can i use rock near the sea wall at low tide?

[philgmiami]

i found some big cool rocks with passage ways for fish to hide,... i think its lime rock, is lime rock ok?.. it had green algue all over them. ive prussure washed them cause i thought of bad bacteria. i soaked them in saltwater for 2 weeks, then into my tank.. ROCK IS EXPENSIVE TO BUY AND MAKING ROCK LOOKS LIKE CEMENT BLOCKS ..ID LIKE TO GO FIND SOME MORe.. ITS FUN TO DO, THERES SO MANY SHAPES AND SIZES .. IS ROCK NEAR THE SEA WALL OK?..

 

[nate0729]

I had this same question. I went to a local bridge and collected off the sides when the water was low. People told me that it's probably illegal, plus there are pollutants, such as suntan lotion, gas from boats, beer, whatever. I used mine and they seem to be doing ok. Hasn't been too long though.

 

[ophiura]

If you are willing to take the risk of pollutants, introduction of pest algae, check whether it is legal (in many parts of Florida if not all it is NOT LEGAL) and are POSITIVE, IMO that it is all limestone rock.....then maybe. But you don't want non-limestone rock in there, IMO.

 

[oceana]

I can say 100% that it is NOT legal to take that rock in tampa. Big fines involved. Also if its from our bay and the gulf beaches I sure as heck would not want it in my tank.
If its taken from a sea wall its even worse with bigger fines because its there for support of the seawall.
Making rock looks like bricks??? Funny no one has ever said my tank looks like its full of bricks?? maybe they are just being nice.
PS: when you go to jail can i have your tank ??? lol JK

MY TANK---v

 

[inkman2004]

Wow Oceana those did turn out great!!!!!

 

[oceana]

thanks. here is a pick when they first went into the tank after being made of nothing but portland cement and caribian sand.
IMO they only part of them that is at all like bricks is the color, but as you can see in the first pic it takes no time at all for it to be covered in coraline.

 

[jeremy999]

how did u get that stuf to grow ont your rock i have cement rock and wont nothing wrow on it

 

[kaotik]

how long have you had the rock in the tank and how much light do you have?

 

[airforceb2]

Oceana,
One word...

 

[monalisa]

Oceana,
I'm really new to this whole hobby...how do you "make" rock? Never heard of that! Is there any way to get a step by step description of the process?
Much appreciated.
Lisa :happyfish

 

[monalisa]

Your's looks awesome, by the way!!
yeah, me again...Lisa :happyfish

 

[tthemadd1]

Here is just one site, there are dozens, that shows how to make your own Cement Aquarium Rock. Good Luck and show pics of how they come out... Good Fishing
[LINK VIOLATION: out of respect to the owner and operator of this board, please do not post links to competitors - or sites sponsored by competitors, Thanks! ]
themaddhatter

 

[dskidmore]

Originally Posted by jeremy999
how did u get that stuf to grow ont your rock i have cement rock and wont nothing wrow on it
Do you have some "seed" rock? You need at least one chunck of real live rock to get the coraline algae starter culture from. Oceana probably also bought alot of those corals and adhered them to the rock initially.

 

[oceana]

Yes there is both live and home made rock in that tank. The tank is also about 2 years old so it’s had lots of time to mature. We took special care to make growing conditions for coralline ideal.
for lighting we now have 4x96 PC and 1x250 MH just for the new MH a few days ago.
used to have a 175hm
As for the corals of course I bought them. lol they don’t just appear.
One thing I find is that things like shrooms and just about any soft coral will attach to our home made rock fast then the natural rock. Coralline also grew MUCH faster on the rocks we made then other parts of the aquarium. Now we can’t keep the stuff we put a pump in there only 3 weeks ago and it is nearly covered already.
I would say that we have about 40 pounds of homemade rock and about 60 of natural.
If you look in the pick you can see the two large pieces that we made.
The one on the left is one large long piece and the one on the right with the hole in it is another large piece. Also the one up top also home made. That rock today is nearly 100% covered in GSP now. It took about 3 months for the GSP to cover it.
The pic of the rock on its own is one we just made about 3 weeks ago that is in a tank curing. Coralline is beginning to grow all over this rock already. To help it along I will take a fully covered rock out of my main tank and scrub it with a wire brush in the tank with the new rock to seed it.

 

[oceana]

here is a pick of the rock in the thrid pic about 1 month after putting a Three 1/2 inch cuttings of GSP on it.

 

[ophiura]

I believe there would be more how to's in the DIY section. A search should turn it up.
Looks fantastic!