ideas for using black slate?

Slate contains oil I wouldn't use it in an aquarium. Whats your budget?

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I've used slate for years with no issues. As long as you pre soak for a few weeks prior to use to get the initial rust spots off of the surface. Just be sure to use aquarium sealant as opposed to other harmful types of adhesives.

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Oops sorry shale contains oil, slate is perfectly fine brainfart.

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yes this is central Virginia blue ridge mountain black slate. I had it in my cichlid tank, but they had a tendency to injure themselves on it.

shale - brittle and fragile, soft.

slate - hard, used for roofs, etc.

this is a black flat, layered slate.

As to budget, Id planned on about $25 max for rock. I wanted black lava rock badly, but its $40 a 25-30 pound box avg price online, but sight unseen. Some members are selling it here for slightly more. Very nice looking stuff they have, but I just cant stomach 60 bucks for rocks. I can get it at petsmart for $5 each chunk, but they have very few large size pieces, and the selection kind of sucks.

Try checking out a few stoneyards or landscaping supply places. If you find one that has lava rock, they will be selling it much cheaper, you should be able to get at least a couple pounds/dollar (not sure of the actual price, just guessing)

lochaber said:

Try checking out a few stoneyards or landscaping supply places. If you find one that has lava rock, they will be selling it much cheaper, you should be able to get at least a couple pounds/dollar (not sure of the actual price, just guessing)

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Beleive me - Ive tried every place in the book from richmond to va beach.

The only stuff ive found is some wierd white/red/brown stuff that I thought was shells at first...

I dont have any lava rock right now but id ship ya something for a dollar a pound plus 10 for shipping. Not to shamelessly self promote but pm me if youd like.

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I like what they did at Green Machine for their altum tank:

http://www.thegreenmachineonline.com/articles/journals/aquatics/tgm-aquascape-andrew-mack

The edges of slate have the most interest and exposing them to suggest a cliff face makes sense to me. This is essentially what they did above and if I had rocks like that it is the kind of look I'd try too.