Rock from the beach..

[melana]

Hi everyone,

What is everyone's opinion about using rocks from the ocean... I spent the day at westport and took a long walk along the shore and which there was so many snails and hermit crab... it was so cool. At the very end of the point there was so many rocks of all sizes and shape and I was wondering if you can use these for a reef tank, any thoughts on the matter???

 

[NateHanson]

I don't think there's any harm to using granite rocks in a reef tank, but they probably serve much of a biofiltration role like calcium carbonate skeleton rock, becase they aren't porous. So using them in addition to sufficient LR would be fine, but you wouldn't want to substitute granite for LR in you reef, IMG (in my guess )

 

[melana]

Thanks.... I found a couple shelf pieces which I will just add to the LR to help with design.

 

[melana]

Would anyone else like a few pieces of rock to use as shelf pieces? I can bring to the meeting....

 

[nitrofish]

I havn't been to the beach in decades, but if I was to find some cool rocks id deffinitly bring them home

 

[dz6t]

I will be very careful about rocks on beach. Make sure you clean it and boil it over and over. Also, heavy metal polution is a big concern.

 

[Scarfish]

I've used dead coral rocks from places like Aruba, Hawaii, and Florida in my tank - just boiled them before hand.

I dunno about anything from around here though - I probably wouldn't.

 

[Conlius]

oh yeah, and if it is a rock from one of the beaches around here...remember that most of the stuff living on it, will be used to cold cold water...but, if you have to boil it before you use it, i would not use it.

base rock you find usually isn't as dense...a lot lighter on your tank and better for little creatures to hide in, and its usually only like a buck or 2 a pound

 

[SMS76]

R there any restriction on getting rocks from beaches around here?

 

[~Flighty~]

What about copper ore or things like that in the rock?

 

[MarkO]

I don't know of any restrictions around here. Also, I don't think you need to worry much about copper. The biggest concern is the life (if any) on the rock. It will be used to local climate, so anything on the rock will probably die off.
It's funny but when I started out in this hobby, folks would call you crazy if you put anything in your tank from the ocean. I had a tough time understanding why. I remember posting "has anyone ever used water from the oceacn" and was pretty badly flamed for asking such a stupid question.

 

[Ifferfish]

I had been told that the rocks here can leach a high level of Phosphates. Don't know that for sure, after hearing that I didn't try. I had attached some corals to them and a LFS said that they would not take them again if I did so for that reason. Just for what it is worth...

 

[melana]

there isn't any restriction and I am not sure about harmful stuff.. I was just thinking about using 2 pieces that are flat for a shelf... I wasn'tn thinking about using all beach rocks for my tank... still want base rock and plenty of LR.. just to help with the aquascaping....thanks to all that shared with me you brought up a lot of stuff that I didn't even think of before... I am glad that I asked before placing it in my tank...

 

[~Flighty~]

I think it was reefer rocks.com that had a method for seamlessly ataching two pieces of dry rock. FWIW I would use all dry rock if I was setting up a tank today and I would ust the type that Mark has at Fishy Buisiness. It is very easy to tie into long pieces for shelves and much lighter than any local rock so it is easy to aquascape.

 

[melana]

Thanks for the help.... think I need to do some more research.... I will use the beach rock for my flower garden...

 

[~Flighty~]

If you are ever up my way stop by and see how nice the dry rock looks after a few months. Not having to worry about all of the hitchhikers would be nice too. I just had a gorilla crab take a big bit out of a fish I was acclimating. He has gotten quite large since I got that florida live rock two years ago.

 

[MarkO]

Dry rock is a great idea, especially if you are planning a tank. I picked up about 35# of dry rock for about $100 from a local fish store. I think Marc might have better prices... but not sure.
Anyhow, you will have to let dry rock cure, which will take about a month.

 

[~Flighty~]

The dry rock from Mark just needs to be soaked overnight in water and washed off. I added it and a few pieces of LR from my old tank with fresh sand seeded with a cup of sand from my tank and a cup from a friend's. I was good to go with no cure time or anything. Of course it takes time to be able to process a large bio-load, just figure that it can handle the bio-load that the LR you are using can alone until it grows some bacteria.

Going from the 58 to the 120 I moved about half of my 58's rock and about a third of the fish, waited a month or so and added the rest of the 58's rock to the sump and added the rest of the fish. Never saw a spike or anything.