[ryuken168]

Important part of my aquascape design that shapes my creation is driftwood and rocks.
I'm always keep an eye out for a nice driftwood or rock collection.
I search takes me to only LFS and wholeslaes around the NYC area at this time.
I have not comb the beaches or gone to any country side to find natural resources yet.
So anyone know of any good resources like there backyard to garden centers to find the prefect piece.

 

[ryuken168]

They collect mangrove wood, which from what I have read is what Amano uses in his tanks.

Wow, I didn't know Amano use mangrove wood. After seeing Phil's tank, I also email aquariumdriftwood.com, but never got a reply back. I wanted to do 2 tanks like that for a restaurant. I ended up using Malaysian driftwood that I picked out from a wholesaler. That is the 2 x 55gal you see in the gallery.
The only problem I have with mail order, is I don't know what I'm buying until I receive it.

Ebay always has some nice piecies, but You already know taht Ken (saw the two you recently got....and that seller has lots of really nice stuff as of late).

ha.ha.ha...lol..thanks for not outbidding me on eBay. The last two pieces I have are very nice. They are all sitting in a box in my basement waiting for future projects. Let me go take some pictures and post it here along with my rock collection.

I'm always looking for larger pieces for 125+ gal tanks. So far I only saw two nice pieces. One I was outbid and the other one is too far away.
Does anyone live between Canton, Ohio and Youngstown, PA.
I was thinking about driving 6 hours each way from NYC to pick up this driftwood. But I don't trust my car, but I aways wanted to visit NFL hall of Fame.
Check it out. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2336784576&category=20510

Every driftwood and rocks are one of a kind, so I'm aways searching for that prefect piece, no matter how far or how much.

Erik, do you have pictures of the basaltic rock, love to see how they look in a aquascape setting.

Later
Ken

 

[ryuken168]

I remember this tank. wow the onyx gravel and the rocks go nicely.
This was one of the tank style I like a lot and still remember.
I have an idea for a tank and those rock would be fit in nicely. Let me see if I can find something like thoses rocks near me.
thanks for the picture Erik.

Back to the topic and a new outlook. Due to the internet and forums like APC we as aquascaper should not be limited to what the LFS can provide us. Members of this site please show and tell on what natural resources that you use in your design. This way we all can expand our knowledge and improve our design palette.
USA is a vast nation with a lot of natural resources, so lets take advantage of this and help each other out.
Ken

 

[ryuken168]

Thanks for the info.

Hi John thanks for the info.
I know I will not find these rocks in the east coast by looking around woods or by the beach.
One resouce that I use are garden centers, landscaping centers and mason supplies. You'll find a lot of volcanic rocks and other rocks used in landscaping. They also carry the rocks the LFS sells for less than half the price.

John I've seen the tank of gneiss blue rock a while back on the other site. Can you please post a picture here also to share with our members to give them a idea.

Thanks
Ken

 

[ryuken168]

Link don't work.

Hi John,
Your pictures are not showing up, either try attaching it to APC or try this site. www.photobucket.com
Pretty good free picture hosting site.
Thanks for your time John.

Ken