Hey
I was wondering where do you get your rocks for you tank at? Do you ordering off online, if so, where? Also i was wondering if i could go to the Stone Yard near my house and get Riprap or something like that for my tank? Also, what stone can i use?
If you have a lot spare money to pay shipping on a bunch heavy rocks, then yes online is a good place. Otherwise pers I get mine outta my backyard property Alternativly you may wanna check any good sorted gardening center near you they have landscaping rocks in all shapes & colors for cheap; you want however to pick a non calcareous rock otherwise you'd add them to your tank and up the hardness endlessly and you do not want that.
To test if a rock is rich on calcium or not you can either use plain household vinegar and drip it on it and it'll fuzz back if its rich on calcium (so then don't use it) or the reagens from you liquid NO2 test kit (just check the warning lable one is containing acid the other one ain't I wanna say it was reagens 2; itll do the same then vinegar but already at a lesser calcium concentration.
I live on (near) Lake Ontario. I walked along the beach and picked up a couple of really nice specimens. Cleaned them up, washed them good and poured boiling water over them about a half dozen times.
Took a sledge hammer to them to give them some character and to break them to a usable size and....
Tossed them in the tank. Turned out great. Cost.... a walk in the park and some energy to boil water.
I too gather rocks and driftwood while out on fishing trips nearly each weekend and take care to test them and or clean them. majority of the rock however comes from landscaping stores in my area.Ohh!
My dog "Hoover" has also contributed some nice stones.He appears to have a thing for them.
I still haven't set it up as I'm waiting for the newer tank, but reading into it it looks like play-sand(used for sandboxes and such) are okay to use as substrate. I did some digging and my local Ace Hardware carrys Sakrete Play sand for 4.99 per 50 pound bag, it looks like a few people have successfully used this just fine, after washing it very thoroughly of course.
Seems like a nicer, cheaper, easier alternative to me than using rock and gravel you buy at the store for aquariums.
Then again, I'm still brand new to this, so who knows!
Hope you find something good you like and don't just go cheap though!
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