Where Do I Find Chunks and Pieces of Slate?

[Patr1ck]

Where would I find some chunks of slate to make a zebra habitat?

Thanks,
Pat

[MatsP]

In this country, you find large-ish chunks of slate in the local garden center.

This thread shows one piece of the 5 that I bought to make caves for my L128.

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Mats

[MatsP]

Having said that, it seems hard to find Slate in Arizona - at least using google...

You may want to consider other types of stone that are fish-safe.

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Mats

[andywoolloo]

My fish stores sell slate bits along with the driftwood and stones and rocks. Some times even petco has wierd boxes of different rock and slate. I saw some their last summer. They had slate , and the white and orange rock and another kind I cannot remember.

Or you can go to a landscaper or a nursery and probably buy some, also probably Lowes or Home Depot? Maybe?

Even if you have to get them too big you can smash them and split them? Maybe.

[2wheelsx2]

I think any landscaping store will have slate nowadays (in the New World), since it's so popular. There should be no shortage of slate in Arizona as there should be lots of sedimentary out that way...just my $.02 as a geologist.

[Patr1ck]

Alright! Thanks everyone.

Pat

[MatsP]

Slate is indeed quite easy to split in the direction of the layers (although you may end up with sharp edges - which can be sorted by grinding or sanding the edges). It is not so easy to split by simple tools (e.g. hammer and chissel) in the right direction. But like I described in the cave-making thread, it's not difficult to cut with an angle-grinder[1] or tile-saw. A small angle-grinder or tile-saw is not very expensive.

[1] Proper precautions please, if you are using an angle-grinder - they can be quite dangerous.

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Mats

[L number Banana]

Flooring suppliers like Lowes or other DIY and roofers, especially those that work on heritage buildings like churches. They always have some broken ones.
If you like granite, try headstone makers, they'll usually let you rummage through the scraps.

[Patr1ck]

Thanks again everyone I found some chunks here on ebay if anyone is interested. http://cgi.ebay.com/20-PC-CHUNKY-BLACK- ... 53df2384dc

Pat

[2wheelsx2]

That actually looks like shale and not slate to me....

[Patr1ck]

How does one tell the difference?

Pat

[RickE]

To be able to use Mats' method you need rock that can be split along a flat plain. Slate is essentially a pile of compressed, thin layers (correctly, it is foliated). If you drive a wedge of some kind into the side of a piece of slate it will cleave neatly in two. Shale does not exhibit such clear foliation.

You will find it difficult to tell them apart from a picture on the internet except that slate tends to be in relatively flat 'slabs', rather than the chunks in your picture.

[Patr1ck]

If it ended up being shale, would that be a bad idea to use in an aquarium?

Pat

[MatsP]

Aside from not being as easy to split, I don't think Shale should cause any problems in a tank. It is essentially the same as slate, but it's not "layered" in the same way, so you can't get thin slices of it.

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Mats

[DutchFry]

Yesterday I was watching Discovery Channel, the program 'how it's made' and it was about how they make a pool table.

under the green of red fluffy fabric (don't know english word for that) there's a 100 kg piece of slate it's been mechanically prepared so that it is very smooth, even around the corners and edges. so if you perhaps own an old pool table, you might want to take it apart and use the slate!

[MatsP]

But it's unlikely to be less expensive than buying 100kg of slate. One site I looked at sold a "crate" of 60 pieces 200-350mm in length for about £160 - a pool table would be a lot more than that. [Unless it's a cheapo one, which probably just has wood or plastic in place of the slate].

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Mats

[2wheelsx2]

Shale is essentially mudstone, so it'll be fine to use in an aquarium. As others have said, it just isn't cleavable into slabs.

[RickE]

Slate is very common in the UK, especially in Wales, but maybe not so in the US? Any geologists out there who could suggest a cleavable rock that's likely to be available in Arizona?

[2wheelsx2]

Arizona is full of sedimentary rock, so slates should not be a problem to get. Sandstones and siltstones are also cleavable. The only issue is that the carbonate content would be higher, rendering not suitable for soft water requirement fishes.

[apistomaster]

The local Home Depot store has some in the outdoor gardening section.
Some flooring shops and landscaping materials specialty businesses sell slate.
I don't know anything about the specific locations in Arizona where you may collect natural slate.
Irregular shaped pieces of various sizes are suitable for aquarium decor or cutting if you want to use it for pleco caves or spawning slates for Angelfish or Discus. If you want to make rectangular caves or spawning slates its easier to use stone finished ceramic floor tiles since you have straight edges to begin with.
Slate is much better than mud stone because it is harder than mud stone.
Slate is better than sand stone if you want thinner sections.
I use pieces of irregularly shaped slate stacked but with ~1/4' scrape pieces in between larger pieces in my L260 breeding tank to provide refuges for fry.

[Patr1ck]

I got my Chunky slate from ebay and its definately slate. Its really awesome. I cant wait to see how its gonna look under water.

Pat

[RickE]

Well done Pat. Are you going to try Mats' cave method?

[Patr1ck]

I think I might... to give it a more natural look.

Thanks,
Pat

[apistomaster]

One of the things I like to do with slate is to stack several pieces of irregularly shaped pieces for a more natural appearance but put small scrap pieces of slate as spacers between the stacked pieces to provide a lot of hiding places for pleco fry that are too small for adult fish to squeeze into. I happen to prefer leaving my pleco fry in the breeding tanks until they have reached the size where netting them is not likely to injure any.