What rocks are safe and how do I "cure" (?) them?

[PetGuy302]

Hello, I am setting up a new tank and was thinking instead of cut glass as a shelf of sorts for the land area with plants and soil and all, that maybe I could stack a few red bricks in there, and set a few pieces of what appears to be flat decorative red slate on top above the water line and place soil and plants there. Would this work? Also, how can I be sure these types of rocks are safe? There is what seems like a little bit of cement on some of them from where they were attached to something long ago. Do I have to "cure" them and if so, how?

thanks for any helproud:

 

[lims]

dont use any porous (spong like/holy) rocks that could have stuff inside them.
and any rocks you use should be boiled for a while to kill parasites and the like, i boil them for ages, but its up to you. you can also bake stuff aswell. same goes for wood/logs.
The cement will be fine... i think....? im no expert tho,,,,

 

[Kaysie]

Cement is not appropriate for an amphibian tank. It can contain lime and other chemicals will alter your water chemistry.

I'm not sure how you're going to arrange slate to hold soil. To have soil above the water (as far as a shelf), it needs to be a water-tight shelf, or your land will be constantly flooded.

 

[Jennewt]

I've used loads of red bricks and slate pieces in aquariums. I've never seen red slate, are you sure that's what it is? Regarding the cement on the slate, I'd suggest scraping it off with some firm/sharp tools. A trace amount of it is probably not going to be harmful.

I am in agreement with Kaysie's skepticism about putting soil into this setup. I would recommend pothos plant cuttings, which can grow w/o soil.

 

[lims]

use plants like spider plants and and 'creeping jenny', and moss, they all dont need soil, just water or dampness

 

[lims]

make a structure out of aquarium/drift wood and make a rockery on top of it, this provides places to hide for the newts underwater and out of it, and u can plant spider plants, creeping jenny in the rockery cracks and moss, the roots of these plants will just drink straight from the water, and the creeping jenny will live underwater aswell as out of it, make sure to boil the wood tho