no dumb questions, just dumb people.

[dadstank]

what would saltwater do to diamonds? would it eat away at it over time? or would it, uh survive?

how about gold?

 

[Mikef1]

I dont see there being any problem with the diamonds although they would require a lot more cleaning. As for the gold I guess it would depend if it was white gold or not. With white gold there is a rodium coating that gives it the white look I'm not sure if there could be some sort of electrolysis effect on it. Ive never had a problem with yellow gold or platinum though.

 

[dadstank]

interesting... i saw something that looked like a rock with micro pave diamonds and i swear there was a nemo in the background....

i was just thinking how cool it would be to have somethink like that in the tank... heck! tha'd be worth more than my leather!!!!!!!! or even several of our tanks together!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Actually, diamond is inert in saltwater. Rather there is bacteria that can convert it to charcoal slowly, I don't know.

As for the gold. Most gold that you find is a alloy of copper, silver and gold. 16K gold has more than 1/3 non-gold metal, while 24K gold has a few percent of non-gold, mostly copper. White gold is not white from the Iridium coating. It is solid "white" thru out the entire metal. It is a mixture of gold, nickel, and others. Pure gold is very inert in seawater, and in fact, there is relatively high concentration of gold in natural seawater.

 

[Anonymous]

So how did that gold get into the sea water if it did not dissolve there over time

 

[dadstank]

i would suppose it didn't disolve, but rather formed via componds inherant to water properties?

so i guess just set the diamonds in plastic of some kind and give a tank a serious sparkle!

 

[fcmatt]

i collect gold coins.
http://boston.g4.net/coins/

i know the old gold coins found in shipwrecks are micro pitted.
meaning the gold is fine, it is the copper and silver in the metal
which is corroded/disolved/etc...

so, in the coin world, the gold coin is considered damaged.
pure gold, i assume would go undamaged.

google shipwreck coins for more info.

matt

 

[pcardone]

I picked up some meteorites from a friends property in the Philippines. they look like live rock now,covered in coraline.