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looking for rocks

glamp88

Members
Does anyone know of a good place to go to get holey rock or any other types of rocks that are good for tanks? I'm trying to limit my spending. Thanks.
 
Irwin Stone in Rockville and Frederick carry pumice in all sizes. Nice and light weight, non-reactive, and you can drill/gring/sand it like it was styrofoam.

I have made spawning caves and even arches with it before using nothing more than a masonary drill bit. You can even use other pieces of it to sand out any tool marks.

MAKE SURE YOU WEAR GLOVES :)

I would wait until it has not rained for a few days before you buy any though, it is sold by weight, and a wet piece can weight as much as 5 times what a dry one can.

If you have problems making it sink, boil it for 5 mins then drop it in ice water, it should sink right away. Because it is so porous you can also silicone it right to a piece of slate.
 

jonclark96

Past CCA President
Adding on to Airborne's comments, Irwin stone also sells big river stones by the TON for construction projects. I think it is like $40/ton, so if you are only looking for 50 lbs of rock, it is really affordable.
 

glamp88

Members
Thanks for the help. That's exactly what I was looking for. I never thought of pumice but now that you mention it, it sounds perfect.

Another question...

What are the good local fish stores around the area? I just moved up here and haven't been able to find a good one yet.
 

jonclark96

Past CCA President
There are lots of good stores locally. In Maryland:

Tropical Fish World in Gaithersburg
Tropical Lagoon in Silver Spring
Rick's in Frederick
House of Tropicals in Glen Burnie?
Exotic Aquatics - North of Baltimore
Congressional in Rockville

In VA, the only ones I have been to are Super Pets in Annanndale (not the chain, this is a LFS) and Pristine Aquarium just down the road from Super Pets.

I am sure I am forgetting some...

Jon
 

F8LBITE

Members
Im in Falls Church. I have these rocks im looking to get rid of, keeping some but will let most of them go for cheap:

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On the pumice, look carefully through the rocks, many times you can fins some that have black veining through them. While these black areas are harder to drill through, they are not impossible.

The GWAPA meeting host has a really nice tall tank, and wanted to build a wall of rock. He was going to use styro, but I sugested he make a baseplate of plexiglass, and glue PVC pipes vertically on it. The you can cut the rocks any way you like, drill a hole, and slide the rock over a pipe. With a little care and adjustment you can build a really tall wall of rock in the back, add very little weight to the tank, and not have to worry about anything getting undermined and falling.

One more option is to make flat surfaces and silicone the rocks directlly to the back wall, but if I ever do it to my tanks again Rodney will kill me. <grin>
 
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Charlutz

Members
All my current rocks are wild caught from Columbia, MD.

I have some lava rock for sale in a thread in the buy/sell forum.
 

mdlnewman

Members
All the rock you see in my tank photos came from Maisel Bros, in Glen Burnie. They sell rocks by the pallet+ and have some broken pallets. If you come in for less than 100lbs they just wave you on. BTW a 5 gal bucket full of rocks can be 60-100lb.
 

UNCLERUCKUS

"THE ALL POWERFUL Q !!
I GO TO HIGH POINT STATE PARK IN LAUREL TO GET MY RIVER ROCKS AS WELL AS A FEW OTHER LOCAL RIVERS. SCRUB WITH BLEACH AND BAKE THEM 10 MINUTES OR SO. GREAT PRICES TOO. FREE!!!
 

Avatar

Plenipotentiary-at-large
Almost any landscaping yard that sells rocks has rubble for free

It's no good for gardens but it's perfect for tanks. Sandstone, slate, agate, volcanic, etc, - it's generally all good except for the limestone (changes pH). At worst a 5 gallon bucketful is likely to cost a few bucks (since they all sell it by weight or by the pallet) as opposed to the absurd amount you'd pay at the LFS. I'm into captive-bred fish, but like others here, I tend to prefer 'wild' rocks, particularly when they're from a vein of something interesting so they're all 'related'.
 

dSerk

Members
I'm planning on capturing some wild rocks for my new tank. I thought I'd take a trip down to a local creek (Four Mile Run isn't far from my home in Falls Church). Is it legal? I keep having visions of being questioned by the police about my bucket'o'rocks :rolleyes:
 

Avatar

Plenipotentiary-at-large
Forgiveness easier than permission...

...and discretion is the better part of many things. As long as you're not planning a major excavation, imagine a very small non-commercial sedimentary/metamorphic relocation exercise won't arouse too much attention/concern, certainly won't make any difference to the creek ecology or its recreational value. Worst comes to worst you might have to put the rocks back.

Good hunting.

PS- Just don't take any fish or other living specimens - there are definitely regulations for that sort of activity, and rightfully so.
 

dSerk

Members
Worst comes to worst you might have to put the rocks back.

If accosted I might just start singing Arlo Guthrie, "This land is your land..."
 

minifoot77

Members
I'm planning on capturing some wild rocks for my new tank. I thought I'd take a trip down to a local creek (Four Mile Run isn't far from my home in Falls Church). Is it legal? I keep having visions of being questioned by the police about my bucket'o'rocks :rolleyes:


just make sure they are of legal size and you don't take more than your bag limit (in this case a bucket limit)
 
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