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Looking for a rock

castle

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I'm looking for a rock that is somewhat like a thick tile (1inch - 2inch thick), think of this as a flat top and bottom, but rough around the edges and in varying sizes, colour is not too important, but aquarium safe.

Any ideas? I basically want to stack a column of irregular tile like rocks
 
I'm looking for a rock that is somewhat like a thick tile (1inch - 2inch thick), think of this as a flat top and bottom, but rough around the edges and in varying sizes, colour is not too important, but aquarium safe.

Any ideas? I basically want to stack a column of irregular tile like rocks
you could always find some with slightly irregular tops/bottoms and use an angle grinder to flatten them out where they touch; carefully selected stones and sizes is the key here I think as you don't want to show where you have used the grinder.
It might also be worth drilling the middle out and inserting a tube or rod along with some silicone if you're going high to keep the column stable.
Slate is always a good shout but you just have to be careful shaping them and understand it fractures easily.
I'd start by looking at the colour you want to try and also quite importantly the footprint.
Do you have a look you're going for?
 
Good suggestions all; I was definitely going to drill out a central hole so that I could give some reinforcement

flagstone is probably more to my taste - will hunt some out, I guess I may have to get a bit messy and try and split/change its shape
 
Hi all,
flagstone is probably more to my taste - will hunt some out, I guess I may have to get a bit messy and try and split/change its shape
Does it matter if the rock is limestone? If it doesn't there are quite a few <"forest marble" type limestones"> that naturally cleave into fairly flat slabs. They look a lot more natural than grey roofing slates.

cheers Darrel
 
I was thinking of emulating something like this, but in a 30cm cube, so rock size would be an issue I am sure too.
I've had this photo stored for an age, unsure of the source
c6ce1d86-3bf3-4ece-979e-48dbe8d21b69.jpeg
 
I was thinking of emulating something like this
I think that to make something like this and it be sturdy it would be a good idea to have something heavy sat flat on the base of the tank which the tube or rod was fixed to or through; exactly what and how I'm unsure as it would depend on whether you are planting the base of the tank.
-My suggestion/ if it was my tank I would find a friend who works with aluminium and get them to make you something with a footprint in an X type shape and a piece of round bar welded to it, maybe drill the first stone or two out bigger so you can get some bracing in there and use a big a piece of round bar as you can get away with.
-Flooring tiles are always a useful tool but would require a couple stuck together to fix a bulkhead type fitting through and one be drilled bigger if this makes any sense? - also possibly not the most stable.
 
Yeap, the idea would be to weld a stainless steel plate to a pipe, this is called a bad plate in the building industry I think

Looks like I may just drill through some premium stone like frodo or any stone which has enough flat sides to go with. Providing I can get pieces that all look like they fit right, as I plan to drill and chisel out about a tennis ball size from the top rock to plan out above the water line

Ordering the tank once I have found the rock! I was not planning to keep fish in this tank, but some neocaridina wouldn't go amiss.
 
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