Lava, Tufa Rock

stevehunt668 · #1 11-24-2007, 03:01 PM

I am just starting out in the Saltwater world and have recently purchased a 72 g bow front tank. I now need to buy some rock for it but I don't know where to go in EDMONTON to get Lava / Tufa rock for a good value. Can anybody offer me any advice please?

Chin_Lee · #2 11-24-2007, 04:08 PM

I know that some lava rocks will leach a lot of impurities into your system so be wary about using that. I'm not sure if tufa does the same thing but I suspect so

ron101 · #3 11-24-2007, 04:31 PM

Tufa rock is just calcite which itself, is ok for aquariums. The catch is that you need tufa that is free from any significant levels of impurities that would be toxic to reef life.
http://www.tufa.bc.ca/tufa_history.htm

kwirky · #4 11-24-2007, 06:49 PM

you could making a post on the buy/sell section looking for "dead" liverock? I think that'd be safer and you'd get more natural looking rock

mark · #5 11-24-2007, 06:53 PM

What ever happened to 'thereefgeek'? He sold Tufa or some sort of base rock out of Edm.

SeaShell · #6 11-24-2007, 07:14 PM

I've purchased Tufa rock from Big Als in Edmonton, they have a wide selection of sizes. I use it as a base for my live rock.... it's handy because it has holes in it and fits on my "rock frame" that I constructed to ensure I don't have rock slides.

Black Phantom · #7 11-24-2007, 07:18 PM

Do not put any lava rock in your aquarium. The chances of some sort of iron or metal being in the rock are quite high. This will cause you to have all sorts of algae outbreaks. There are plenty of DIY sites on how to make your own rock for pennies a pound. It just takes a little time and effort. It makes a great base rock. Then add a little live rock to top it off.

SeaShell · #8 11-24-2007, 08:31 PM

Here's a great link for creating your own aragocrete rocks:

http://www.athiel.com/lib3/arago.htm