Where to get cheap/free aquarium stones ??

[rnish]

Watch for rock cuts along the highway.  You can get limestone or granite easily.  I usually boil them to kill anything that might be growing on them.

[ajm1961]

In talking with Ray the other day, it became clearer to me that the substrate and the rocks put into a cichlid tank should contribute to keeping the PH at a level closer to their natural habitat. Adding granite and pool filter sand to a cichlid tank just doesn't appeal to me anymore, as these would be fairly inert. In fact, to dispute what another person has written on this thread, wouldn't LIMESTONE be a good addition, as it is basically made of shells and other elements from the sea bed it once belonged to? And wouldn't this help in naturally raising the PH level? As far as substrate goes, again, wouldn't crushed coral or aragonite be better than sillica based sand?
And if limestone is a good choice, where can we find some here in the Ottawa area?
Cheers!

[Stussi613]

In fact, to dispute what another person has written on this thread, wouldn't LIMESTONE be a good addition, as it is basically made of shells and other elements from the sea bed it once belonged to? And wouldn't this help in naturally raising the PH level? And if limestone is a good choice, where can we find some here in the Ottawa area?
Cheers!

I assume you are referring to my post about the guy at Merkley Supply pulling the limestone out of my pile.  At the time I didn't really know much about what rocks would, and wouldn't be good additions, so I went with his advice.  In fact, he would have been doing 50% of the population a favour since a higher ph in any tank but a cichlid tank would have probably been detrimental to the fish. All that being said, Merkley has lots of different types of natural rock for cheap, and if you tell them you want limestone they have it.

I personally use aragonite for substrate and never have to buffer my PH.

[ajm1961]

I will check out Merkley's then - good to know! 
Also, thanks for sharing the fact that you are successfully using aragonite as substrate to keep the PH levels up for cichlids - I am certainly looking to do the same thing now.

Question to all: is anyone using limestone rocks as well as aragonite substrate in their tank? Is this too much? Should it be one versus the other?
Let me know, as I am in the process of getting substrate and rocks for my 135 gallon cichlid tank.