Basalt rock ok?

gliebig

gliebig

Members
One of my local sushi places has a koi pond setup in it. I was looking at it today and noticed the really nice looking rocks around/in it. The guy said they imported them and are called basalt rocks. They have a nice texture and some really cool shapes, and are also heavy as hell.
Would these be ok to put in my tank? If so, I'm going to give them a call and see if they have any extra.
 
DiscusnAfricans

DiscusnAfricans

Past President
If its true basalt, you should be fine. Its a pretty inert, igneous rock. Just be careful of sharp edges or rough textures. If you have active fish the edges can lead to eye and fin damage.

Rinse them really well, but if they're already dry you shouldn't have to do anything else to them. There are a few landscaping/construction yards around Baltimore you can get bulk rock pretty cheap.
 
Avatar

Avatar

Plenipotentiary-at-large
Its inert, but ugleeeeee.

Have you considered agate? Any decent landscape yard has tons of it and its very smooth (usually stream polished) and comes in a variety of colors (as in all) that really pop under water - it's like poor man's petrified wood.

Suppose if you want something that's in stark contrast to your fish that basalt and granite are the ticket, but most of it is only slightly more comely than busted concrete. Suppose there's an argument for the 'natural' or neutral look, and some granite can be interesting (I've got some with garnets embedded in it), but I rate most of it a huge yawn. Personally if I'm going to sacrifice 5-20 gallons of precious water volume for a bunch of rocks they're going to earn their place on the basis of something more than cubic displacement. But each to their own....
 
gliebig

gliebig

Members
I don't know exactly what these rocks are, but they are pretty unique looking. They caught my attention.
 
gliebig

gliebig

Members
I was hoping Chopstix had some leftover. haha.
Did you pic any of it up? It weighs a ton. The guy was saying that the owner had 3tons of it shipped in!! I can't imagine what that had to cost.
 
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