this might make you laugh

[Meggy]

i LIVE in texas and am surrounded by rock and sand dealers (of the landscaping variety). after zero luck with any of the ten sand companies i called, asking about silica sand, i just bought a bag of pool filter sand, and let me tell you, it's perfect!


anyway, the next quest is limestone. here's my conversation with a woman at a company called transit mix:

meg: hi, i am looking for a couple of limestones, nothing over 20 lbs.
woman: yes, we have that.
meg: what size, how much?
woman: we have a 1".
meg: 1"? i am looking for a couple of rocks. for an aquarium. you know, like a foot tall or so.
woman: we have a 1"
meg: ok. how much per pound?
meghanthropy: we sell by the ton
meg: aquarium. aquarium. garden?
woman: we can even transport it. how many tons?


i call another company, gulf coast limestone. can't go wrong here, right?
they most likely have nothing over 3"x5", the guy says. how much? $8/lb. whoa!

see, the LFS sells for $2/lb. i was thinking i could beat that, but apparently, for once, the pet store price is the winner. wow!

THE QUEST FOR THE HOLEY GRAIL!

 

[SarahBravo]

Isn't there a company that sells it specifically for aquariums/decoration.... www.texasholeyrock.com. Actually, it's pretty expensive from them as well, but some of it is sooooo beautiful. Maybe get one centrepiece from them and the rest from the lfs?

 

[Walt]

I put prob about 20 river rocks in my tank....
Got em at HomeDepo... 68 cents a rock, regardless of the size and weight

Walt

 

[Synirr]

I just used big ugly brown rocks in my tank... I like the more natural look, and at six cents per pound, they can't be beat!

 

[JackDemp528]

I grabbed these out of the ditch between our yard and the neighbor's yard. Cleaned them up, and now they look pretty good.

 

[SnowyzMom]

You kids just need to live in the Canadian Shield country. I've got 40 rocks like Walt's lying outside my door, we use them to edge the driveway with, there's so many we just pile them up.

Seriously, that's interesting the variations in costs and very funny that that lady didn't get the concept of an aquarium...one smaller than say the Chicago Public Aquarium! (neat neat place by the way)

 

[Angel Lady]

I like all the tanks that was posted but I thing the first one with the rocks is awsome..That is how I am going to fix my cichlid tank.

 

[Ben]

the garden works for me

And i use Pool Filter sand aswell, but isn't it the same as Silica?

DD

 

[pnyklr3]

As far as I knew, pool filter sand WAS silica sand.

 

[-*-MicHAeL-*-]

i get all my stones from the garden LOL

 

[Meggy]

I put prob about 20 river rocks in my tank....
Got em at HomeDepo... 68 cents a rock, regardless of the size and weight

Walt

[snapback]877445[/snapback]​

WHAT A GREAT TIP! i am doing that pronto, as river rocks are also part of my plan. thanks!

 

[Meggy]

As far as I knew, pool filter sand WAS silica sand.

[snapback]878073[/snapback]​

yes. i didn't put two and two together until later. glad i did, finally.

 

[SirMinion]

Limestone? In an aquaruium? Do your fish like REALLY high pH?

 

[Angry_Platy]

I was thinking the same thing SirM

 

[crazyelece]

For all of those interested:

My family has owned a landscape supply store for three generations now and many people are interested in the hobby about getting texas holey rock through us. As me and my brother are both into aquariums we also were interested. Here is the skivy. The only quarries we could find it in were both located in Utah. Don't ask me why they call it texas holey rock because it sure doesn't come from texas. Anyway at a wholesale rate it came out to about 2-3 dollars a pound after shipping, but the big crapper is that a minimum order is around 10 to 12 tons. Needless to say it would lie in stock for a very long time and really isn't worth bringing in until someone finds a use for it other than aquariums.

So long story short it is one of those rocks that you might as well bite the bullet and buy from a lfs.

Now slate and other types of rocks - landscape supply store all the way.