# Holey rock for 10 cents a pound??!



## rchickering (Jun 10, 2008)

At one of the local outdoor supply stores I found the following for 10 cents a pound:



















Both pieces next to a 5 gallon bucket to show size:










The rocks weigh approx 60 lbs total.... $6 for all this!

There was a lot of dirt/mud so I had to soak them for a while and then use a power washer to clean them off.

The type of rock they were labeled as was "Corral Creek Boulders". Not all of the rocks had the bigger holes that these two pieces did.


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## Stickzula (Sep 14, 2007)

WOW!!!  what a deal! I wish I could get in on something like that. I live in TX, but unlike the the name suggests, it isn't all over the place :-? . If I were in the hill contry I could just go dig some up, but out here in east tx the only thing that is plentiful are oak trees


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## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

nice deal. =D> :drooling:


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## aquariumicity (May 29, 2009)

Those are big enough - you could cut us all off a piece!

Nice pick up. Well done! :drooling:


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## hibadar84 (Feb 24, 2009)

WOW that's unbelievable price ....


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

Very good deal...next time send em my way ill give ya 20cents a lb :thumb: :wink:


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## CutieSusieQ (May 12, 2009)

BRANT13 said:


> Very good deal...next time send em my way ill give ya 20cents a lb :thumb: :wink:


Sounds like a good money making idea to me!


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## brycerb (Dec 23, 2007)

Dude!  You need to go back, buy everything they have, clean it up, sell it on ebay. You will make a killing. :thumb:


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## rchickering (Jun 10, 2008)

I thought about doing this but the two pieces that I picked up were by far the best. It took a lot of moving the rocks to find these.

Maybe I will go back and take some pics to see if anyone is interested in what they have.

I could use the extra money to support my fish habit - my wife would probably be happy


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## brycerb (Dec 23, 2007)

Just check out the quality of stuff on ebay and see if any of the stuff at the yard is comperable.


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## cichlidpastor (Jun 20, 2009)

So where could I find holey rock? I would like to get some.


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## brycerb (Dec 23, 2007)

See, here is your first customer.


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## gurvir19 (Apr 4, 2007)

**** thats cheap! im picking up some in canada here at big als for $2.99cdn a lb


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## sasquatch-exists (Feb 25, 2009)

HOLY ****!!!

I agree sell it on eBay. a rock that big sells for $80 @ my lfs!!!


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## brycerb (Dec 23, 2007)

I just picked up 90#s of holey rock, another 90#s of crushed coral and a new in box AC 110 for $90 on craigslist. :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:


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## infotech (Jan 2, 2008)

I just found a place locally for .25 cents per pound. It was pretty big stuff, but I found two prett good looking pieces that came to 76 pounds.


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## infotech (Jan 2, 2008)

Here's a quick snapshot of them. What do you think?


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## brycerb (Dec 23, 2007)

Go back and get all you can and sell what you don't want on Ebay.


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## car0linab0y (Aug 10, 2009)

ebay this, ebay that... sell what you can on the forum first, THEN sell the ones we don't want on eBay.


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## eddy (Jan 16, 2009)

I wouldn't get too carried away buying a bunch if those are the best pieces. It's just holey limestone and can be found at most stone yards. If every piece is similar too the ones you got then yeah but I'd bet they are not.

This stuff is a dime a dozen at stone yards. The catch is finding quality pieces. Not too many quality pieces end up at a stoneyard.

My point is a low or even mid quality piece is not worth what it cost to ship it.


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## car0linab0y (Aug 10, 2009)

eddy said:


> I wouldn't get too carried away buying a bunch if those are the best pieces. It's just holey limestone and can be found at most stone yards. If every piece is similar too the ones you got then yeah but I'd bet they are not.
> 
> This stuff is a dime a dozen at stone yards. The catch is finding quality pieces. Not too many quality pieces end up at a stoneyard.
> 
> My point is a low or even mid quality piece is not worth what it cost to ship it.


depending on how close you are to a source. you're not gone find it just ANYWHERE around here. and out of all the places I went when looking for my cichlids, I'd bet ONE would even know what I was talking about.


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## eddy (Jan 16, 2009)

car0linab0y said:


> eddy said:
> 
> 
> > I wouldn't get too carried away buying a bunch if those are the best pieces. It's just holey limestone and can be found at most stone yards. If every piece is similar too the ones you got then yeah but I'd bet they are not.
> ...


 They don't know what you are talking about because texas holey rock is a term used by aquarist.
It is just eroded limestome. The unique eroding is what gives it value.

The OP said that the rest of the rock did not have the big holes in it and "texas holey rock" without big holes simply isn't worth much at all. Ace hardware even has it the good pieces are just picked out before it gets there and the few that make it there go quick.

The rocks pictured are worth something but I'm guessing the rest of the pile that the op passed on at 10 cents per LB that lacks big holes is not worth much.

It is very common if you get there first too pick a few good pieces out of a pile at a stoneyard. The problem is the remainder of the pile does not sell so they don't order more holey limestone.

My point is not every piece of holey limestone or honeycomb limestone = what the aquarium trade has labeled as texas holey rock. Only the unique pieces are worth money and the way I understand it the OP has already picked out the unique pieces. Now the rest of the pile will probably sit there for quite a while until it all sells then they will order more.....then there will probably be a few more quality pieces come in on that truck.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I've never seen it available at a landscaper or rock yard on the east coast. Actually I've never seen it *anywhere* except on aquarium forums. As in, I've never seen it used in landscaping on the east coast either.


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## nooberfish (Sep 25, 2009)

ill pay 1 dollar a pound for some that would fit in this 100g i got


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## eddy (Jan 16, 2009)

Well here is high quality texas holey rock for 2.24 per lb to your door step all day long http://cgi.ebay.com/TEXAS-HOLEY-ROCK-AQ ... 286.c0.m14. So just how much would you pay for low quality rock with NO BIG HOLES in it?

Remember no big holes makes a low quality piece more expensive to ship than a high quality piece of the same size.

And like I keep saying "texas holey rock" without the big holes is nothing more than a chunk of limestone that can be bought at a wide variety of places for rather cheap.


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## car0linab0y (Aug 10, 2009)

price per lb is not really an accurate way to base the value of THR. personally, I look at the dimensions first. so if a piece is 15"x10"x8" and only weighs 10lbs because it's more HOLE than ROCK... why not pay $3/lb or more?


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## eddy (Jan 16, 2009)

car0linab0y said:


> price per lb is not really an accurate way to base the value of THR. personally, I look at the dimensions first. so if a piece is 15"x10"x8" and only weighs 10lbs because it's more HOLE than ROCK... why not pay $3/lb or more?


 I completely agree. That is part of my point. THR without the big holes is not worth very much and cost way more to ship and is not that hard to find.

My main point is it is the character of the rock that holds value not the kind of rock it is because it is just limestone that can be found anywhere in the US for cheap.


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## JustinChase (Sep 22, 2009)

does anyone know where "exactly" this can be found in the wild. I live in Austin, and am 15 minutes from the hill country, but it's not just lying around as you might think. I suppose if I drive all over, stopping and looking I can find some, but that will end up costing more in gas than just buying some.

However, I do love being able to pick out exactly what I want, so a scavenger hunt here does sound like fun, but what sort of geology am I looking for? stream beds, bring a shovel, what?

anyone know?


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## car0linab0y (Aug 10, 2009)

JustinChase said:


> does anyone know where "exactly" this can be found in the wild. I live in Austin, and am 15 minutes from the hill country, but it's not just lying around as you might think. I suppose if I drive all over, stopping and looking I can find some, but that will end up costing more in gas than just buying some.
> 
> However, I do love being able to pick out exactly what I want, so a scavenger hunt here does sound like fun, but what sort of geology am I looking for? stream beds, bring a shovel, what?
> 
> anyone know?


I'd say ask someone in your area who sells it. A lot of people on craigslist find it in their yard or on their ranch.


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## eddy (Jan 16, 2009)

JustinChase said:


> does anyone know where "exactly" this can be found in the wild. I live in Austin, and am 15 minutes from the hill country, but it's not just lying around as you might think. I suppose if I drive all over, stopping and looking I can find some, but that will end up costing more in gas than just buying some.
> 
> However, I do love being able to pick out exactly what I want, so a scavenger hunt here does sound like fun, but what sort of geology am I looking for? stream beds, bring a shovel, what?
> 
> anyone know?


 I'm guessing at a price of 2-3$ per LB your not going to just find it laying around free for the taking and would likely be arrested for picking it up on private property.

Old sea beds is where you would find it though.

Again it all comes back too it is just limestone so the question is not where to find the rock(limestone) because it is everywhere. The question is where too find limestone that has holes eroded in it.

old seabeds+limestone=unique holey limestone. The name "Texas holey rock" is given because Texas just happens to be where you can find old seabeds with limestone in them.


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