Limestone as baserock ?

wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
Limestone is commonly sold here as baserock (aka Texas holey rock). So long as you have no reason to be concerned with surface contamination, I would see little reason to worry. It is often a little more dense and less porous, but otherwise, is commonly just fossilized reef anyway

SWEEEET! TY Ophiura!
You go girl!

I will powerwash it real good before using it and that should clean off any debris. I can get as much of this as I want, if anybodies interested, I'll be glad to get some!
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
I don't necessarily see why this rock would raise pH uncontrollably. Fundamentally, it is really no different from live rock and sand, IMO. It is not quite the same in my book as cement.
But yeah, what the hey, put some in a trashcan and see. But I am really at a loss as to why this would be different. If you look at a lot of limestone, you will see fossil snail shells, etc. Much of it is old reef...so

It wouldn't hurt to try the above, but people have used limestone baserock without issue, IME (both in SW and in FW African cichlid systems).
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
Originally Posted by Dawman
Just for s**t and giggles , put some of your limestone in a garbage can or a plastic tub . Let it soak for a day or two and take a ph reading . It will be up there . I use portland cement[which has limestone in it] in my diy rock and need to cure it in water for weeks to months depending on the quantity with daily water changes . Right now a batch has been soaking for three weeks and the ph is still off the chart . Take into account to the people that have already been down this road . You are not the first person that thought limestone would work .
So you're saying that limestone works for DIY rock but doesnt for real limestone rock! I dont get it, I believe you're ph may be up there, and I may need to soak it, I think I asked that question. You just stated that the ph would go way up. I realize I'm not the first one to think of it. Probably thats why they sell Holy Rock.
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
I don't necessarily see why this rock would raise pH uncontrollably. Fundamentally, it is really no different from live rock and sand, IMO. It is not quite the same in my book as cement.
But yeah, what the hey, put some in a trashcan and see. But I am really at a loss as to why this would be different. If you look at a lot of limestone, you will see fossil snail shells, etc. Much of it is old reef...so

It wouldn't hurt to try the above, but people have used limestone baserock without issue, IME (both in SW and in FW African cichlid systems).
I think the PH issue may have something to do with the cement curing. Cement gets hot when it cures. There is a chemical reaction going on there. Yes, there are fossils in limestone. This stuff was just blasted and dug outta the ground a few days ago, about 30 feet down. It should be pretty clean rock. I'll do the soaking thing tomorrow.
 
bill109

bill109

Active Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
I don't necessarily see why this rock would raise pH uncontrollably. Fundamentally, it is really no different from live rock and sand, IMO. It is not quite the same in my book as cement.
But yeah, what the hey, put some in a trashcan and see. But I am really at a loss as to why this would be different. If you look at a lot of limestone, you will see fossil snail shells, etc. Much of it is old reef...so

It wouldn't hurt to try the above, but people have used limestone baserock without issue, IME (both in SW and in FW African cichlid systems).
heres a quick question 4 you..
i read on the board every now and then tht they are having problems with their ph. and cant get it up
why dont we reccomend them adding some limestone rock tht has been soaked/powerwashed for a day or 2 and their ph should be a ballark range..
is it not known or does it no increse it enough?
oor no on thought about it or tried it till now..
btw lets see some pics/updates when you get some stuff together,
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
Originally Posted by bill109
heres a quick question 4 you..
i read on the board every now and then tht they are having problems with their ph. and cant get it up
why dont we reccomend them adding some limestone rock tht has been soaked/powerwashed for a day or 2 and their ph should be a ballark range..
is it not known or does it no increse it enough?
oor no on thought about it or tried it till now..
btw lets see some pics/updates when you get some stuff together,
Will do it Bill!
HAHA some things do go my way!
 
bill109

bill109

Active Member
Originally Posted by wattsupdoc
Will do it Bill!
HAHA some things do go my way!

yeah apparwently..
uh huntin I will go uh huntin i will go...
you know the rest ..
not a good idea but a thought.. $$$
-bill109
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Live rock, live sand, etc are all carbonate - aka limestone - rock. I don't see why it would raise pH so much. Now in a freshwater tank, you wouldn't use limestone in a low pH system. It would raise the pH - usually to the 8.0 range.
In addition, there are several reasons for pH issues and not all of them are addressed by buffering.
 
bill109

bill109

Active Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
Live rock, live sand, etc are all carbonate - aka limestone - rock. I don't see why it would raise pH so much. Now in a freshwater tank, you wouldn't use limestone in a low pH system. It would raise the pH - usually to the 8.0 range.
In addition, there are several reasons for pH issues and not all of them are addressed by buffering.
yeah i almost did tht btu because i was lazy i dint and kept it under with the other fish stuff.. sometime i dont know wheather to hate it or love it.
 
zman1

zman1

Active Member
Watts
I would go for it in a testing environment. I actually was looking at this as an option before going DIY. The limestone around here ( STL metro) also had, if I remember correctly, high PO4 levels. Test that and let us know, you can never have too much low/no cost rock -LOL
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
FWIW, many LFS will sell such rock for perhaps $1.00 a pound. It often is not worth getting it shipped.
Go ahead and try the experimental scenario. Who knows, it may not work for you. My experience is with the local Texas limestone which is quite commonly used here.
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
I've got 30lbs or so soaking in a trashcan outside. I tested right after filling with water, PH is at 7.6.
The waters kinda cloudy from particles that didnt get washed off. I'll test again tonight and see what it is then.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
If you're going to test it in a filled trashcan for PH remember to use saltwater with normal Ca and ALK levels.
CaCO3 will slowly dissolve in fresh water (raises PH) but not normal sea water (no effect on PH).
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
I'm really interested to see what kind of results you get, can you check the other levels too like phos and amm and nitrite and nitrate, it would be really interesting to see how viable of an option it is. And like bang mentioned remeber for the ph no ph difference your gonna have to use marine water.
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
Allright, well tonight after my sons b-ball game I'll mix up some SW and test. I dunno what trites,trates and phosphates will do for me though. Well, maybe phosphates i suppose.
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
I'm just thinking (as per trites and trates) you may want to make sure there isnt other stufff riding in. of course with my mad scientest kit it take about the same amount of time to do six tests as it does one. basicly I was just curious thats all.
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
Ok, I got 2 gallons of freshly mixed SW with about 6-9 lbs of rock in it. I did test PH on the rock outside and it was only 7.4 right now. I'll leave that out there soaking while I soak the other in SW. I did test the fresh SW for ph just after mixing and of course it was way high, as it was just mixed. I dont think I need to bother testing anything until tomorrow when the SW stabilizes.
 
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