Creating My Own Rock Feature

[Justin255]

New to this site and eager to create my owne rock or granite feature in my freshwater 45 gallon tank.

Something along the lines of this
This is what I was thinking


How do I go about finding the proper rocks or granite to make this feature?

Thanks

 

[DanTheFishMan11]

welcome and if you find rock you like pour vinegar on and if it fizzes its not safe if it doesnt well,


it is safe

 

[Donya]

What DanTheFishMan11 is describing is primarily a test for carbonates. In labs, geology students do it with HCl too. Carbonates are safe for many aquariums and even desirable in some, it just depends on what your target KH is. If you need soft water, obviously you don't want carbonates. If you are maintaining a tank with a high KH, rock with carbonates can actually help you out with that.

The vinegar test is also not sufficient to determine how suitable a rock is for a given tank regardless of whether you do or don't want carbonates. There are other things to worry about like trace sulfides that can drop the pH. Unless you are really good with your minerals and can eyeball the composition, get a sample and do a soak test. Fill a small bucket of water and measure the pH, KH, and GH before putting the rock in. Then, soak the rock and test a week later. This will tell how how the rock is going to affect your water and you don't have to guess. Ideally you will want to run a control bucket at the same time with the same source water but no rock. Sometimes KH can change just because of CO2 in the atmosphere, so the control will tell how what is rock effect and what isn't in instances where the params change only a little.

 

[RyanV]

It's a lot of fun! I have two 55 gallon tanks and will say my favorite tank by far is the one I built with my own rock structure rather than the store bought crap in my other. Here's an example of what I did, a lot smaller than the pictures you have, but I was concerned about the weight on the tank.

The rocks that I got (flagstone) were from a patio/ landscaping store. They had so many different kinds/ colors, i'm sure you could find what your looking for at a store like that!

 

[Justin255]

It's a lot of fun! I have two 55 gallon tanks and will say my favorite tank by far is the one I built with my own rock structure rather than the store bought crap in my other. Here's an example of what I did, a lot smaller than the pictures you have, but I was concerned about the weight on the tank.

The rocks that I got (flagstone) were from a patio/ landscaping store. They had so many different kinds/ colors, i'm sure you could find what your looking for at a store like that!

Do you mind me asking how much you paid?

 

[RyanV]

Very cheap compared to the pet stores, maybe like 5 dollars? Goes by weight, was like 25 cents a pound for flagstone.

 

[Cu455]

Check out a Home Depot or gardening store they will be much cheaper. I found you can get most aquarium stuff at a Home Depot or a Lowe's much cheaper then a petstore. This includes lights, water pumps, gravel and sand.

 

[RyanV]

Check out a Home Depot or gardening store they will be much cheaper. I found you can get most aquarium stuff at a Home Depot or a Lowe's much cheaper then a petstore. This includes lights, water pumps, gravel and sand.

I tried those stores also for the rock, but they did not have much, but a garden store should too.