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kirtis

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hey , i have alot of live rock in my tank , but i was thinking about putting this one rock that i found in a rive,r it is pretty good size, what would be wrong with adding it, he says you can only have live rock , but i mean , its rock , and surely there is just plain ole rock in the ocean , you think it would be ok if i added it
 

CLAY CRUDEN

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Not a thing wrong with that. you might get a little quaver in your water param. Nothing is wrong with adding any kind of rock. Only thing to consider porous/weight. i know people who make live rock by dumping limestone etc in the ocean and goingt bach a while later to collect it. they can even do manmade shapes that are really cool like arcs and such.
 

tazdevil

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Let me get this right, your taking rock form freshwater in the river and adding it to a saltwater tank? IMHO BAD IDEA. The life on this rock is freshwater based. Major die off, possible tank pollution may result. Also, the rock itself may contain metals that are safe in a freshwater environment, however, in a saltwater environment, they could leach into the water causing a heavy metal poisining in your tank. This would result in total tank failure, and the sealant used to hold the glass together may be forever contaminated, making this tank unsuitable for saltwater (possibly fresh as well) use. AGAIN IMHO DONT DO IT!
 

tazdevil

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Now steve, that's not nice, play fair now
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chris_h

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You can add it but you will want to clean it off very well. I have some creek limestone in my sump.
 

tazdevil

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Kirtis, what river did this rock come from? (if from Mississippi) Than thats a definite no- to much chemical pollution. Other rivers in your state, I dont know, but, again I in general wouldn't risk this.
 
A

Anonymous

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if you like the shape of the rock and you clean it first, sure why not.
 

Mouse

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Kurtis, if your looking for interesting rocks that are cheap and suitable for a reef why dont you try Lava Rock (man made, not from a volcano) or Tufa rock. Both of these are porus, light weight and maluble (easily moulded). If you like the rock you found in the river stick a candle on it or something, but its not worth risking your reef over.

P.S. Good to hear your still after our advice, keep at it and you could make a decent reefer yet
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monkeyboy

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Go for limestone/coral rock, very cheap. I guess if you clean up the rock pretty good then it should be ok, assuming it wont leach any pesticides or metals like the people above have stated. BTW, live rock isn't "plain ole rock" it's made up of the skeletons of dead marine inverts covered in algae and other critters. I seriously doubt that you can purchase live rock made up of the same stuff that that rock is in your river...
 
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Anonymous

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<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by SPC:
<strong>Kirtis, I would put it in YOUR tank.
Steve</strong><hr></blockquote>

Aw, Steve, that wasn't very nice.
icon_smile.gif
 
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Anonymous

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Look, the guy wants to pick up a rock and stick it in his tank. Thats not a problem. I wouldn't worry about heavy metals unless you live in a uranium mine or something. If it totally gooked up with mud or algae then wash it off...
 

tazdevil

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The problem is this- rocks can be porous. Most rivers (atleast the major ones) have had various heavy metals dumped into them, or other types of chemicals, that can leach into the rock. Or, their compisition can have a metal component of any type, even iron. Now take this rock from a relatively stable freshwater environment and put it into a corrosive saltwater environment. Thats the whole point-its to risky when you can buy rock from an LFS that should be safe, and portect your animals.
 
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Anonymous

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OK, I'll buy that, I guess.

Hellooooo? Is the rock porous????
 

tazdevil

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or, is it granite? This is one of the very few you can be sure of. Some of the possible metals in most rocks, porous or not: Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Iron, Aluminum, Gadolinium, Lithium, Copper, Zinc, Barium, and others. Some of this list are heavy metals, which, would kill all tank inhabitants.
 
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Anonymous

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Look, if the rock has enough cadmium, mercury or anything else exposed on the surface of the rock to leach toxic levels into a reef tank, then I don't know how anybody can survive to adulthood. I just don't buy this whole thing.

Sure those compounds exist, but in trace elements, in seawater and all over the place.
 

tazdevil

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Dan, a tank is a closed system. Whatever metal gets in there, stays in there. Add to that the size of the system, and potential for catastrophe increases. A metal that is "bound" in freshwater (or in its most stable form) can be "released" in saltwater by reactions, and this could cause them to become "free", ingested by fish as they drink in the water, ingested by crabs etc. as they eat the detritus. Look at the problems that various birds had when chemical poisining affected them- it caused brittle eggs, when the birds tried to incubate, they crushed, and some bird species came close to extinction. Guess where the poisining came from? Our lakes and rivers in this country.
 

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