Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Every once in a while I read/hear it mentioned that bricks are not good to use in tanks/containers, that there is something in their composition that leeches into the water. Does anyone know if this is true and, if so, what the harmful substance is? Thanks.

I haven't heard of anything bad about bricks... one thing I do hear/experienced is bricks that aren't exactly smooth and can harm a turtle. Plus a brick alone has sharp sides (and sometimes really bad corners depending on the brick) which can harm a turtle.

I personally use some just to stack in order to place a bigger basking rock on top. Without them I would have to find perfect rocks which is really hard to do

well some peeople worry about arsenic, but the most important thing is that bricks are very rough and notorious for scratching plastrons which leads to sites for infection and "shell rot".
don't use bricks in any place they will come into direct contact with the turtle's body.

Thanks for the responses. I was thinking of using them to put a basking area on, not for the basking area itself. Now that I know there`s arsenic in them, though, I don`t think I`ll be using them at all. Thanks again.

Im thinking you could polyurethane a brick to smooth out the sides and hold in the bad stuff. Any idea if that would work?
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Is polyurethane OK? That doesn`t have harmful chemicals in it? Never thought of even trying it.

I don't know for sure, but I can say I'd personally not use poly. Hubby agrees that stains, sealants, paints or whatever would most likely have chems that would seep out.

But we're not experts.

A turtle raiser from a group told me to use a GE II or III silicone from the paint section to glue things down. He built aquariums w/ it and made ramps and such. He said make sure it was the plain clear kind that wasn't mildew resistant.

I would think coating a brick w/ this would work.

Coincidently, I was going to ask about silicone as a coating in my last post. Now I`m thinking it`s just better to have a basking area that allows for swimming underneath. Anyway, thanks for the info and suggestion.

I've been using bricks for years, never had a problem. I use them to get the smooth basking area up to the proper level. I had to lean a stump against one in the pond to protect the turts from one corner, but that's it.

I use 2 bricks to lift a cave (or bridge, not sure what you call it)so my turtles can get on their island easier

I've been watching them to make sure they don't hurt themselves and they seem to be doing good