Where to get cheap/free aquarium stones ??

[Abedz]

Hey
am setting a cichlid tank .. and am looking for aquarium rocks...
is there any place i can find cheap/free stones ??'


THank you.

[pminister]

id like to know as well............ty 

[Heidi]

I have found lots of neat shaped rocks for my tanks at construction sites where they are working on roads and such. You will have to REALLY clean what you find and run them in plain water which you would then want to test to make sure it's not leaching anything from inside the rock but I have filled up half a trunk load of stones that I couldn't decide upon.  Try and find where they are building a new road and such and I go for the rocks they use to line the ditches.  Of course, this time of year that may be hard!!!

[new2H2O]

Aylmer is all rock and so the new developments always have piles...it's what I have in my cichlid tank.

But of course with all the snow!

[Aquafreak2]

Actually Aylmer is a great place for rock,  there's this spot on Vanier road were I have actually found slate being dumped in a field near the road and I filled up 3 mail crates full.  Best part , free dark slate.

However it is winter and it's all covered up now.

But good luck

[pminister]

Another great places are the transit way routes, cool looking rock structure as well. Of course the broken, and the fallen are the ones you can keep. Just don't go out, with a sledge hammer to start pounding away.

Yeah construction spots are awesome, and aylmer is always great

[Dave and Diane]

this may sound a tad off the wall.

When we first started to set up cichlid tanks.

We went to the local Tomestone place, asked if we could get the broken granite.

The owner said sure its of no use to me now.

worth a shot.

plus a selection of colours we there.

[Stussi613]

I got lucky with a bunch of natural stone at Merkley Supply yesterday.  The guy even went through the pile that I picked out and pulled out all the limestone to make sure that I didn't put it in the tank and kill all the fish.  I'm not sure that limestone would kill the fish, but he seemed to know what he was talking about...so I took his advice.  The best part, even though you have to pay for it, they have a great selection at 33 cents a pound, much cheaper than the LFS at $1.99 and 2.99 a pound.  I got 60 pounds of really nice flat rocks to use with some other plain rocks I collected near my house, I'm going to use the flat rocks to create crevices etc.

[cichlidicted]

Hey ... thanks for the post .. i've been thinking of changing the pink granite rocks i have once i get sand as substrate. How much did you pay for the 60 pounds ?

[Thumpya]

I happened to luck out on the granite, right next to my shop is a granite counter-top cutting shop, he lets me pick through the broken pieces,FREE the only thing is I gotta watch for, are the sharp edges.

[Stussi613]

I've spent the better part of the weekend rubbing the edges of freshly broken rocks against each other to take the sharp edges off...works like a charm.

I happened to luck out on the granite, right next to my shop is a granite counter-top cutting shop, he lets me pick through the broken pieces,FREE the only thing is I gotta watch for, are the sharp edges.

[GrahamWebb]

Great thread...It just so happens I'm setting up my first Cichlid tank also (55 gal) and brought a bunch a rocks back from Morris Island Conservation area on the weekend, One type of rock I believe is quartz but the other I'm not sure about, ideally I'm trying to find rock that will naturally raises the PH of the tank, as I understand that's what Malawi Lake Cichlids require.  Any geologists in the group?
I've taken some pictures of my rocks...http://picasaweb.google.ca/2gwebb/MyAquariums?feat=directlink

[sas]

Great thread...It just so happens I'm setting up my first Cichlid tank also (55 gal) and brought a bunch a rocks back from Morris Island Conservation area on the weekend,

I'm not sure this is the most advisable to advocate?
I was brought up under the impression that a conservation area was a protected area,
meant to be there for everyone to enjoy possibly some endangered lands, etc..
Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Nerine]

Yeah you're not allowed to take rocks off conservations!

[GrahamWebb]

I'm not sure this is the most advisable to advocate?
I was brought up under the impression that a conservation area was a protected area,
meant to be there for everyone to enjoy possibly some endangered lands, etc..
Correct me if I'm wrong.

Maybe I should explain...
I said Morris Island conservation area as a reference to the general area...I picked them up from the side of the road on the way out there, but not from the actual conservation area...The area is neither better nor worse as a result of my visit... I promise.
Now can you take a look at my rocks?

[washefuzzy]

You are in the clear now Graham! 

[GrahamWebb]

pheuf!!!

[Aghad]

haha .. poor graham .... i dont know about the rocks but they are beautiful and wood look amazing under the water with the lights on them.

Advice: get bright colored cichlids ... just like salousi, labs, moori ... they wud look amazing with that dark background.

[sas]

Didn't mean to sound accusatory, by any means, just felt your post needed
clarifying for those that are not so well informed.

As far as the types of rocks, I wonder if the one you have labelled as quartz,
is actually blue marble? We have a seam of it in our area and it does look similar.
No idea of what the others are, sorry.
There is someone posting on the site that knows their rocks, hopefully they'll
jump in here.

[Stussi613]

Now that it's clear that you weren't stealing rocks from a conservation area (LOL)...

http://picasaweb.google.ca/2gwebb/MyAquariums?feat=directlink#5321946271120869874

I picked up some rocks that are similar to this, but look more like sandstone that is red on top and white on the bottom.  I was hesitant to put it in, fearing that it was rust, but the guy at Merkley Supply said it wasn't metallic, it was just the color of the stone.  I'm cycling right now with some zebra danios in the tank, so I'll see if they make it through to figure out if there is anything wrong with the rocks...

[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.