home made live rock

[Mahamotorworks]

So you are going to DIY the Rock. That is cool I want to see pic of it. In a year or so I will setting up a Large SW tank and this would be a good way to save some money.

MAHA

 

[saltwater4life]

No i'm not DIY the rock let i probably will once it gets a little warmer so i can do it out side But i bought some of the dry rock which i payed 1.50lb i believe

 

[TheFool]

DIY or dry rock can save you money nut 1. you have to get it right 2. you need a cerain amount of live rock to make sure you get enough variety of filter bacteria. The bottled cultures contain only on or two species, of any, and there a lot more involved than are commonly thought. However I use some of the premade structures from aquaroche to put real live rock on as they are premade large towers and caves from effectively moulded limestone.

 

[saltwater84]

according to my understanding, you just put the rock in your fish tank with your live rock and then the non-live rock just become live. Wouldn't that mess up your ph or your setting? Should you put it in a tank sperate from your main tank with some live rocks and when it becomes live, you then put it in your main tank?

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

you can but its a waste of money time and space.... no point. it wont screw up your PH. it buffers the water to a higher PH for african cichlids... they like the same PH as SW creatures. your all good... stick the stinkin rocks in the tank already!

 

[saltwater4life]

i am
Thanks guys

 

[Xeruf]

what do you think the time period of turning dead rock to alive is. lets say with a 50 / 50 mix of live and dead.

I had 3 pieces of old live rock that was dead and white, I put it there hoping it would turn live. but with no luck. but I guess that is because of the lack of light there. so a couple days ago I tossed them in the main tank to mix with the other rock.

 

[Mahamotorworks]

Did you scrub the Dead stuff off? If not it will take a while.

MAHA

 

[Xeruf]

Did you scrub the Dead stuff off? If not it will take a while.

MAHA

it was really dead when I got it, like white and all. its been sitting in my sump for 4 months now. so I don't think it will take that long, seeing it was in contact with the micro organisms for that long, it just needs light for photosynthesis to thrive

 

[Mahamotorworks]

Ok then it shouldnt be long till you see some life on it. Why not add a light to your sump?

MAHA

 

[Mushroomman]

It tends to spread faster if it is in physical contact with a piece of the live stuff.

 

[Xeruf]

Ok then it shouldn't be long till you see some life on it. Why not add a light to your sump?

MAHA

cuz I don't got the glass slots to make it a refugium

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

but you can still stick a light over it. the class separators have no impact on wether you can use a light or not.

 

[saltwater4life]

yea you can still use a light

 

[CoolWaters]

lol i used to have this one rock that had too many pores... i can flot O.O

 

[saltwater4life]

lol yea the one piece i put in was flouting i had to move it around to get the air out it still bubbles every few minutes or so.

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

haha... probably pumice. its a porous igneous rock.

 

[CoolWaters]

lol yeah it was igneous

are they safe to put in your tank after a good rince?

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

lol yeah it was igneous

what kind? do you know?


id boil anything you want to put in your tank... im not sure if it would float or not though. lava flows into the ocean during eruptions, so i dont think it does too much damage... after it cools i mean.

 

[CoolWaters]

lol lava rock = preboiled

but just boiling stuff helps?

so if i got some igneous and boiled it, it would be ok? wouldnt it corrode and bad stuff comes out of it?

im not just going to use all igneous rocks maybe some travertine rock and concrete...