Rock and Driftwood?

[billswin]

I am looking to buy rock and driftwood for my 75 gallon tank, but I have had very little luck. Most rock seems like its for saltwater. Is there any large rock other than slate or little rocks that I can use?

I have searched on google with little luck and ebay has some driftwood but not much rock. Whats the best way to make sure these are clean just pour boiling water on them?

 

[stoddern]

boiling drift wood will make it fall apart faster, I recomend getting pretreated south american hard wood from a pet store and then soak it in a bucket of water for a few days to get the tannens out.

as for rocks most ppl tend to stay away from soft and porus rocks as they can leach minerals into the water changing the ph, common stone types used are limestone, petrified coral, slate or shale and some granite, remember to never bleach a stone as it is hard to remove all the bleach from it, you can boil them but not really neaded just give a good scrubing in hot water

 

[sheamurai]

My fs sells lava rock - and I've found that the local hardware stores sell bags of lava rock for the bbq a LOT cheaper than the fs, altho the rocks are smaller...

 

[AndiH]

my LFS sells mopani wood which I've fallen in love with

 

[Newman]

ive bought mopani and malayan wood from my lfs as well a zebra rock and other types of quartz rocks that dont really raise your pH (noticeably)

Ebay should have tons of these. and lfs often carry the driftwood and lava rock.

 

[Lotus]

You can use river rocks in the tank. Try a local landscaping rock supplier. The chain home improvement stores don't have much (Lowe's, Home Depot), but a landscaping or gardening center usually will.

Igneous rocks like granite work well. Stay away from limestone/calcium based rocks, though.

I agree on the driftwood from a store that's pretreated. Boiling will just make it break down in your tank.

 

[billswin]

I have looked at a few LFS but they only have Lava Rocks ($20) for a 8" x 8" seems kind of pricey. I am just worried with all the razor sharp edges it will collect algae and be hard to clean since its not smooth. They don't look like they could be stacked which is what I was hoping to do. Being in Florida there are a ton of landscaping places that sell stones, rocks for cheap, but I am not sure what is safe.

Is there any way to test the rock without buying a bunch? I am not a fan of slate or granite, would like more of a coral type rock boulder with holes maybe light to medium color - that will not be to hard to clean.

Another off the wall question, is it easier to clean or maintain fake items, like plastic decorations or a real rock or driftwood?

 

[Newman]

apart from algae growth on both you dont really need to maintain wood or rocks that much. of course having some sucker mouth fish like an oto and some scavenger animal like shrimp will minimize your need to maintain it. I havent touched any of the zebra rock i have in my 10 gal or the driftwood peices in my 40 gal since i put them in there.

And to test the rocks, get a really strong acid. and pour that on the rock. if it fizzes, its no good as it will raise you pH (if you want african rift cichlids you actually want that) Vinegar is a very basic acid test, but the acid there isnt very strong and may not produce a reaction when there should be one. I dont remember but is lemon juice a stronger acid...? 0_o

 

[Lotus]

Muriatic acid is what most people use to test rocks. You can buy it in the pool section of Lowe's or Home Depot, but it's nasty, dangerous stuff. If you put a drop on the rock, and the rock fizzes, it's not good for freshwater tanks.

Generally, rocks that come from the sea are not safe for freshwater, or at least they'll raise the pH and KH through the roof.

 

[Newman]

not even good enough for a Malawi setup?

 

[billswin]

Ok I have been looking around with little luck, found some lava rock but really don't like it for my tank. I bought a 30 Ib rock from Lowes today for $10.95 but they have no clue what it is made of. I have it in a 5 gallon bucket of water and washed it off. I don't have any muratic acid to test it and its $11 for this stuff just for a test seams pricey.

Is there any other way to tell if it will be ok without dropping $11 for muratic acid for a few drops. The rock is light colored light beige with holes, but it was powdery before I washed it off. Any help would be great I don't want to buy more if it won't work.

This might be a dumb question but its pretty heavy and I was thinking of using a few, will the tank bottom hold that much weight? The stand I have does not have a flat bottom but it rests on the 4 edges instead. I would hate to set it up and the rock just breaks through the bottom.

 

[Newman]

Be really careful with that weight. dont put in more than you think the tank can handle. remember the water adds tons of pressure as well. and certainly dont pu the rock smack in the middle of the bottom.


you can test it with vinegar...but its a pretty inaccurate test. just buy the acid, it may seem pricey at first, but you may need to test more rocks if you plan on changing the scape or setting up new tanks in the future. the acid can also be used to test any sort of pebbles and substrate gravel and even sand.

 

[billswin]

thats the problem I have no idea what the tank can handle, I see tanks like reef tanks with TONS of rock - some people say they have over 100 Ibs. of rock.

The bottom glass it tempered but I have no clue whats safe or what I should even try.

 

[Newman]

cant persnoally help you there, as i only use light driftwood and smaller zebra rocks. Um, try asking a person on here who keeps an Mbuna/rift setup with rocks or ask around in the saltwater section of this forum. also aske any memebers that have the marine tanks with tons of live rock.. they could help.