# Where to Get Red Flint?



## asukawashere (Mar 19, 2010)

I've been looking up cheap alternative substrates as of late, and am rather liking the idea of using a red flint gravel base with my own additives (any recommendations on what additives are best to put in, btw?). However, I've run into a bit of a snag - I don't actually know where I can _get_ said red flint. The handful of online places I've found that carry it charge an obscene amount of shipping (probably due to weight) and I can't come up with a local pool or landscaping place that carries it (I'm in Fairfield county, CT, for those who might know a place in the area...)

So, I'm wondering where any of you who may use red flint get it from. Is there an online place that'll get it to my door - even at snail-mail rates; I'm not in a terrible hurry - relatively inexpensively? 

Info would be much appreciated  Thanks a bunch!


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## [email protected] (Jul 17, 2008)

Start with aggregate suppliers. Check the phone book under cement & gravel suppliers. Possibly on the "Old" side of town. They can deliver tons for about what fifty pounds will cost an online place to deliver. IF red flint is a native rock for CT.


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## asukawashere (Mar 19, 2010)

Therein lies the problem - red flint isn't native in CT. Nearest supplies are a few states over. Somehow, despite having astounding mineralogical resources for such a small state, Connecticut manages to lack everything I go looking for, lol. Only useful (for aquascaping) thing it can seem to cough up is iron-rich ores, including some intensely red iron-bearing sandstones. 

On the other hand, we do have world-class deposits of gem-grade prehnite, as well as amethyst, citrine, garnet, aquamarine, morganite, tourmalines, and other semi-precious and precious gems... not that those are liable to become my substrate, lol!


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## nr85 (Jan 14, 2010)

seems i found you on here too! lol...i don't visit APC that much, i like it over her a little better. i'm still gonna try and get up to my LFS this week for ya!


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## [email protected] (Jul 17, 2008)

Still, check your local aggregate suppliers. 
Decomposed granite (granite dust) isn't local to Michigan, but it's useful in walks and patios so some of the suppliers bring in a truckload once a year.


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## nr85 (Jan 14, 2010)

Smaller Grain, but bigger than my sand


















One size bigger. Smaller gravel size.


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## asukawashere (Mar 19, 2010)

Thanks for the photos. Looking at it, I think I like the smaller grain - the large sand as opposed to small gravel... looks big enough to siphon gently but small enough for plant roots to be happy. If I wasn't so broke I'd ask for a box of each and mix them, lol, but as-is I have to have $ left over for the tank I want to put it in! XD XD 

PM me your paypal addy and I'll send you the $35 for a box?

Thanks again for doing this for me


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

We use a lot of 'Connecticut Blue' stone all the way out here in California for landscaping. We have also used 'Texas Cream Cobblefield', other rock from Montana and slate from India. 'Arizona Flagstone' is very popular, too. 'Mexican Beach Pebbles' are so expensive I could not immagine anyone buying them here in bulk. They are very expensive even in bags. 

Rock and gravel can be shipped long distance, and is more economical in large volumes (Truckloads instead of bags). Best of all is a local source, though. The rock that is quarried locally is not very pretty, though, for aquariums. I have several different gravels from landscape jobs in my tanks, but I am switching over to better substrates for the plants. 

Those gravels look really nice. Good, rich colors!


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## houstonhobby (Dec 12, 2008)

How about some of that intensely red iron-bearing sandstone? That sounds like an awesome substrate if you could crush it to a suitable size.


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## nr85 (Jan 14, 2010)

I will probably get back up there this weekend. I will let you know later this week though.


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## asukawashere (Mar 19, 2010)

Diana said:


> We use a lot of 'Connecticut Blue' stone all the way out here in California for landscaping. We have also used 'Texas Cream Cobblefield', other rock from Montana and slate from India. 'Arizona Flagstone' is very popular, too. 'Mexican Beach Pebbles' are so expensive I could not immagine anyone buying them here in bulk. They are very expensive even in bags.
> 
> Rock and gravel can be shipped long distance, and is more economical in large volumes (Truckloads instead of bags). Best of all is a local source, though. The rock that is quarried locally is not very pretty, though, for aquariums. I have several different gravels from landscape jobs in my tanks, but I am switching over to better substrates for the plants.
> 
> Those gravels look really nice. Good, rich colors!


I'd be curious to know which stone they're calling "Connecticut Blue" - perhaps a variety of basalt? Some of the basalt formations here have an interesting blue-grey coloration to them... as for the "Mexican beach pebbles" I suspect have the cost there is coming from the name, lol. 

If I made a few more grand a year than I do right now, I bet it would be fun to buy huge tanks and try out truckloads of gravel - as it is, though, I'm kinda on a college budget and prefer to test little bags and boxes here and there... for which fellow hobbyists across the country are a great resource 

Thanks for the input 




houstonhobby said:


> How about some of that intensely red iron-bearing sandstone? That sounds like an awesome substrate if you could crush it to a suitable size.


It actually would look pretty cool as a substrate on its own - if the weather weren't so icky outside I'd go out and get a nice photo of a sample in sand form to share - but I don't have the time (or available effort) to crush it up. Sometimes one can find a "rock" that's really more a conglomerate of coarse sand particles, and that's easy enough to break up once it's been soaked, but more common is a finer-particle, large-ish stone that I could whack with a hammer all day long and get nowhere. :biggrin: There's also iron ore that looks kind of shiny and metallic black if you take off the layer of rust (literally) on the outside... not easy to break that, either, though.

In the quantities available to me (it's about a 40-min drive to the iron ore/sandstone localities), I prefer to use it as an additive to my other substrates - at the moment, a lot of turface and locally-collected river sand. 

The sand and gravel in my backyard stream actually doesn't make a bad substrate on its own...it's mostly a blend of granite/granitic pegmatites (with quartz, feldspar, mica, etc.) some of which also take on a rusty coloration due to iron content (nothing like that sandstone, though...). It just gets boring to have that in every single tank after awhile, so I'm looking to collect some alternative substrates. 



slapnutz said:


> I will probably get back up there this weekend. I will let you know later this week though.


Thanks a bunch!  I look forward to hearing from you


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

http://www.pbm1923.com/natural-stone/view-all-products/Page-3.html

Here are some pictures from a local store showing some of the range of colors and products that are called Connecticut Blue. 
The stone has a very slight, fine grit to some of the pieces, but mostly is a smooth rock. Just enough texture that it makes a good surface even if it is wet. Looking at the side I can see a few pieces that show a small amount of lines, but this is rare. Often the edges have more brown on them than the flat faces of the rock. When the pieces break they do seem to fracture along planes, but not as much as some more obviously sedimentary rock. 
Most of the pieces are a uniform color on any one rock with some faint lines, sometimes, on the face, but there is a range of colors among the different rocks. Most of it is a grey-blue. Some hints toward a bit of pinkish and is called Lilac. Some are a richer blue color. Some has some skeins of golden to tan or light brown. You can buy it sorted out so most of the pieces are pretty close to the same color, or you can buy 'Full Range' which will have many colors. Overall the colors are not very intense. It is a more subtle rock, not glaring in it colors. 
The stone is often turned into flagstone, a random shape, but pretty much flat, and used for walkways or mortared over concrete for patios. (That is what these pictures show). It is also cut into squares and rectangles and used as a more formal pattern that is like slate or an Ashler pattern. 
When I see it in the stores the thinner, larger pieces are on a pallet and they are standing vertically. These pieces can be over 4' across, but may be only an inch to 2 inches thick. Thicker pieces, but smaller diameter are sold from pallets also, but the stone is flat on the pallet. Tumbled pieces start off fairly thick and the edges are made into rounded, natural looking stone. These make great stepping stones, set into soil with low plants or lawn around them.


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## EdwardN (Nov 7, 2008)

Here you have what you need: http://www.redflint.com/filter_gravel.htm

Contact them and you will learn where they ship their product. I remember that they directed me to their distributor, etc...


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## Racine Vice (Aug 18, 2009)

slapnutz, what fish store are you refering to and what are they asking for a 50lb bag? I am looking for some of the finer gravel or sand.


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

I found bags of it at my pool supply house. COntact redflint.com and they will help ya.


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