Crushed rock for bubble tower

[medic1175]

I'm going to build a bubble tower for my sump tomorrow to try and get rid of microbubbles. I was planning on putting crushed rock in it to try and break up/slow down the flow of water in it. Where can I get crushed rock, or is it as simple as buying some live rock and smashing it with a hammer? Also, I read somewhere that adding live rock to an established tank can be a bad thing. Is this something I should be worried about?

 

[molsen187]

you can use a hammer and chisel and break up live rock you find at lfs. if you are close to jays they have a big container of rock rubble right now. when you put live rock into an established tank there can be some die off depending how long the rock has been out of the water. this can cause a mini cycle so if you add live rock all you have to do is monitor you water quality for a couple of days and see if your ammonia goes up. just keep your eye on it and be ready to do a water change if neccassary.

 

[Cjtabares]

How big is your tank, and how much rubble are you going to add? If your tank is large and the amount of rubble relatively small I think you should be fine. I would still monitor my parameters for a few days just to be on the safe side.

 

[emabie]

If your primary reason for adding the rubble is to stop bubbles you could add dead rock. It will quickly turn into live rock once it's in an established tank. Dead rock is typically allot cheaper to add and won't have any die off.

Buy a few pices of dead rock then break it apart with a hammer and chisel.