"Home grown" live rock

[blackwoodla]

Has anyone grown their own live rock? I have a nice, large limestone rock with lots of pits and holes for tank critters in it. (I live in central TX where you can pick up limestone everywhere you look.)

What would be the best method for cleaning land critters off it before adding the bateria, etc.?

 

[LarryW]

well, the issue with rock outside is that it's been exposed to chemicals, and other things that you have no control over. I would suggest either using dry base rock from say marco rocks, or make your own with aragocrete using the how to's from GARF. http://www.garf.org/

if you buy from Marcorocks.com be advised that 1# of dry rock = 2# of live rock. so you would need 25# of base to = 50# of LR. you can cycle the base rock with a few pieces of LR, add some pods, and in a few weeks, 4-6, maybe less, your dry rock is now live rock. add some LR with coralline on it, and keep the lights on a timer, and your calc up and those base rocks should begin to encrust with coralline algae

if you do use limestone, I would suggest scrubbing it really really good, then boiling it once or twice.

 

[LarryW]

plus with limestone I am pretty sure you don't want it leaching out junk over time. Nothing like tearing your tank apart to get the rock out.

 

[fatdaddy]

I use limestone all the time for base rock. This is the same stuff that they drop in the ocean for 2 years to aquaculture live rock. It does take a while for rocks to become "live", but I'd challenge anybody to find the limestone in my tank after just a few months. They look identical. Florida is just one big limestone formation, so you don't have to go far to find rock.

Salt will kill all the land critters. Hose it off (if you're in the mood) and throw them in.

I'm not sure where all the "dirty rock" and "can't use real ocean water" FUD comes from. I think it's just LFS sales techniques to try to sell you salt mixes and their own live rock. I know that's the knee jerk reaction that I get when I admit to using ocean water at my LFS (which is about 500 yards from a beach). It doesn't make a lot of sense to me as the best reef system I've ever seen is in the florida keyes and covers a few square miles. I'm sure some would consider that too dirty to consider using a real reef in an aquarium (assuming it's legal). I collect snails, water, rock (not from the ocean), etc, etc. and I've yet to have any dire predictions come true.

 

[kevin2000]

Hard to say ... calcium carbonate can absorb copper, phosphates and other chemicals so depending on where you get it that may be a problem. TBS picks up similar rock and drops it in the ocean for a few yrs and sells it at a pretty good price .. that time however allows chemicals to leach and the #1 complaint about TBS rock is that it isn't as porous as std live rock.

Might work out fine .. might give your problems .. your tank .. your choice.

 

[fatdaddy]

It's easy to test for copper and phosphate. Just run some carbon if worried about it.

 

[kevin2000]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10261178#post10261178 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fatdaddy
It's easy to test for copper and phosphate. Just run some carbon if worried about it.

It just about impossible to determine whether that rock has a problem using std aquarist test kits. Rocks that have been exposed long term to chemicals tend to release them slowly over time .. copper is toxic to inverts below the minimum most hobby test kits are setup to detect .. phosphate becomes a constant source of fertilizer to the algae and measuring phosphates in the presence of algae is almost impossible. Further .. this hobby doesn't provide test kits for pesticides or the other potential problems that can come from land based rocks.

If you use land based calcium carbonate you increase risk .. whether that risk is acceptable may differ from aquarist to aquarist.

 

[blackwoodla]

Thanks for the replies, guys! Your input is greatly appreciated.

I am taking this VERY slowly since it is my first tank. I will definitely do some tests on the rock to see if it leaches any bad stuff.

I checked this afternoon at my favorite LFS (AWESOME store- beautiful tanks, healthy fish, and very knowledgeable and helpful staff). They said that the limestone should be fine and actually thought it would be a good idea since it would slowly release calcium.

I also just found out through a google search on limestone that there is a guy (www.texasholeyrocks.com) who lives in my area and collects the same type of rock, cleans it, and sells it for cichlid tanks and salt tanks. Weird. I do a world-wide search and find information next door!