Saw some really cool polished stone in a 20lb bag, had like a river gravel and black. I've doen some web searches and can't find anyone that has it but PETCO, which it's made by a company called Aquatic Gardens, does anyone know if this is a coating, or are these sand blasted or tumbled for the finish?
Polished Stones
- Thread starter Scottfree
- Start date
Well I am going to asume... so don't take this as fact please... But I am going to assume they were tumbled... maybe a better way to find out is check the bag for left over sand... I have this particular rock, and I cannot remember if there was sand in it or not ... But this is the add on petco.com
Aquatic Gardens Polished Stones
Decorative stones in a variety of styles add a designer touch to your underwater landscape. From nickel to half-dollar size, these stones are polished to a smooth, lustrous finish.
You probably already knew this but thought i'd cut and paste it just in case... I looked for a website for this brand and came up empty... Sorry....
Aquatic Gardens Polished Stones
Decorative stones in a variety of styles add a designer touch to your underwater landscape. From nickel to half-dollar size, these stones are polished to a smooth, lustrous finish.
You probably already knew this but thought i'd cut and paste it just in case... I looked for a website for this brand and came up empty... Sorry....
Also most everything I read on all polished stones of this nature are tumbled... My co-worker said they might do both... Sand blast the initial and then tumble for the rest... As they now have huge tumlbers I guess... If I come across the answer to this question I will get back here....
If you really like the look--get a tumbler! They are simple and pretty cheap. I got a really good one used from the paper. Try Cub scouts or Deseret (Goodwill). You will be suprised how cool an ordinary rock will look like afterwards.
I am not familiar with them but tumbling is cheaper than smoothing and coating so they are almost certainly tumbled, hard igneous and metamorphic rocks are usually safe and when polished look very cool. I like buying low grade tumbled semi-preciuos stones like apache tears, tiger eye, olivine, and snowflake obsidian at the gem and mineral shows and using them in tanks. Tiger eye is especially nice. Matrix or boulder opals are also great as are agates.
If you're going to tumble your own stones, be careful with what you're polishing. Tiger-eye and other stones that shiller do so because of asbestos fibers formed within the mineral. These fibers are released in the grinding phase of the tumbling process. Also, turquoise, chrysocolla, malachite, etc are copper-based minerals and can harm your fish and kill inverts. They also leave a nasty taste in your mouth just from the dust.
Hard agates (including petrified woods that look great), granites, obsidians, and the like are safe for your tank.
Hard agates (including petrified woods that look great), granites, obsidians, and the like are safe for your tank.
I bought mine at walmart in the craft section. They cost like .96 cents for 2.2 lbs. Not bad. Oh and they have different sizes and colors. Black ones look sweet in my 75 gallon with a sand bottom.
born2lovefish said:
Now you tell me, after I paid $38 for 44 lbs, oh well I really like the look these are brownish marbled, real natural looking....