New aquascape, hard scape sourced locally at a beach!!

[Adam47]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been hunting for large pebble type rocks and they’re extremely hard to come by for some strange reason. My LFS didn’t have any and neither did any garden centres within transport range.

So, I took the plunge and went out hunting for rocks at my nearest beach. The tank will be for Ocellatus gold, lake Tanganyika cichlids, and is a fluval roma (guess what size 😝). I realise that rocks aren’t as important as shells for keeping shell dwellers, but they look nice and break up line of sight between the fish.

I’ve soaked the rocks in a 10-1 water to bleach solution for 24 hours, then rinsed until the smell of bleach is gone, then soaked in Seachem prime to dechlorinate and dissolve any heavy metals.

Do you think the rocks will be fine after doing all of this? If the rocks contain minerals and alter the PH that should be good right because we want a high PH for these cichlids??

PS let me know your thoughts on the scape!!

 

[hwscot]

Hi @Adam47. I like the look of the hardscape, though for a more natural feel I'd consider adding some smaller pebbles, grading the size down to .. however small you like. In most natural environments there's a wide range of sizes, the number of larger rocks is relatively small even if they're what catch your eye, and the numbers increase as the size goes down.

On the rocks, could you post closer photos .. it's hard to see what they are. It won't be easy to tell very accurately from photos, for many types of rock, but we can make a fair guess. They will likely reflect the geology of the region. In Ireland you have a lot of limestones (as the Burren, for instance). Round about us (NE Scotland) we get a lot of hard rocks (granites etc) which have a high proportion of quartz. Sandstones are common all around these islands, and the great bulk of sand grains will be quartz, but some will have silicate cement binding the grains together, and some will have calcite cements. Limestones and calcites will tend to raise the pH (sandstones with calcite cement much less so) while silicates will be pretty much inert. A few drops of vinegar will quickly show what type of cement. Most large beach pebbles will tend to be predominantly quartz, because it is much more chemically stable and physically strong, so it survives the churning around in water better .. is less prone to fragment to smaller sand-size grains.

If you ask around friends and acquaintances I'd bet you'll find one or two people who are familiar with the local geology and who can tell what type of rock you have very quickly once they have them in their hands.

 

[_Maq_]

I'd consider adding some smaller pebbles, grading the size down to .. however small you like. In most natural environments there's a wide range of sizes

I feel the same.

large pebble type rocks and they’re extremely hard to come by for some strange reason.

You've touched a question which perplexes me for quite a while.
This summer, I had to go to a rivulet of my boyhood for a rough pebbled substrate with smooth edges and dark colour. Such substrates are far from uncommon in nature, they consist often from metamorphosed rock and are regularly free of calcite. They look beautiful, and I'm surely not mistaken if I say that many hobbyists would love to have a sand which is not so damned white!
The question is: Why we can have plenty of (awful, unnatural) Japanese rocks in every shop and not these beautiful and natural rocks/substrates which are at hand? Some environmental protection, or what? And if so, we can import it from the rest of the world, can't we?
Does anyone know the reason?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

So, I took the plunge and went out hunting for rocks at my nearest beach.

Rounded cobbles are always fine, you just need to give them a quick dip in freshwater and they are good to go. Only really <"hard rocks form rounded cobbles">, and really hard rocks aren't porous. Have a look at <"Large rocks for large tanks">.

Some environmental protection, or what?

It is illegal in the UK without a license "Removing stones from public beaches is illegal under the Coastal Protection Act 1949", I'm not sure about the Republic of Ireland, but away from really popular beaches I can't see it as an issue.

we can import it from the rest of the world, can't we?

In the UK all the sand, pebbles, cobbles etc you see at Garden Centres etc. have been removed from beaches etc (sometime fossil beaches in quarries), <"just with a license">.

cheers Darrel