Where do you get your wood and rocks?

[Nells250]

Here in Massachusetts there are supposed to be laws forbidding mineral collection on state land, or if a town says so on their land. It really is amazingly stupid in some instances, as we're not a popular location for mineral collecting anymore (though supposedly, historically we had/have many rare and amazing minerals). I tried finding out about these laws and it took a long time to find anyone who works for the state to answer my question, and she basically said as long as a person doesn't take a lot of it for a business, no one will really care. Just don't do a lot of land damage.

I DO know one spot where people have done damage to old quarry walls. There are signs posted saying "nay-nay" but they don't seem to stop anyone. It is up to the collector, I guess... and we have a LOT of self centered people in my state...

 

[finfayce]

So as some of you may know I'm currently planning out a 40gallon southeast Asian themed aquarium (not a biotop) and in wondering where you get your rocks and wood from. I've used charterhouse aquatics before and I was too impressed with what I got. I've looked on pro shrimp, aquarium gardens and my local fish shop. Pro shrimp seems to be the cheapest for wood while my LFS is the cheapest for rock but they don't have a good variety. So is there any other good websites for wood and rock or is pro shrimp and aquarium gardens the best.

a man on Etsy, his shop is called The Ideal Condition- he sells manzanita branches. he has manzanita in his yard and he fine tunes the wood pieces to make beautiful decor for fish tanks.

 

[Acorno]

Good idea I will look on my next walk though I don't want to be carrying a bunch of rocks on an hour walk

It’s a good idea to boil the rocks and driftwood that you find in nature before adding them to your aquarium . I learned that the hard way with some wood.

 

[jaylach]

It’s a good idea to boil the rocks and driftwood that you find in nature before adding them to your aquarium . I learned that the hard way with some wood.

I've seen pros and cons as to boiling wood on these forums.

Pros, of course, include killing any parasites and such.

The main con I've seen is that boiling can break down the wood fibers causing quicker deterioration.

It is possible that baking or even using a microwave may be a better option than boiling and will achieve the same result.