Aquascaping, where to buy rock and driftwood

Hey guys!

I was wondering if you know of any great places to buy aquascaping equipment for a good price. Looking for large rocks and large pieces of driftwood. I've done some looking around but was just curious about what you guys recommend.

 

Personally I don't buy what's free in nature. I know not everyone lives or visits areas where things like this can be found but if you can, take a walk along a river bank and look for the perfect piece of wood.

I've never bought a rock. I am always on the lookout for interesting ones where ever I go. I've you've not found the perfect ones yet check out a landscaping supply business. You can usually find rocks selling for pennies per pound.

 

I've been very happy with wood purchases off Etsy, but the pricing can be high with shipping if you have a piece that takes up room, even though it is light.

Rocks are hit and miss. So tough to buy rocks without seeing and holding them. I've bought off Etsy and Buce and think I placed three orders before I finally had the pieces I needed.

The one place I always check are the LFS's. They sell it as fast as they get it in and I've bought some for use at a later date. My shops don't carry a lot of variety though. For instance, no Seiryu stone and no Manzanita wood.

 

I agree with mattgirl
I've bought over two hundred pounds of Limestone - Holey rock at my local rockyard & landscaping company. Average price was twenty cents a pound.
On line & prices for Holey Rock is usually four dollars a pound.
Rockyards usually have a huge selection of aquarium appropriate rocks.

 

Personally I don't buy what's free in nature. I know not everyone lives or visits areas where things like this can be found but if you can, take a walk along a river bank and look for the perfect piece of wood.

I've never bought a rock. I am always on the lookout for interesting ones where ever I go. I've you've not found the perfect ones yet check out a landscaping supply business. You can usually find rocks selling for pennies per pound.

How do you usually sterilize the wood? I've heard driftwood is pretty absorbent would it keep in a lot of the bacteria from the river?

 

The problem with picking up found driftwood is that the wood of some trees is not safe for your fish. I can barely tell one tree from another when they are alive and don't want the risk. There are list online about what kind of wood is safe.

I bought a couple of pieces from this place for my 55 Types of Driftwood for Aquariums | Shop Modern Aquarium

It was expensive but it will last as long as I have this tank and it has a very visible place in the living room. This company has photos of the actual wood you'll get.

As for rocks, I bought a bag of river rocks from a building supply company cause I wanted a lot of the same type.

 

How do you usually sterilize the wood? I've heard driftwood is pretty absorbent would it keep in a lot of the bacteria from the river?

I've never used wood from a river bank but If I found a piece I liked I would just make sure I washed it well to get any dirt off of it and if it was already water logged I would put it in the tank. If not water logged I would soak it until it was. All the wood in my tanks came from my yard. I just washed it and then soaked it until it got water logged enough to sink. The pieces in my tank are oak.

You do have to consider where the wood is. In my case any wood I found along the local river bank would be free of any kind of chemicals. That isn't the case everywhere. The river closest to me doesn't run through any kind of industrial or farming area. Should you decide to collect your own driftwood be aware of the water the wood is coming from.

Not only would it have bacteria on/in it but it would also absorb any chemicals present in the river water so we do have to consider the source when collecting wood.

 

How do you usually sterilize the wood? I've heard driftwood is pretty absorbent would it keep in a lot of the bacteria from the river?

This might be helpful, it's about how to prep the wood before adding it to your aquarium:

Aquarium Wood - A Complete Guide to Preparing and Installing Driftwood - Fish Care

 

You can safely use oak from your yard as long as it was not sprayed with pesticides and you let it dry out completely. You can also use oak wood trim to build aquascapes.

 

I tried sourcing black and white speckled granite for free, from one of my local lakes. I went snorkeling for 4 hours one day, hand selecting unique pieces for my tank. I scrubbed them with a course brush in fresh water on 3 separate days and then allowed them to soak in clean water overnight between each scrub session. I also gave them 2 soaks in a 20:1 water/hydrogen peroxide bath for 30 minutes each to kill the bacteria, but to no avail, I could just not get the intense smell of algae out of them.

I finally gave up because it was a tremendous effort involving hours of work, with little to no results. I wound up going to my local landscape supply yard and bought 75 pounds of Glacier Granite for $12.36 US which came out to about 16 cents per pound. I explained to the yard guy what I was doing and asked if I could handpick the rocks and he told me have at it. They were already clean, just a little dusty, so I scrubbed them with a clean brush and water (not the algae brush) and did another 30 minute peroxide bath. Rinsed off and let dry on a rack for a couple of days.

As far as driftwood goes, I would purchase that unless you know the source, like mattgirl. Do an Internet search for Malaysian, cholla or Mopani driftwood. There is some discussion on this forum about the pros/cons and differences and best applications of these wood types. Good luck.

 

If you’re near any big box chain pet stores, sometimes you can get lucky and find some awesome large pieces of driftwood. They might be near the reptile section. Definitely would need to use one of their coupons (that always seem available) to get a decent price though.

This is how I found one of my favorite pieces. I wasn’t even shopping for it but it looked too rad to pass up lol.