IceCap Elephant Stone, 44 lbs

1. Open your IC-RES shipping box outside or in a garage space, as unrefined natural stones hold dry soil deposits and small transit crumbs within their deep crevices.
2. Place the stones inside a large utility bucket and scrub all surfaces down with a stiff-bristled brush using hot tap water to remove loose dust, soil, or transit grit. Warning: Never clean using household soaps or chemical detergents.
3. Rinse each piece thoroughly with a garden hose or tap faucet to ensure all loose surface debris is completely cleared away.
4. Arrange your dry stones on a soft towel or a cardboard template cut to your tank's footprint to safely map out your design before transferring the heavy stones into a fragile glass aquarium.
5. Position your bottom-most foundation rocks carefully onto the glass floor inside the tank. Pro Tip: Lay down a plastic light-diffuser grid (egg crate) or a thin layer of substrate beneath heavy stones to distribute weight evenly.
6. Stack your secondary stones into position, making sure each piece feels completely stable and balanced. Slowly add your aquarium substrate around the rock bases, place a plastic wrap sheet over the stone core to diffuse the water stream, and fill the tank gently to prevent washing out your hardscape structure.

Pro Tips:

• Take Time to Thoroughly Clean Out the Deep Cracks and Folds Prior to Setup. Because true Elephant Stone is a geological formation born from wild mountain environments, the deep wrinkles and pockets can naturally collect dried soil and dust during harvesting. If you put the rocks into your tank straight out of the box, this residual debris will dissolve into your water column, creating a stubborn cloud that can choke out your filtration system. Spending a few minutes per rock scrubbing the grooves and rinsing them well guarantees your tank water stays crystal clear from day one.
• Use Small Bits of Foam or Cotton to Lock Custom Stone Joints Safely. When stacking pieces into complex configurations like towering canyon walls or overhanging arches, tuck tiny pieces of cigarette filter, cotton balls, or filter floss between the rock contact points, and drop a few drops of cyanoacrylate-based superglue gel onto it. The liquid glue will instantly react with the fibers, generating an iron-clad chemical bond that locks your custom stone towers together permanently and prevents accidental rock slides.
• Tuck In Epiphytic Plants Directly into the Deep Folds Without Using Glue. One of the greatest design benefits of Elephant Stone’s unique, wrinkled texture is that it provides ready-made planting spots. Instead of wrestling with liquid glue or tying thread around rocks to attach plants, you can simply take small divisions of low-profile epiphytes (such as Bucephalandra, Anubias Nana Petite, or Christmas Mosses) and press their roots gently into the rock’s natural folds. The rough, textured walls will grab onto the roots instantly, allowing them to anchor and spread across the stone faces naturally.