# putting a skull in my tank



## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

i have an old skull i want to put in my tank 
im going to boil it a few times might even bleach it so its nice and white then boil it a few more times how will this affect my water chemistry


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## Bigkrup444 (Oct 6, 2003)

Was it made for an aquarium? OR is it a real skull. If it is a real skull it might throw your parameters outta whack, But i dunno. If you have an unused tank i would test it out before adding it in with your 's


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## 360 (Dec 3, 2003)

Bigkrup444 said:


> Was it made for an aquarium? OR is it a real skull. If it is a real skull it might throw your parameters outta whack, But i dunno. If you have an unused tank i would test it out before adding it in with your 's


 good point

never realized how much those fake mean-looking skulls could be! those suckers go for damn near $50-60!!!


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2004)

Is it a big skull?

Bones contain alot of Calcium phosphate, so in an aqaurium they may degrade and raise your pH and increase the concentration of total dissolved solids (TDS).

That being said, there are several people on this board who have skulls in their display tanks and they haven't mentioned any problems with their water parameters caused by the skulls.

I wouldn't wash the skull in bleach because the skull has so many crevices, you may not be able to rinse it all off, even with dechlorinators. Then the bleach will slowly leach out into your tank water.


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

Bullsnake said:


> Is it a big skull?
> 
> Bones contain alot of Calcium phosphate, so in an aqaurium they may degrade and raise your pH and increase the concentration of total dissolved solids (TDS).
> 
> ...


 I think bones are primarily calcium carbonate. Not phosphate... If it were phosphate, it would more likely decrease pH while carbonates increase it. The calcium component will also increase the general hardness of your water (as well as TDS). This all depends on how acidic your water is in the first place.


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

thankx i think ill try and get a fake one instead of risk it


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## Guest (Feb 7, 2004)

DonH said:


> I think bones are primarily calcium carbonate. Not phosphate...


No, shells and corals are made of calcium carbonate. Bones are primarily Calcium phosphate. I found this quote on the web:


> From Miller's Anatomy Of The Dog, 2nd Edition, W. B. Saunders Co., page 112: "Bone is about one third organic and two thirds inorganic material. The inorganic matrix of bone has a microcrystalline structure composed principally of calcium phosphate."
> Bone, then, is composed mainly (two-thirds) of calcium phosphate.


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## CrocKeeper (Dec 26, 2003)

> i have an old skull i want to put in my tank
> im going to boil it a few times might even bleach it so its nice and white then boil it a few more times how will this affect my water chemistry


If you were to boil/bleach/boil the skull, it would more than likely disarticulate.


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

Bullsnake said:


> No, shells and corals are made of calcium carbonate. Bones are primarily Calcium phosphate.


 You're right. I double checked and human bone is only 10% calcium carbonate. Ooops..


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## thePACK (Jan 3, 2003)

like this one


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## Atlanta Braves Baby! (Mar 12, 2003)

I think the safest route would be to just go with a fake one. The make some these days that dont look half bad.


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

its a bit different then that one PACK but it did come from a living thing


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## IDONTKARE47 (Jan 5, 2004)

i put a fake skull that looks really real and neat that i bought from spencers or was it hot topic well anyway i just bleach it and then wash it onec and then put it in and had it in there ever since. well good luck with your idea


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## redpiranhas4 (Feb 23, 2003)

i had real one boiled it several times but after 3 mnths started to go soft and break up in my tank plus little bits of food get inside and start to rot


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

i got some fake ones to put in now and my friend gave me an ideal today to set my tank up like a cemetery cant wait to post pics of it soon


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