# Rocks Vs. Driftwood



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

You could use slate or river rock. I like river rocks in cichlid tanks and i use them in my 55.


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## jsenske (Dec 20, 2004)

www.aquariumdesigngroup.com

there's an aquascape gallery called Freshwater Hardscape that might have a little inspirational potential.


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## AkCrimson (Dec 17, 2009)

A lot of people mix rocks and wood. I have wood in my 55, and rocks in my 29, so I want to do both in the 5.5G I'm going to set up. 

Just keep in mind rocks/driftwood can affect the parameters in your tank. Wood makes it softer, rocks do the opposite.


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## sollie7 (Jul 19, 2009)

I mixed rocks and wood


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## HypnoticAquatic (Feb 17, 2010)

to me slate and river rocks dont strike me unless its small river rocks for a stream scape. lace rock or texas holey rock would be my first choice for rock. never heard of not mixing rock and wood after all ur substrate is most likely rock. i just tried to think of a reef and copy how many nooks and crannys there are it lets me keep more diff fish than would norm be capatable due to safe zones that only they can go to. you can even grow some plants on the rocks and make it look like frotto baggins home.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Go look at wild streams for inspiration. 
Mostly the rocks will be rounded from water running over them for thousands of years.

Wood may be fresh off the tree, so have small twigs, or it may have been battered and broken as it tumbles down the river. Then it gets caught in the rocks for a while. 
Or, wood may represent the roots or trunks of living trees that are inundated seasonally. These would be partially buried in the substrate as if they are growing there, and would not usually have small twigs. Just the main branch. 

Some rocks will slowly dissolve in the water, adding minerals to the water. Limestone and its relatives will dissolve in acidic water making the water hard and alkaline over time. This sort of rock is more often used in hard water tanks like Rift Lake tanks. Most rock is not so reactive and is quite safe in a soft water tank. 

I do not think a stack of rock is wrong in a soft water tank. Have a look at some of the pictures of Hillstream Loaches, and Central American streams and rivers. There is less plant material on the banks, so less leaves and branches in the water. Quite acceptable to make a biotope that is based on a rocky stretch of the river with a branch or two either growing up through the tank (root or tree trunk) or a piece of driftwood. The substrate could match: Nice material underneath for plants, but a mixed gravel cap, or just the mixed gravel, skip the planting material. A few rounded cobbles buried in the gravel, too. Not just across the back of the tank. Add plants like Java Fern, Java and other Mosses, Anubias and Bolbitis that are grown tied to the wood or rocks.


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