What’s the easiest type of stone to create good hardscapes

[Jacob Hill-Legion Aquatics]

What’s the easiest type of stone to use to create good hardscapes?

[Ken Burke]

Interesting question, but I think it depends on what you are trying to do.  

[MAC]

Depends. But I'll answer the question for myself. 

The easiest rock for me is what I can find and collect in my area. Volcanic lava rock is easy to stack and make vertical arrangements and dark rounded river stones are an easy way give an authentic 'natural' look. 

 

[Tanked]

Bricks.  I'm only half kidding.  I have used them.  Slate, lava rock, or sandstone  are three of the easiest because you can work them with simple tools if you need to.  If you're asking which is easiest to create your aquascape, it depends on personal taste and the depth of your wallet.  Depending on where you live, local stone can be quite impressive, or you can purchase 'high end' stone.  Keep in mind that some stones may change the water chemistry.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

 

[Jacob Hill-Legion Aquatics]

I’m looking to have rocks at the bottom of a wood like tree.

[Robi]

I would say it depends on how picky you are about the perfect look. Personally i just toss it in move it slightly then walk away get a coffee etc then walk back in if I dont like it after time away i change it and keep doing that till i like it. but lava rock(red and black) and seiryu stone are solid picks. dragon stone i think works better in larger tank, as in nano tanks i feels like the gap/holes in the stone are to outer scale

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

Slate, dragon stone, and seiryu stone are some of the ones I’ve seen the most in showpiece tanks. One good rule of thumb to stick to is to use all the same type of rock.

[nabokovfan87]

If you like darker substrate: Seiryu
If you like Lighter substrate: Lava rock or Dragon stone

The biggest disclaimer is going to be where you get your stone and how much of it you can purchase in order to get a "good stone".

If you buy a certain weight of random stone you're going to get different variations in that package. Higher weight, heigher chance of a heavy, but larger stone to use that generally looks pretty awesome from the start.  If you buy 4x 10 lb packages hoping for a good stone as opposed to one 30+ lb box, you're going to get a large variation in stone sizes.  So..... if you can, find one you like, and then go ahead and find somewhere that will give you a good size stone as a central piece.  After that, find the supporting cast 🙂 .

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I was surprised to see the chemical reaction on the seiryu stone in the video, for how popular it is in aquascapes.

[TheSwissAquarist]

Any rock which have previously been submerged (in rivers, lakes , etc) are usually safe.

[Nina]

I love river stone.  A few big ones look good, surrounded by smaller ones (I can sometimes find smooth stones at the pet store sold as "turtle stones". 

[TheSwissAquarist]

Some rocks here in the Swiss Alps have 'veins' of quartz in them which sparkles under both artificial and natural light. I've been using it for 3 years or so, and I can't attribute any fish death to it. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Sand is made of quartz.

[Tanked]

 

On 9/11/2022 at 12:11 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Some rocks here in the Swiss Alps have 'veins' of quartz in them which sparkles under both artificial and natural light. I've been using it for 3 years or so, and I can't attribute any fish death to it. 

Here in SW Ohio, the selection of hardscape is pretty mundane compared to elsewhere.   Fortunately the glaciers did occasionally dump something interesting on us If you are lucky enough to find it.  Unfortunately the last time I visited the Swiss Alps, rock collecting wasn't an option.  They were usually under metres of snow!  I imagine the possibilities would be endless in summer.

[MattyM]

My LFS has petrified wood - really cool stuff, both big and small pieces are really interesting. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

I think that's the other way round, @Chick-In-Of-TheSea

On 9/11/2022 at 6:30 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Sand is made of quartz.

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 9/12/2022 at 12:30 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

I think that's the other way round, @Chick-In-Of-TheSea

 

Depends if we're talking about erosion or formation.  🙂 

[Gannon]

probably lava rock as it has the least directionality to it so you can kinda just place it however. I just think it never looks incredible but it always looks at least decent. 

[Ken Burke]

On 9/12/2022 at 10:36 AM, MattyM said:

My LFS has petrified wood - really cool stuff, both big and small pieces are really interesting. 

Petrified iron is awesome.  U can even find pieces that still look like branches.  

[Hoi Polloi]

One of the LFS uses granite to great effect.

Dragon stone looks really good too. 

[BAT]

I found some rocks on the beach in Cape Cod.  Do I have to be concerned bc of salt water? Do you have to do anything to rocks in general (e.g., boiling like driftwood) before adding to tank?

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 9/12/2022 at 7:54 PM, BAT said:

I found some rocks on the beach in Cape Cod.  Do I have to be concerned bc of salt water? Do you have to do anything to rocks in general (e.g., boiling like driftwood) before adding to tank?

Rocks should not be boiled because they can explode. Not that I haven’t done it. I was lucky.
 

Rocks should be soaked in hydrogen peroxide.

[BAT]

On 9/12/2022 at 7:56 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Rocks should not be boiled because they can explode. Not that I haven’t done it. I was lucky.
 

Rocks should be soaked in hydrogen peroxide.

OMG @Chick-In-Of-TheSeayou saved me! Thank yoU!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 9/12/2022 at 7:57 PM, BAT said:

OMG @Chick-In-Of-TheSeayou saved me! Thank yoU!

You’re welcome. I also posted a video up above about how to test rocks to see if they will affect your water chemistry.