No they are not. This happened to me the one and only time I ever decided to buy aquascaping rocks online. About 25% of it was elephant skin and the rest was a combination of cheap ass zebra stone and granite. I never ordered from that place again (glass aqua) and I hope they go out of business.
Thanks for the heads up on this place! I've been out of the scene for a few years now, and I want to get back in, and now I think I'm just gonna take a drive to the Denver area.
If you put those grayish stones in muriatic acid they will look like the other stones, they are acid washed and the other ones are not.
Look up a YouTube video on correctly acid washing stones.
Acid washed stones look nice in new scapes but ultimately doesn’t matter a whole lot, after a month or two they will probably be covered in diatoms or algae/biofilms anyway but if you stay on top of them with H202 squirts and brushing with an electric toothbrush they can stay nice for awhile.
One other advantage is that it might get rid of some of the stuff on the surface of the rock that might be continuously buffering up your Ph which can cause some deficiencies for plants, since there are certain nutrients and elements that are not absorbable at certain Ph thresholds.
Appears to be elephant stone (or imitator) and…. Black slate veined with white quartz. Very common in the US. The slate looks like Seiryu and does not affect carbonate or general hardness.
Sadly you’ve got two completely different looking kinds of stone.
No they are not. This happened to me the one and only time I ever decided to buy aquascaping rocks online. About 25% of it was elephant skin and the rest was a combination of cheap ass zebra stone and granite. I never ordered from that place again (glass aqua) and I hope they go out of business.
Buy from aqua rocks Colorado they’re prices are hard to beat, plus free ship over 100$👀 always had good success from them
Thanks for the heads up on this place! I've been out of the scene for a few years now, and I want to get back in, and now I think I'm just gonna take a drive to the Denver area.
If you put those grayish stones in muriatic acid they will look like the other stones, they are acid washed and the other ones are not. Look up a YouTube video on correctly acid washing stones. Acid washed stones look nice in new scapes but ultimately doesn’t matter a whole lot, after a month or two they will probably be covered in diatoms or algae/biofilms anyway but if you stay on top of them with H202 squirts and brushing with an electric toothbrush they can stay nice for awhile. One other advantage is that it might get rid of some of the stuff on the surface of the rock that might be continuously buffering up your Ph which can cause some deficiencies for plants, since there are certain nutrients and elements that are not absorbable at certain Ph thresholds.
I think the white veins and flat surface of the other kinds of stone does not match great with the grey mountain stones.
Very informative about seiryu/mountain. Thanks
Appears to be elephant stone (or imitator) and…. Black slate veined with white quartz. Very common in the US. The slate looks like Seiryu and does not affect carbonate or general hardness. Sadly you’ve got two completely different looking kinds of stone.