Slate?

[Chevalrose]

I'm considering using slate when I do end up getting a gecko. My questions for people who use slate are

1) Do you use lots of small tiles or a couple large ones?

2) Do you take them out and just soak them when you "heavy" clean?

3) Do you grout it to your tank (and if you do this...how to you make sure it's clean?)

Anybody care to share and slate-substrate pictures?

 

[jemjdragon]

I'm considering using slate when I do end up getting a gecko. My questions for people who use slate are

1) Do you use lots of small tiles or a couple large ones?

2) Do you take them out and just soak them when you "heavy" clean?

3) Do you grout it to your tank (and if you do this...how to you make sure it's clean?)

Anybody care to share and slate-substrate pictures?

1) I used used the medium sized tiles and had to cut a few to fit snuggly into the tank. I think the size of the tiles is only based on preference.

2) For heavey cleans I boil them for 5-10minutes. I feel it not only kills bacteria and parasites but also makes them easier to clean.

3) I did not grout them to the tank. I wanted them to be easily removed for cleaning. I think if you grout them you'd need a very mild bleach solution to clean it and then rinse a lot to make sure the bleach is all gone.

This is Mift's Tank:

I just put new tiles in it. Its a nice change from news paper.

This was Ryoo's Tank:

Some people like to add sand under the tile so that the tile absorbs more heat. In the picture above, I was just to lazy to remove the sand but I removed it when I found mealworms could squeaze between the tile sometimes and burry themselves in the sand. I also had gained more hides after a while, but this is how Ryoo's tank looked before that and to show how tile looks in large open areas..

 

[steve905]

I'd be cafeful on boiling your tiles. Slate is essentially compressed mud. If you totally submerege it then submit it to extreme heat you may winde up with a pile of goo....What I would do before useing is apply a high gloss sealer to the slate. This essentially seals the pores that hold bacterias and could cause problems. You could then do a bleach wash/rinse in normal water temps with no problems. I reccommend a solvent based sealer since molecularly they are smaller than water based and you get a better penetration. Good luck!

 

[Chevalrose]

Steve-
Do you have any recommendations for a sealer that is water based and gecko-friendly?

 

[jemjdragon]

I've never had problems with boiling slate. It never melted or became goo. Also slate is a type of metamorphic rock, not mud.

Slate forms when shale, which consists of clay minerals, is put under pressure with temperatures of a few hundred degrees or so. Then the clays begin to revert to the mica minerals from which they formed. This does two things: first, the rock grows hard enough to ring or "tink" under the hammer, and second, the rock gets a pronounced cleavage direction, so that it breaks along flat planes.

http://geology.about.com/od/rocks/ig/metrockindex/rocpicslate.htm

Since slate forms under high heat and pressure it won't melt when boiled.

 

[Seraph27]

I'd be cafeful on boiling your tiles. Slate is essentially compressed mud. If you totally submerege it then submit it to extreme heat you may winde up with a pile of goo....What I would do before useing is apply a high gloss sealer to the slate. This essentially seals the pores that hold bacterias and could cause problems. You could then do a bleach wash/rinse in normal water temps with no problems. I reccommend a solvent based sealer since molecularly they are smaller than water based and you get a better penetration. Good luck!

Slate would not melt so easily; slate is actually metamorphisised sedimentary rock. It is amazingly easy to crack, and does so both along its cleavage and against the cleavage, so I would take care not to drop it. Otherwise, it should melt at over 600 C, 6 times what it could be exposed to in boiling water...but you might be able to melt it in some heated oil in a pressure cooker if you really wanted to...
Sorry bout that, bit of a tangent. There is one case I could see slate melting in boiling water though, if it wasn't slate but was instead, compressed mud someone had conned off as slate, then it could melt in boiling water, otherwise I don't see it happening.

 

[RagginOut]

good to know.

 

[Chestersmom]

I bake my tiles in the oven once a month. At the moment I have 3 big tiles that cover most of the tank. Under the tile is nonadhesive shelf liner. One tile comes up off the bottom about 1/2 inch and it's Chester's favorite sleeping spot.

 

[gaparicio]

Wow, talk about going above and beyond when cleaning tile. When I had a naturalistic setup that housed 1.5 leos, I usually swapped out the one soiled tile (they only soiled the corner tile) for a clean one every week or so. I never glued or grouted them to the tank since I didn't feel a need to. They're heavy enough where they don't move once they're in place. I washed the tile with antibacterial soap and rinsed it well. That's it.