Can I Add Anytype of Rock?

H

hhh

Guest
The people that i bought a fish tank from had this rock in their setup which was freshwater. and I was just wondering if it would be a good idea to add to my saltwater tank. Here is a Pic.


I have bigger pieces and was just wondering if I would be able to put that type of rock in my fowlr. The people had it in their saltwater setup and when they sold the tank to me I took out all the rock and left it in the backyard for 2 months then i put it in my RES tank and am now deciding on adding it to my 115g. Does anyone know what type of rock it is.
 
chadman

chadman

Active Member
i would advice against adding it...freshwater and saltwater have totally different bacterias and stuff...even if you get new live rock which has been in saltwater you still don't want to add them directly to your tank...you want to culture them so that you don't cause a ammonia spike
 
doglvr

doglvr

Member
The thing you should be concerned with is what minerals are in the rock & how much. Will the minerals, as they seep from the rock, be enough to kill your fish & other creatures? Our tanks don't have the endless water supply of the ocean leaching minerals to make them safe for ocean life!
 
xdave

xdave

Active Member
Dude, it's lava! IMHO I say its probably ok since I've had at least 25# in every salt tank I've ever had.
 
dogstar

dogstar

Active Member
IMO, its can be risky. The exact nature and composition of the rock at the time of formation varies considerably with whatever is literally bubbling up from the earths crust. I cannot say that your rock is safe or unsafe. Just that I do not recommend it when there are much better choices of rock for marine aquariums.
It may be that its not toxic if the Fresh water fish did OK, IDK. But still other types of minerals could upset the salinity or alkalinity of the saltwater over time....Typical carbonaceous aragonite based reef rocks will be much better than one that most likely largely siliceous.
 
aquatics24

aquatics24

Member
theres lava in every tropical ocean, and millions of beautiful fish swim in and out of them. cycle it through your tank before anything. nice granite countertops by the way.
 
H

hhh

Guest
Okay i'll use it since I have like 3 huge pieces and a couple smaller pieces. I'm going to add it to my 115g and I just have a snowflake eel in there.
 
H

hhh

Guest
Should I do something to it to kill whatever backteria is in the rock?
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
mmmmm, nanners!
i would rinse it very well in freshwater and then let it soak in saltwater to remove any type of freshwater things from it. You never know, there may be hitchikers that'll die in your tank and cause an ammonia spike... I'd say it's safe too, as i have 35#'s of lava rock in my tank. It's good because it's really really porous so i'll house more bacteria than normal rock.
 
H

hhh

Guest
Okay thanks alot. I'll try to boil the water just in case. Should I just add the rock once i've left it in saltwater. Should I do it one rock at a time?
 
H

hhh

Guest
My mother is right here reading this thread and the tank that I bought with the lava rock had crushed coral. and she doesn't believe that I shouldn't of have thrown it away. Please someone just tell her no.
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
i don't think it'll be a problem to add them all at once. It'll be dead rock, so you can add as much as you want without having a problem.
 
a&a2

a&a2

Member
I've used crushed coral for over 2 years now with no problem. My readings are never a problem??? I know I'll get flamed for posting this comment :mad: , but oh well! ***)
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
non one's going to flame you for using cc! it's just my opinion. I had CC in the beginning and i had all sorts of nitrate problems. you should've seen how disgusting it was when i removed it!!! the top was all clean, but the underneath was full of waste and disgustingness... blah!!!
 
xdave

xdave

Active Member
Crushed coral isn't actually bad, it's just that a lot better things are now available now. I don't think used CC would really be worth keeping when setting up a tank.
 
H

hhh

Guest
so should I just rince all the rocks out with freshwater. then let it out in the sun, then boil it in freshwater, then leave it in saltwater for x # of days. then slowly add the pieces to the tank and aquascape?
 
xdave

xdave

Active Member
Yep. You'll have to turn them a few times when you rinse or soak. Lava is very porous and traps stuff in it.
 
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