seahorsedreams
New member
Does anyone have pictures of Texas Holey rock that has been in a tank longterm? Is it prone to nuisance algaes?.....coralline? Does it look "odd"?
Thanks
Thanks
Texas Holey Rock
- Thread starter seahorsedreams
- Start date
Monti
New member
Texas holey rock is prone to nuisance algae simply because its largely a bare uncolonized surface just begging for the fastest algae (ie anything other than coraline) to grow all over it. That said, I've seen it used as live rock (but usually base rock), and if allowed to grow good coraline coverage it can look like the real deal. The key is lots of herbivores (snails, hermits, blennies, etc) to keep problem algae in check, and very strict water params, like no phosphate or other organics, high calcium, and high alkalinity... and lots o patience. So yes it can work, yes it can look good... but its a PAIN to get it there. Hope that helps. 
seahorsedreams
New member
Erf! That does sound like it could be a pain in the booty. We are thinking about getting an Imperial Angel and thought a tank with that rock might look nice and the fish would enjoy swimming through the stand alone pieces. I was going to put LR in the sump for filtration purposes.
Anemonebuff
New member
All rock is prone to nuisance algae. It is the nutrients in the water that cause it, not the type of rock.
evil_monkey
New member
I have been doing the african cichlid thing for a long time and have always used it for that, so I set up my new reef with its as base rock and it has been covered in coraline for a while now.
evil_monkey
New member
the bottom left side is texas holey rock
seahorsedreams
New member
Yes, I agree. But some surfaces make it more problematic than others.
Thankls for the pics evil!
seahorsedreams
New member
I'm not looking for a buffer. The shapes are very pleasing to me, is all.
Why wouldn't it buffer? It is made of the exact same material (calcium carbonite) as live rock and a few hundered million years ago it *was* live rock 
When I bought live/base rock from the LFS there was a chunk of holey rock that was VERY encrusted with many different colors/types of coraline algae... more than I have ever seen on a rock before so I picked it up. No, I am not saying it was in this condition because of the rock, just indicating that this type of rock takes to coraline just fine.
When I bought live/base rock from the LFS there was a chunk of holey rock that was VERY encrusted with many different colors/types of coraline algae... more than I have ever seen on a rock before so I picked it up. No, I am not saying it was in this condition because of the rock, just indicating that this type of rock takes to coraline just fine.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8249947#post8249947 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by barjam
Why wouldn't it buffer? It is made of the exact same material (calcium carbonite) as live rock and a few hundered million years ago it *was* live rock
When I bought live/base rock from the LFS there was a chunk of holey rock that was VERY encrusted with many different colors/types of coraline algae... more than I have ever seen on a rock before so I picked it up. No, I am not saying it was in this condition because of the rock, just indicating that this type of rock takes to coraline just fine.
For essentially the same reason petrified wood doesn't burn.
The limestone in holey rock is largely the calcite -CaCO3- form of calcium carbonate (essentially it has been 'petrified' over the last few hundred million years) which is has a much more stable structure then other forms of calcium carbonate.
Because of this, calcite is not nearly as effective a buffer for reef tanks as other forms of calcium carbonate; dolomite -CaMg(CO3)2- and especially aragonite -CaCO3- (not 'petrified') have much better buffering capacities.
(This is why there has been a strong trend toward aragonite sand beds and away from crushed coral or dolomite in the hobby.)
To use another analogy, activated carbon and diamonds are both made of the element carbon, but have very different properties.
######
From: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/deepsandbeds.htm
"Aragonite can begin to dissolve, in fact, at a high pH over 8.0 (a still safe level for marine life), while calcite does not readily dissolve until the pH falls well below 8.0. This means that calcite is not likely to impart any significant benefits (buffers/alkalinity) into the water until the pH falls to a level that is too dangerous for most marine life."
######
Of course if buffering capicity is not a factor, its a perfectly fine rock to use in saltwater.
