[BryophyteOPhile]

So, frustrated as heck as my builds are held up for lack of appropriate rock. No luck with pumice and I am reading that lava is quite sharp and perhaps not ok for frogs. I am thinking I must be able to use something off my farm which will be pH neutral so have focused upon granite. The idea would be to cut the rock faces on a table saw with a diamond bit into 1" slices to reduce weight and then use those as well as cork on my background. I can then use smaller granite rock for landscaping. I see very few posts come up in searches about granite. As long as I sand any rough edges, would this rock pose any issues I should know about? One poster spoke about effervescence. Anyone know about issues with leaching from granite? Anyone used this rock before. Anyone sliced rock before for this application?

 

[Socratic Monologue]

So, frustrated as heck as my builds are held up for lack of appropriate rock. No luck with pumice and I am reading that lava is quite sharp and perhaps not ok for frogs.

I've never supposed that any rock is an integral part of a dart viv. I take a lot of design cues from wild dart habitats, which are heavy on trees/branches (vertical and horizontal), larger-leafed plants and leaf litter.

 

[BryophyteOPhile]

Ha ha. Right you are but, this first build is for rare miniature tropical plants only for my son. So far, I cannot convince him to let me add frogs. The second is for a friend who also doesn't want frogs. The third, which I will build for myself, after all this vivaria practice will have dart frogs or perhaps tree frogs. In Ontario, Canada, our tree frogs are frequently found around cliff areas and granite is a common rock here.

 

[Llehctim]

I’ve used thin slices of slate I find around my area in some of the upper areas of some of my vivs. I’ve found my terribs actually really love sitting on them. I keep them to the upper reaches because they do sometimes wipe out from the top and wouldn’t want them to land on it after a decent fall/big jump. The only thing with 1” thick pieces of granite I could think of is that they will be heavy and may be difficult to keep in place.

 

[hydrophyte]

Granite is relatively inert rock and I don't think most kinds would contain potentially problematic metals or other issues. But it is very heavy.

Can you find limestone in your area? Apparently Southern Ontario bedrock is mostly Paleozoic marine deposits which must include some limestone. Limestone is often interestingly featured and various plants really like to grow on it. And it's much easier to cut than granite.

 

[Shade1971]

I use med/large river stone in some of my tanks, I've never thought about the chemistry of them. Most of the rocks have probably been in there 10+ yrs. I guess they mostly look like sandstone (matte beige and greys).

 

[BryophyteOPhile]

Granite is relatively inert rock and I don't think most kinds would contain potentially problematic metals or other issues. But it is very heavy.

Can you find limestone in your area? Apparently Southern Ontario bedrock is mostly Paleozoic marine deposits which must include some limestone. Limestone is often interestingly featured and various plants really like to grow on it. And it's much easier to cut than granite.

View attachment 313049

I would LOVE to use the dolomitic limestone as it is all over my farm and, as you note, very beautiful. Lots of mosses and bryophytes grow on it. However, everywhere I read it's highly problematic to use calciferous rock since it makes the pH rise and tropical plants, Bryophytes & mosses require low pH.

I can't speak to this map but, on the ground here I can tell you it's limestone and granite. Interesting fact: my farm is over karst and adjacent to my farm down the hill, all those properties on the west side only have 1" of soil while all the properties to the east of me degrade into gravelly soil. My farm however has a special alluvial deposit giving me 4' of amazing topsoil, thanks to some ancient glacier.

While I discuss pH, am I right in reading dart frogs want a higher pH? So confusing since jungle plants want lower pH. How can it be? There first two builds are practice runs for my dart frog vivarium.

Limestone is heavy too but, I have shale here which is thin. My intention with the heavier rock is to use egg crate siliconed to the back, mixing cork, some rock, driftwood to landscape and provide plenty of interior spaces for the many epiphytes I have. Do you think silicon is a strong enough adhesive to attach egg crate to glass and to rock?

Thank you for helping me wade through this rock issue. The living room is littered with all the build materials and the eco terra stands waiting.

 

[BryophyteOPhile]

So, to be clear your tropical plants show no adverse effects?

 

[hydrophyte]

Mosses and tropical plants do not exclusively grow on low pH substrates. The limestone cliffs in my area support the lushest growth of mosses I have seen anywhere. Limestone topography is characteristic for some tropical areas and there are various plants in the trade including Ferns, Gesneriads and Aroids from those habitats. And even for plants that don't necessarily grow on limestone I think your concept of the effects is exaggerated. Just consider for example how well many vivarium plants can grow on calcium bentonite clay, which is somewhat basic. The soil substrates and organic matter along with the RO or distilled water in a vivarium will tend to moderate the pH.

 

[BryophyteOPhile]

Thank you, that is really helpful and I appreciate pointing out what the in situ habitat is like. That makes me feel good about using the lovely rocks that I have. Much appreciated.

 

[davecalk]

So, frustrated as heck as my builds are held up for lack of appropriate rock. No luck with pumice and I am reading that lava is quite sharp and perhaps not ok for frogs. I am thinking I must be able to use something off my farm which will be pH neutral so have focused upon granite. The idea would be to cut the rock faces on a table saw with a diamond bit into 1" slices to reduce weight and then use those as well as cork on my background. I can then use smaller granite rock for landscaping. I see very few posts come up in searches about granite. As long as I sand any rough edges, would this rock pose any issues I should know about? One poster spoke about effervescence. Anyone know about issues with leaching from granite? Anyone used this rock before. Anyone sliced rock before for this application?

You will not have any problem with effervescence with Granite itself. The only time you might have a problem with effervescence is if you use concrete or grout to mount the granite. Effervescence comes from moisture leaching out the salts from concrete, grout, or mortar. If you use expanding foam, either great stuff or black landscaping foam to install it you will not have any problems with effervescence.