lava rock

[kirtis]

Hello i bought some lava rock cause it was really cheap and i have had several people to tello me that you can have lava rock in my saltwater aquairum let me tell you my inhabitants

greetn brittle star
snowflake eel
tomato clown
flame scallop
hawaiian feather duster


will it hurt anything , i think i can cause i have had many people to tell me but i want to make sure one more time before putting it in

 

[MIKE NY1]

Here we go again

Kirtis, I didn't use any lava rock in any of my tanks because I just don't trust it to be clean enough for a reef tank. I did, however use a few lbs of tufa rock as base rock from previous tanks that I had set up w/o any problems.

Mike

 

[Anonymous]

Current thinking is that most lava rock can/will leach undesireable substances into your water.
There are 2 (I think) sources of lava rock that can be used with no fear. I do believe one know as Idaho lava rock. I forget the other.
Anyone want to clear this up?

 

[kirtis]

where can i find tufa rock and how much is it?

 

[chris_h]

Tufa rock is very good.

 

[kirtis]

ok would this be a good place to buy it also look at the tufa and tell me if this is it???

http://www.azgardens.com/newcaves.htm

 

[31-2c]

HEY KIRTIS!!!

What happened to that mandarin you were talking about not too long ago???? (like we all don't know the answer to that!) How about that Chocolate Star???

I see you added a feather duster as well. Just keep sticking stuff in there!!!


As for the lava rock. I have used lava rock in my tanks for years without problem. I did remove most of it when I combined my tanks a few months ago. I kept a couple pieces and used it as base rock to hold my live rock off of the bottom.

Of course, Given the amount of money you have wasted on killing fish, You could have purchased a very nice shipment of Live Rock! (Of course you knew that already, didn't you!)

[ December 17, 2001: Message edited by: 31-2c ]

[ December 17, 2001: Message edited by: 31-2c ]

[ December 17, 2001: Message edited by: 31-2c ]</p>

 

[Anonymous]

It's best NOT to use lava rock however I'm not all that quick to believe that it is harmful. The risk is that it may leach unwanted compounds into your tank. That said, at normal operating pH's of marine aquariums I don't think you will see much of anything leaching from the rock.

Tufa is calcium carbonate. Most often sold at LFS's under the brand name Feller Stone.

 

[Anonymous]

I believe that most feel that lava rock is impure because of the color. Most think that it will leach too much iron(ferrous compounds) which is what gives it that rust color. I don't really know if that is true about leaching,but would caution anyone that it may be a problem if a rock were to leach copious amounts of iron.

If you are to use "feller stone",just make sure it is very white/tan. It would make you assume there are very small amounts of other materials besides calcium and carbonates.

I too think that it is very likely that lava rock may leach other minerals and pollutants into the water. You should see no problems with that white pourous rock TUFA.

 

[Gatortailale1]

Idea to buy lava rock instead of live rock

My advice, do it right the first time and you will save money down the road BECAUSE LESS LIVESTOCK WILL DIE!

 

[BReefCase]

Do a search on "lava rock" -- the board covered this topic pretty well a while back.

Basically, their are two kinds of "lava" -- the real stuff from volcanos, and the pet store stuff which is a man-made expanded clay ceramic (i.e., pottery) product originally made for the metal casting industry.

The man-made stuff is inert and makes a good start for d.i.y. live rock, due to its porous structure.

Real lava, which you are less likely to encounter unless you live in The Islands, may be toxic if it is "young" lava that is still leaching toxic materials, and needs to be tested and/or cured before use.

 

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Hi there! I used lava rock over 30 years in my 29 gallon so called reef tank back then and had no problems with it and got it at the LFS. Johnny

 

[nuff40]

Used lava rock in my 55 without any problems....no diatoms, no cyano, no critter deaths. Takes a while for anything to grow on it, but it will populate.

Got mine at a local stone mason for 25 cents a lb.

david

 

[tazdevil]

O.k., the lava rock your talking about isn't true lava rock if bought at an lfs. Its a man made porous rock (good for adding to a tank w/lr in it, to give more roome for life). Real Lava Rock would leach many heavy metals (lead especially) causing the death of all inhabitants, and forever poisining the tank (silicone seals etc.). True lava rock comes from a volcanic eruption (forgot, sulfur is present too), which leads to many undesirable minerals. Tullocks reefkeeping book goes into this very subject.

 

[kirtis]

thanks for responding, its gbeen in there 3 days and so far so good, petstores won't sell the real rock ?

 

[chris_h]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by kirtis:
<strong>Hello i bought some lava rock cause it was really cheap and i have had several people to tello me that you can have lava rock in my saltwater aquairum let me tell you my inhabitants
</strong><hr></blockquote>
I can put lava rock inyour
aquarium? Can I put it in and take it out once it has developed? Sounds like a good deal for me.

 

[Anonymous]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by 31-2c:
<strong>HEY KIRTIS!!!

What happened to that mandarin you were talking about not too long ago???? (like we all don't know the answer to that!) How about that Chocolate Star???

I see you added a feather duster as well. Just keep sticking stuff in there!!!


As for the lava rock. I have used lava rock in my tanks for years without problem. I did remove most of it when I combined my tanks a few months ago. I kept a couple pieces and used it as base rock to hold my live rock off of the bottom.

Of course, Given the amount of money you have wasted on killing fish, You could have purchased a very nice shipment of Live Rock! (Of course you knew that already, didn't you!)

[ December 17, 2001: Message edited by: 31-2c ]

[ December 17, 2001: Message edited by: 31-2c ]

[ December 17, 2001: Message edited by: 31-2c ]</strong><hr></blockquote>

And that's after 3 edits - you da man, copper!

Just took my test this weekend!

You did forget the grumpy face though

I had to remove some of your faces - only 8 images allowed

 

[monkeyboy]

Wow, one of his clowns is getting bigger!

I'm not a big fan of lava rock because it's not live rock. The more live rock you put in there the larger the amount of different species of crustaceans and other little cryptic organisms that keep the tank healthy. Less isn't more, more is more! Oh, the other reason i don't like it, it's ugly as hell unless burried by live rock.

 

[monkeyboy]

Oh ya, what did happen to that mandarin that you were soooo sure it would be fine?

 

[tazdevil]

No, petstores will not sell you true "lava rock" that is, rock from lava/volcanic flow. As I stated, it has sulphur and other heavy metals in it. As far as I know, you can't get it anywhere. Not that you'd want sulphur laden rocks in a salt (or even fresh) water tank anyway!