# Rocks from nature



## boomer92 (Apr 17, 2013)

In Gatlinburg this week on vacation. Walking along some streams in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park today. SO tempting to take home some smaller rocks for the aquarium!


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## Cichlid Debby (Mar 21, 2014)

They look perfect! I'd be picking a few up.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Bring me back some, would ya :wink:


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## boomer92 (Apr 17, 2013)

Hey, no problem, the kids agreed to leave their souvenirs behind to make room in the minivan. =D>

Actually didn't take any. Part of me felt guilty being in a National Park. Figured I should leave em there. I'm either being responsible or silly, not sure.
Fun picturing them in a rockscape tho!


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## hose91 (Mar 5, 2014)

boomer92 said:


> Hey, no problem, the kids agreed to leave their souvenirs behind to make room in the minivan. =D>
> 
> Actually didn't take any. Part of me felt guilty being in a National Park. Figured I should leave em there. I'm either being responsible or silly, not sure.
> Fun picturing them in a rockscape tho!


Maybe both! Good on you for leaving them in the park for others to enjoy! That said, there are a LOT of rocks in America, and surely there is some similar river system between Gatlinburg and home that would be a more appropriate spot to bolster your boulder collection from! They sure do look good though.


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## Obiwantoothri (Mar 1, 2013)

Been there to the Smokies. It is super Beautiful. I live in Florida and have a funny rock story. The state spent a pretty penny landscaping the head of toll road highway 417. They made about a mile of dry riverbed with awesome rock of various shapes and sizes. Under cover of darkness I parked at a nearby gas station and made several trips lugging all kinds of stone that I wrapped in a sweater and threw over my shoulder. it was hard work and a hike. Oh the things we will do for good stone! That was about 6 years ago and I still have those rocks in my aquarium


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## boomer92 (Apr 17, 2013)

Those are probably some nice pieces of limestone if they're the ones I'm thinking of.


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## Mike_G (Nov 8, 2011)

Those are some nice-looking rocks. I pull most of mine out of the Willamette River when it's low.


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## Corphish (Jul 8, 2014)

It's usually prohibited to remove anything from a national park, so its probably a good thing you left them. Please everyone remember when collecting rocks that those rocks may be a necessary part of the habitat for certain species. For example, five-lined skinks (lizards) in Georgian Bay here in Ontario have declined dramatically because they need large, flat rocks found close to shore, that's where they live and breed. But people take them for their cottages, or build "inukshuks" not thining anything about the little creatures that skitter away when that rock is moved. After a while, there are no more suitable rocks for the lizards, salamanders, snakes or whatever may need them for shelter. Same problem with driftwood, people take it for landscaping, aquariums, or the fire pit and it adds up over time, with it being taken faster than nature can replace it. Please always think carefully before you remove a rock, log or whatever from nature. I prefer to take them from construction sites, or areas which have recently been developed. New subdivisions usually have vacant lots with plenty of rocks, and you can take them without fear or destroying vulnerable habitat, and generally the land owners are happy to have them gone. Although it's horrible, a nice natural area that is in the process of becoming a Walmart of something is a goldmine, and you might as well take it before its buried under concrete.


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