I'd like to get drifted and some nice rocks to set up my aquarium....but I'm not sure where to shop. I can get some nice stone from local streams....or driftwood from the Hudson river...but I'm not sure if they'd be good for my tank. Any suggestions on where to get some nice ornaments?

You can use rocks or slate that is attainable from most garden centres that is intended for garden/ornament use....these will be fine as long as you clean them well.
The great thing about this is you can get large chunks of it for cheap or at least a bit cheaper than from a Aquarium shop.

Added.... a good way is to buy a very large chunk of black slate and take it home and hit it with a hammer and see what you get.

Slate and bluestone are easy to find around here so I was thinking of getting those and perhaps some nice round river stone.

For wood you need special types, best stick to the LFS (i know it expensive). For rocks, any will do as long as you clean it well and it doesnt fizz when you pour vinegar on it

boil the rocks first to kill any parasites. wood i would leave in the river and buy some mopani or malasian hard wood from a local fish store. Upstate NY has a lot of cool rocks and fossils that look awsome in tank!

Sounds like the wood should be store bought.....I was thinking that. My father said to bake the rocks but I guess boiling would work too....I need to find an artistic person at the college to design the aquascape now. Lol

WillW wrote:


Boiling the rocks works well, I would recommend mopani for the wood. It is readily avaliable from fish stores, and can have some cool colors and shapes. More importantly it sinks and rots very, very slowly compared to other softer woods. You are still going to have to treat the driftwood too though through soaking and boiling unless you want a tea stained tank, and even then you might have some tannic acid stained water for a bit. Personally I have 2 pieces and never had any issue with it, though.


WillW wrote:


Design it yourself, man...whats the fun in having someone else aquascape for you. You'll find that once you get into it you'll constantly be looking for other cool pieces of wood and rocks. I would use petoskey stones since they are near me, unfortunately they are a fossilized coral so I think it would mess with the ph. With the stones you can buy some white vinegar and test the rocks before you boil them to make sure they're not limestone or anything.