I will get rid of the Lava Rock Today. Is the Honeycomb bad also? I am not real sure what it is made of but it is the same stuff I saw in an Aquarium store so I thought it was ok.
Thanks for your reply.



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This board is great! THANK YA'LL

 

A good rule to follow is "If you don't know, don't do it". In the end it wouldn't be worth the animal loss. I'd just stick with live rock and a luve sand bed.

What are you planning to do with the fish you have in there already? Or is the tank empty? Some fish are not reef safe.

Raz

 

I just decided to turn my 70 gal. saltwater tank into a reef tank. I went to the local fish store to see what kind of base rock to buy. They had live rock and lava rock. On the way home I saw an industrial rock shop, so I stopped to look around. They had the same rock that was at the fish store, but it was dirt cheap. I bought some red and black lava rock and some "Honey-comb". Then I found this "Reef Tank" board on the web and I read every message and reply on it. Now I think that I may have screwed up by buying lava rock. Will the lava rock leech stuff into my tank that is bad for corals? Will corals live on it at all?

Next Topic:
About my filtration. I have a wet dry filter and a protien skimmer. These kept my tank real clear with several large fish in the tank. Will this type of setup be ok for a reef tank. Also If a protien skimmer simply causes hamful particles to leave the tank via air bubbles, what makes the "good ones" so much better than the "cheap ones"? Better Bubbles?

When I do get this mess all figured out, What are the criteria for being ready to add corals? If I do some things wrong, but my amonia and nitrates are at 0 is it ok to add corals? Are there other things I should test for?
Thanks for the help.

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This board is great! THANK YA'LL

 

We stuck some lava rock in our fish only tank and it has a bunch of coralline etc all over it. There are also mushrooms/other low light corals in the tank as well with no problems. I too have heard the "Never use Lava Rock", and this was added before hearing these warnings, but yes it is in our tank and it has not as of yet killed anything.

 

If I'm not mistaken, and I frequently am, it really depends on the composition of the lava rock. Some rock has much higher amounts of heavy metals, which would be a bad thing.

I wouldn't assume all lava rock is safe just because it works in some cases.

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-Greg
Greg's Aquarium Links

 

Most Lava rock is gonna be rich in iron and othere metals. How long it takes to leach is the unknown, a few pieces might not hurt but I wouldn't base the reeef dtructure on it,. The honeycomb or lace rock might be OK, its sometimes used as base rock. But ultimatly is it worth the lives of your animals or the $ you've spent to skimp

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I thought I was me, but we were wrong
email: geeflipr@internetcds.com

[This message has been edited by geedoug (edited 11-02-2000).]

 

I think your main contaminants would be phosphourous and sulphur,as most lava rock is volcanic in origin.
I would definatly remove it.
Marc.

 

I remember an article about "Lava" rock when I was researching rock for my first tank.

I will see if I can dig it up, but the short version:

There are two types of "lava" rock. The first is volcanic in origin and is very bad for reefs. The second, is light in weight and found at LFS. It is a by-product of smelting. Do to the high temps the "lava" rock impurities the can leach into the water are baked out of this material. This is not to say that all man-made lava rock is the same, however, some can be used as base rock with no ill effects.

Having said all that... I agree that if you don't know 100%, don't do it.

HTH,
NC

 

All right i am a rock collector i would like to set things straight, I am also a lover of fish.

Lava rock the kind you get are obsidian, pumas, and Scoria, these three rocks are very common Lava rock.

Obsidian is yes a rock but due to its cooling and forming process can not dissolve into your tank because its a form of glass, the same your tank is made out of, or fish bowls, drinking glasses inc which are all safe to drink out of as well as put fish in.

Pumas is not good for your fish tank only because yes its the only rock that floats.

scoria is good for your tank its a light rock, but it can be sharp, as can be obsidian.

ALL three rocks are made of glass.

Further more if you look at the hawian islands, you see amazing coral reefs i hate to brake it all to you, but that is all formed on the same rock that formed the island and its all lava rock....lava rock does not dissove into your tank can not alter the ph of your tank and can not harm your fish since most of it is GLASS, or a form of glass.

There are yes Lava rocks that can harm your fish, only if they are iron dis posits.......not glass.

Sand has metal in it by the way....its what makes glass and i would check to see if your fish tank was made with lead ( stay away from glass from mexico, and crystal for it may contain lead) lead is also harmful for your fish.... if your wondering about what to use in your fishy tanks and are wondering what not to use here is a link that will help and kill all your questions and the comments of those who just assume.

fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/55806-rocks-for-use-in-the-aquarium/

:read: I am the guy who reads everything that has a Science tagged to it or fish.
If you don't know don't for a fact and have basis to back you don't say it, if you don't know don't do it. words to live by.

 

All right i am a rock collector i would like to set things straight, I am also a lover of fish.

Lava rock the kind you get are obsidian, pumas, and Scoria, these three rocks are very common Lava rock.

Obsidian is yes a rock but due to its cooling and forming process can not dissolve into your tank because its a form of glass, the same your tank is made out of, or fish bowls, drinking glasses inc which are all safe to drink out of as well as put fish in.

Pumas is not good for your fish tank only because yes its the only rock that floats.

scoria is good for your tank its a light rock, but it can be sharp, as can be obsidian.

ALL three rocks are made of glass.

Further more if you look at the hawian islands, you see amazing coral reefs i hate to brake it all to you, but that is all formed on the same rock that formed the island and its all lava rock....lava rock does not dissove into your tank can not alter the ph of your tank and can not harm your fish since most of it is GLASS, or a form of glass.

There are yes Lava rocks that can harm your fish, only if they are iron dis posits.......not glass.

Sand has metal in it by the way....its what makes glass and i would check to see if your fish tank was made with lead ( stay away from glass from mexico, and crystal for it may contain lead) lead is also harmful for your fish.... if your wondering about what to use in your fishy tanks and are wondering what not to use here is a link that will help and kill all your questions and the comments of those who just assume.

fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/55806-rocks-for-use-in-the-aquarium/

:read: I am the guy who reads everything that has a Science tagged to it or fish.
If you don't know don't for a fact and have basis to back you don't say it, if you don't know don't do it. words to live by.

With all due respect, it's is spelled PUMICE, and while obsidian is volcanic glass, their are a lot of different igneous rocks that do not share those glass like charactoristics with obsidean. Thanks for dredging up a thread from the begining, I miss them folks .
Back to the original question and debate, Rock of igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic origins are mostly going to be too dense and solid to be of much use in the anerobic phase of the biological nitrogen process, that is the reason that live rock which is coral skeletons is used as foundation for reef tanks.
Your example about Hawaii being formed by volcanos is correct and there are reefs that have grown up around the Islands, but keep in mind that this happens in the open ocean which would dilute potential harmful leachingallowing the first hardy layers of coral to settle and provide a base for subsequent generations of coral. Not the same as using something suspect in a confined environment like an aquarium.
Welcome to TRT

 

I second that on lava being safe. I've used it in biofilters for years...great stuff!

 

All I know is that I've used the same lava rock the whole time I've been in the hobby. I've had it in many different systems with many different critters, and have never had a problem I could associate with it. YMMV

Here it is with a tang peeking through it, from about five years ago.

In this pic, it is the dark rock in front of the left overflow. It's been cleaned, but you can still see all the white calcium carbonate from tube worms and coraline algae that has grown on it in the past. The rock itself is solid brown.

And here's a video of a S. gigantea, (one of the most sensitive animals we keep in this hobby) with its foot anchored in the lava rock, and a pair of clowns actually spawning on it.

I'm not saying all lava rock is safe, or that you should build the whole reef structure out of it. All I can say is that this one rock has worked well for me and obviously, my critters. I'm no geologist, but I know enough to know that lava from different locations, can be composed of different material. With this unknown factor, it seems a little risky to introduce these rocks, known only as "lava" rock. If I had it to do all over again, I probably wouldn't have added this rock. I added it long before I had a clue what I was doing. Did I just get lucky????? Could it have gone terribly wrong???? IDK It's obvious that all lava rock is not detrimental. The question is, are you willing to take that risk?