Caribbean Rock high phosphates?

[DREUTZ]

I just got back from Barbados where I collected a large amount of dead rock and coral form the beaches in hopes to use them all for my rock wall. I read this link:

http://www.tampareef.com/liverock.html

Where they say that Caribbean rock is very high in phosphates. Has anyone heard of this? Although Barbados is technically in the West Indies, it is still in the same region.

I was already planning on scrubbing and boiling the rocks for a while to clean them up, will that help out?

 

[Mattl22]

How did u get it home???

 

[albano]

How did u get it home???

+1 ... what, exactly, is a large amount?

Where they say that Caribbean rock is very high in phosphates. Has anyone heard of this? Although Barbados is technically in the West Indies, it is still in the same region.

I was already planning on scrubbing and boiling the rocks for a while to clean them up, will that help out?

IMO, they are talking about 'mined' rock which has not been in the ocean for a few MILLION years! Florida is sitting on ancient coral reefs and the 'calcium rock' is mined (mainly) to build roads, and some is used in the aquarium trade. Anyone that has visited Fl. is probably aware of the phos. in the ground water.

Cleaning and curing the rocks is a very good idea.

 

[DREUTZ]

+1 ... what, exactly, is a large amount?

Cleaning and curing the rocks is a very good idea.

It's a decent amount, the table in the pic is about 18" x 18". I plan to use that rock plus coral/rock I've gotten from other trips (st. maarten and dominican republic) as well as the skeletons of the fallen from my tank over the years. You can't really tell from the pics but there are a few nice shelf type pieces in the mix.

I just put it in a bunch of ziplock bags and threw it all in my carryons throughout my scuba gear. I got stopped at all checkpoints in the Barbados airport and one person took out the two biggest bags and was showing all of the security workers. At that point I thought they were going to confiscate them, but they were just looking at the size because if they are too big they can be used as a weapon. They let me pack it up and everything was cool.

I am not planning on curing the rock until the rock wall is made because I don't want live material trapped in the wall.

The LFS said that just a rock wall would be fine and would not really affect the phosphates, but he would avoid using solely that type of rock. He knows that I am just reusing rock from my existing tank so I don't think he was just saying that to have me buy the more expensive rock.

 

[fishman1069]

Those are some sweet pieces! I see a couple in there Id be able to use as a weapon:scratchch lol

 

[DREUTZ]

I was thinking the same thing haha :fishhit:!!

On another note. What is all that red stuff on some of the pieces. It is hard and looks like it could be coraline however the coraline I am familiar with turns white and doesn't stay red. Is it just another strain of coraline?

 

[albano]

I am not planning on curing the rock until the rock wall is made because I don't want live material trapped in the wall.

No idea, what you mean by that!

The LFS said that just a rock wall would be fine and would not really affect the phosphates, but he would avoid using solely that type of rock.

No idea, what he means by that!
A wall of rock has different phos. than a pile of rock????

Regardless of how you use the rock (wall or not) it should be cured

 

[DREUTZ]

No idea, what you mean by that!

I may have gotten it confused but isn't curing the rock where you throw it in a bucket with a heater and powerhead with a piece of LR to have it seed the dead rock?

No idea, what he means by that!
A wall of rock has different phos. than a pile of rock????

Regardless of how you use the rock (wall or not) it should be cured

He meant he wouldn't use a tank with only this rock but you could get away with using the pieces in the wall but then the rest of the tank would be nice rock from the pacific regions. He was just advising against using and relying solely caribbean rock for your system because there may be more of a chance of the phosphate issue in that scenario. You hear me knocking?

I want the rock as clean as possible through many scrubbings, soakings and rinsings and then as dry as possible so that there is no moisture or other junk trapped in the foam for the rock wall. I guess it wouldn't be curing the rock but once that dry rock wall is completely finished and has been rinsed many many times I am going to cycle the tank with rock from my existing system which will seed the wall rock.

 

[albano]

I may have gotten it confused but isn't curing the rock where you throw it in a bucket with a heater and powerhead with a piece of LR to have it seed the dead rock?

He meant he wouldn't use a tank with only this rock but you could get away with using the pieces in the wall but then the rest of the tank would be nice rock from the pacific regions. He was just advising against using and relying solely caribbean rock for your system because there may be more of a chance of the phosphate issue in that scenario. You hear me knocking?

I want the rock as clean as possible through many scrubbings, soakings and rinsings and then as dry as possible so that there is no moisture or other junk trapped in the foam for the rock wall. I guess it wouldn't be curing the rock but once that dry rock wall is completely finished and has been rinsed many many times I am going to cycle the tank with rock from my existing system which will seed the wall rock.

curing/cleaning/cooking the rock is different from 'seeding' the rock

Sorry, but I didn't realize that you were referring to a foam wall. You should be fine with the scrubbing,soaking and rinsing!

 

[DREUTZ]

I was just reading this thread from RC about muriatic acid bath:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1914426

and I am considering giving all my dead stuff from vacation and the marco rocks I'm going to get this treatment to strip it of everything.

 

[bigsink]

I have some muriatic acid left over from my treatment. You are more than welcome to it. I think it is a gallon.

 

[DREUTZ]

I have some muriatic acid left over from my treatment. You are more than welcome to it. I think it is a gallon.

Thanks a lot for the offer and I may take you up on it if you won't be needing it. What was the reason for your treatment?

Liverock with lots of pests and nuisance algae
Dead rock with lots of dried organics and bound phosphates
I think people also do it to strip rocks that were in tanks treated with copper too.

 

[bigsink]

All reasons stated above. Most of rock was stored for years. Never had Cu in it though. Just pm me if you want to pick up the acid.

 

[JonnyIce]

Oh man, i saw some amazing amazing (dead) rock washed up on this shore in Ecuador a little West of Guayaquil, but didn't want to mess with taking it...strict rules on their beaches

 

[DREUTZ]

All reasons stated above. Most of rock was stored for years. Never had Cu in it though. Just pm me if you want to pick up the acid.

Thanks I will let you know

 

[DREUTZ]

Oh man, i saw some amazing amazing (dead) rock washed up on this shore in Ecuador a little West of Guayaquil, but didn't want to mess with taking it...strict rules on their beaches

Well it was almost comical in Barbados that they didn't care I had so much!