I was told that the rock I got given was quartz so I assumed it would be fine and look cool in my aquarium. After several weeks it has begun to dissolve and break apart. it is half its original size and much clearer now. I am thinking perhaps it is not quartz but some other mineral. It is clear and breaks apart in straight layers. Does anyone know what it could be? No fish have died or anything like that.Thank you
Quartz has a crystalline structure, i.e. the molecules of SiO2 are arranged in a repeated fashion. Amorphous silica does not have that repeated arrangement. Imagine that the angles between the molecules are distorted.
