due in two weeks for 500 frags and was wondering if I could use natural slate floor tile. I have a heavy duty tile saw that im planning on cutting 12"x12" tiles into 1" square tiles. the reason is mainly cost effectivness, a 12"x12" tile will produce 144 tiles, not bad when the tile only cost $1.87 at lowes.:D That's a little over a penny a tile. So what i'm wondering is slate safe for the reef aquarium? I've read a couple of spots online and have heard no negative issues. The three main issues i have is #1 i can't order normal one's in that amount and get the fragging done by the deadline. #2 I'm not trying to be a cheapskate on this, but really, a penny apiece. #3 And probably the most important is that the darkness of the slate brings out the color of the corals so much more than white plugs or tiles. But i don't want to go this route if they'll harm the tank, and deliver the customers frags, and 2 days later they wipe out their entire display tank. So if anyone out there can answer this question would awesome!!!
Thank you in advance.

 

[softchxntaco]

i would say soak them in some water for a few days, perhaps a full week to leach out anything, for the most part slate is ok for aquariums,

 

[Northstar24]

I'm going to disagree here. Slate is not normally found in marine environments, and my guess is something like a floor tile could have chemicals or elements that could leech into the water, either your's or your customers. I wouldn't want to be the one selling frags that could leech toxic things into a customers tank

 

[wontonflip]

A cheap alternative is to make your own aragocrete plugs....but it won't be ready until you cure it....garf.org's site is being with their navigation, but here is a couple of links:

Garf rock recipe:

Aragocrete making

Their aragocrete plugs:

http://www.garf.org/FRUGALREEFER/sps2/SPS2.html

I used Portland cement #3 to make my garf rock. I only used the cement and aragonite; you don't need the plastic sawdust. But it's really easy to make. The only time consuming thing is to make sure to cure them in water for at least 2-3 months to be sure all the chemicals have been leeched out. But in the long run, you make make a ton of plugs for future orders. The most expensive thing is the cement (I paid $22 for mine, but wielded tons of rocks). Best of all, it's 100% reef safe.

 

[Angelajean]

Why don't you order a box of rubble from somewhere like Marco Rocks. It isn't that expensive and ships fairly fast. I like my frags on rock. Its easier to glue into my aquascape. IMO

 

[MitchReef]

I have used 1" square floor tiles many times with no ill effects....and you can get them for HD pretty cheap...I know in the dark ages aquariums were made of slate with one side glass....

One of the most prolific fraggers I know uses broken up granite tiles with no ill effects...I'm no expert, just speaking from m own experience....

 

[kbuser92]

I might be late, but can you buy the 1" glass tiles? Theyre more expensive, but you can get black ones.

 

[kbuser92]

Such as these at ~10¢/ea:
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