Agates?????

[sweetzlynn]

I am starting a saltwater tank and my significant other would like to put some agates at the bottom of our aquarium on the substrate. I read that if we tested the rocks for cooper and other stuff before hand and they pass then we could use them but what do you all think?


Also, live rock is expensive is it really needed? Also would love to do coral as i think it is super pretty but just wondering if you all think it would be easier to just do a fish only tank to start until we get use to everything then add live rock. So far we are just starting the process and have been purchasing the supplies and this weekend we are going to add the aragonite substate and work on filling the tank with all the water. we have a 75 gallon tank, skimmer, filter, T5 light, heater, powerheads, and stand.

What is needed to have coral in your tank for equipment?

 

[bundybear1981]

In a salt water tank your live rock is your primary filtration, its pretty much a crucial part of a salt water tank. It gives the bacteria a place to populate so they can do their thing in the nitrogen cycle.

For coral as long as your lighting is sufficient you should be fine, just make sure you get a good grasp on your water chemistry before jumping in to that side. Things like alkaline, calcium and magnesium levels are big ones. Corals use these to form their skeletons and grow, if they get too low or out of balance things tend to die.

An auto top off is a good piece of equipment to add to your tank as well, during the day water will evaporate. You need to top off with FRESH rodi water to replace the lost volume. An ATO does this several times a day to avoid big swings.

Remember with salt stability is key, no big changes at once. Fish, corals and inverts don't tend to like big chances.

Also I would refrain from adding agates to the tank. Volcanic rock, which agates are typically associated with aren't suitable for our aquariums. They have a tendency to leach metals in the water which in the small volumes we have cause things like nuisance algae growth and can kill corals and inverts. You also want to avoid silicas as they fuel algae growth substantially.

 

[lacybiker2000]

I second this:

Also I would refrain from adding agates to the tank. Volcanic rock, which agates are typically associated with aren't suitable for our aquariums. They have a tendency to leach metals in the water which in the small volumes we have cause things like nuisance algae growth and can kill corals and inverts. You also want to avoid silicas as they fuel algae growth substantially.

I've been a hobbyist in geology for the last 20 years...you do not want agates or other non saltwater rocks in your tank. That's where a side table or shelf in your display comes in, lol.

 

[Bpb]

Yes unfortunately many of us have been in the position where you want to start up a saltwater tank as a fun project with your significant other, but more often than not, what happens is one wants to do it the right way, and one wants to do it their own way, which is rarely the right way. I got lucky and my wife basically lost interest quick and let me take over completely. But just try to really research the basics a lot together and make sure she understands as well as you some of the basic, intermediate, and advanced needs of corals. Since reefs are so threatened in the wild, they're not really something that should be experimented with heavily at home. I would refrain from stocking fish or corals until you have a deep understanding of their needs.


Non marine rocks can leech a lot of harmful things that organisms cannot tolerate nor are there easy to come by tests for. Best to use what works best which is live rock. You can buy it dry and clean from an online vendor and then seed it with some bacterial bottle supplements and a handful of live sand or a small piece of live rock from a fish store or another hobbyist. You don't have to pay the $10 a pound for the whole tanks worth of rock. You can find dry rock online for $2 a pound


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[Ron Reefman]

Besides being potentially harmful to the water chemistry in your tank, the pretty rocks will get covered with algae at first, and later will get covered with coraline algae so they won't look pretty in the tank for very long.