Message: 1
Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2011 14:47:01 -0400
From: Carol Ross <dragonmom40 at gmail_com>
Subject: Re: [APD] rocks
To: aquatic-plants at actwin_com
I have used many different types of rocks in my tanks over the years. A
lot
of rocks were from PA creeks. I have also picked up a lot of beautiful
rocks from quarries, including different colors of quartz, river pebbles,
shales, granites, & marbles. The great thing about shopping at quarries
is
first that the selection is SO much better (you can probably find the
shapes
sizes and colors you are looking for) and second, the prices are so much
more reasonable than in fish stores. The only thing I ever had any
problem
with was some gorgeous weathered limestone, which raised my pH, but I
solved
that by using it in a tank of high pH loving livebearers. Stay away from
rock that is green unless you know it doesn't contain copper. If you want
to be on the safe side, wash the rock and put it in a small tank with a
few
feeder fish for a couple of weeks. Then you'll know if it is safe to use.
If you can find it, bear mountain shale is gorgeous for scaping. It is
very
red, and has textured and often convoluted layers. I once won a ribbon
for
a specialty tank scaped solely with rose quartz, from the "gravel" up to
the
largest rock, using reddish plastic plants, (I know that is a forbidden
thing to the purists here, but it was back in the early sixties and I
couldn't find any live plants of the appropriate colors for me to use back
then) and containing assorted female bettas of pink to purple hues.
Another of my tanks in that show was a 55 with a ton of bear mountain
shale
laid out so the strata looked natural. A lot of it was attached to the
glass with RTV silastic (it wasn't sold as aquarium sealant back then, and
my 55 was a metal frame, slate bottom with that tar like stuff that was
used
back then to seal the glass). and I had the water level about 4 inches low
with sundews and fly traps growing on the top shales along with a few bog
plants. The live plants in the water were mainly swords and vallisneria,
with dwarf sagittarias in the foreground. I used black gravel and a
forest
green background. The fish were red velvet swords, red wagtail platies,
cherry barbs and cories. To top it off, Sylvania grolux made the whole
set
up stunning. Oh how I wish that grolux was still available. Anyway,
pardon
my rambling, but I just wanted to show how one can find rocks of most
types
easily and reasonably. IMHO I think that Amano type setups should be
easier
to do with quarry rocks.
Carol < " )))><
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2011 21:37:56 +0100
From: Stuart Halliday <stuart at mytriops_com>
Subject: Re: [APD] rocks
To: aquatic plants digest <aquatic-plants at actwin_com>
On 21/09/2011 19:47, Carol Ross wrote:
Stay away from
rock that is green unless you know it doesn't contain copper. If you
want
to be on the safe side, wash the rock and put it in a small tank with a
few
feeder fish for a couple of weeks. Then you'll know if it is safe to
use.
Hmm.
This is illegal in quite a few countries. :)
So I'd also advise people observe their local laws.
--
Stuart Halliday
http://mytriops.com/
200 Million years in the making...
------------------------------
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