[Rana Verde Eco Systems]

Rana Verde is proud to announce the introduction of a new and innovative habitat material known as Feather Rock. Learn more about Feather Rock and place an order on our website:
Feather Rock | Rana Verde

 

[epiphytes etc.]

I used this stuff in my azureiventris viv and it's pretty rockin' (see what I did there?). Moss and other plants really take off on it.

 

[BrainBug]

Is this a manmade material or a natural substance like pumice?

 

[Igot99problems]

On their website it says "Feather Rock is a naturally occurring volcanic rock that is incredibly light and porous"

 

[dartsanddragons]

Been available for many years at a lot of your better garden centers

 

[planted-tnk-guy]

Devin, it's a local volcanic product for us, it also is called glass rock in many places. It is similar to pumice but not even close to being better. It is extremely sharp unless you sand it, so I would be worried about that myself. It cuts the crap out of my hands just moving it around so I'm sure it wouldn't be great on frog skin unless you are sanding the glass shards smooth.

If someone could figure a way to produce perlite in large carvable bricks now that would be a great product.

 

[BrainBug]

Devin, it's a local volcanic product for us, it also is called glass rock in many places. It is similar to pumice but not even close to being better. It is extremely sharp unless you sand it, so I would be worried about that myself. It cuts the crap out of my hands just moving it around so I'm sure it wouldn't be great on frog skin unless you are sanding the glass shards smooth.

If someone could figure a way to produce perlite in large carvable bricks now that would be a great product.

Ah, ok. Thanks for the explanation and cautionary statement. It looks like the ones on the site are sanded smooth.

How much lighter is this stuff then volcanic pumice?

Perlite would interesting but the dust is terrible.

 

[hydrophyte]

Do you know what the pH of this material is?

 

[planted-tnk-guy]

Ah, ok. Thanks for the explanation and cautionary statement. It looks like the ones on the site are sanded smooth.

How much lighter is this stuff then volcanic pumice?

Perlite would interesting but the dust is terrible.

It's about the same weight not enough that I can tell the difference personally. Both are types of igneous rock, its just this stuff is a ship ton sharper since it's melted silica pumped with gasses and broken to peices. Do you know where to get big pumice locally? If so please pm me I want some for a few things in my yard.

 

[planted-tnk-guy]

Do you know what the pH of this material is?

I don't think you need to worry about it the pH I'm pretty sure it's neutral as it's used in the horticultural field

Do you know what the pH of this material is?

I don't think you need to worry about it the pH I'm pretty sure it's neutral as it's used in the horticultural field for various things. Perlite is also volcanic rock that was heated and popped much like popcorn is. I have used it in freshwater aquriums.

 

[epiphytes etc.]

Feather rock is sharp at first, but wears smooth fairly quickly just from scrubbing and handling. Once it's covered with a nice biofilm I wouldn't worry about it injuring frogs. Like I said, I used it myself. The tank was a rock pile with the largest two rocks being this stuff, and the rest pumice. After a couple months one could hardly tell the difference, and after six months both were covered in moss.

 

[hydrophyte]

I bet you could smooth it down pretty easy with sandpaper. You would want t be careful to wear a dist mask, of course.

I would like to try growing native temperate mosses on this material. If you can measure the pH I would be interested to hear about that.

 

[planted-tnk-guy]

I live in Oregon our native rock and tree dwelling moss, selagenella and liverworts grow all over it. I would nearly guarantee its pH nutral as it's nearly pure melted silica (glass). Sand paper works well as does a small bristle wire brush. Keeping it outside in the rain for a year works well too so a pressure washer might speed it up even.