landscape rock for base rock???

[novahobbies]

Has anyone tried this in the past? I can get landscape rock down here in Fl for dirt (no pun intended) cheap, less than $1.00/lb. I got a sample piece to mess with, and I'm tempted to try it out in the tank. It's essentially a tufa-like sandstone, definitely oceanic in origin (lots of clams fossilized in the stone), and when I poured a little vineagar on a piece it bubbled and fizzed slightly....indicative of calcium carbonate in the substrate as well, IIRC. It breaks easily with a chisel and sledge. Only drawback is it tends to grind into a sand pretty easily.
Most of you who have seen my threads know that I like to use rock towers in my builds, so I was thinking of using this stuff in place of LFS-purchased Tufa rock for a few more towers....perhaps to sell. Has anyone else tried using different landscape stone in their SW aquariums, and do you have any experiences you want to post?

 

[natclanwy]

I think it would be fine. Florida live rock is mined onshore and placed in offshore farms where it is colonized by organisms and then sold as live rock. Most base rock comes from similar onshore mines as well.

 

[novahobbies]

I wonder if there's a market for these columns for people who don't want to bother with DIYing them. Cheaper than live rock, but they'll colonize up pretty quickly.....heck, I even painted the last couple I did for my cousin so they had a purple/greenish tinge to them. I've seen the price of faux live rock, and it's almost as expensive as the real thing for some reason!

I only started wondering if this landscape sandstone/tufa would be worth it when I started building a couple more for a friend of mine.....

 

[teresaq]

I did a small one useing rubble from my lfs - its in the middle

 

[aquaknight]

Just a thread to revisit and read up on.
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=326962
What you have is Miami Oolitic. Indeed former live rock that makes up the base of southern Florida. The problem is that the rock is pretty dense compared to true 'live rock.' I have never discussed this, but I actually think that there possibly is an upside. Anaerobic bacteria, the bacteria present in our tanks that turns nitrates into harmless nitrogen, lives in the inter-parts of typical LR. So I would reason to believe that denser LR has more potential for harboring more anaerobic bacteria, comparatively?
But anyways, you should be fine. I have over 100lbs of rock collected from Parkland construction sites, including a massive 22" x 16" shelf that's over 30lbs. I probably would not feel really that safe using purchasing landscape rocks though. It would be impossible to tell the history of what those rocks have been exposed to. I would recommend to just go an collect your own on a Saturday/Sunday at a fresh construction site.

 

[novahobbies]

Teresa: Nice!! it should color up in no time under good lighting. Was it "wet" when you foamed it in, and did the foam hold up against the damp stone? I'm building one for my seahorse tank as well, hopefully I can put some spaces for some colorful SPS frags...one of the fun things about the foam is you can bore small holes for frag plugs.
Aquaknight: You, sir, Rock. Thanks for the link, and the help with the ID. I've had the same thought about the bacteria populations in this rock, actually. Tufa rock is almost a honeycomb, so it might be harder for anaerobes to find a foothold, but this stuff is very porous on the outside, but leads in to a pretty dense sandy ********. Your comment about pH in the other thread is really helpful; I'll certainly soak these and test pH before adding to any tanks. As for where to get more if I need it, looks like I'll be keeping an eye out for some of those south FL construction sites!

 

[teresaq]

actually I didn't use foam. Its such a small piece, I super glued the pieces in place, then used silicone in between, and pushed sand into it while still wet.
I have a piece of Xenia sitting on a little shelf at the bottom, I am wanting it to climb to the top
T