First SW Tank

[fishytime]

Are you sure it tuffa? If so look into what people think about using it in a saltwater tank. I personally would not recommend using it. It too porous. It can accumulate debris very quickly becoming a source for bio-organic phosphate. I had one piece of either lava or tuffa. I couldnt tell as it was from a bunch lr I picked up from someone and was colored up. I thought it was a cool shape so I took it. After some time in my tank I noticed that the only piece of "base" rock in my tank seemed to be the epicenter of a minor hair algae outbreak. Needless to say since the piece has been removed I have no hair algae in my tank. Just a suggestion.

[makana]

Thats interesting. It was labeled as tufa at the lfs.

Although from what I have read there is tufa and tuffa and they are different. Some people have bought some that is mined in Ohio, some of it is supposedly old dead coral reef. I really don't know how to tell what I have. It looks like fossils in rock, it is fairly porous, and fairly fragile.

Although the pores are quite a bit smaller than the piece of live rock I have. The pores it has are large enough that snails seem to be able to live inside it. Last night I spotted two snails on the rock and this morning there was a tiny one, all the same type, not sure what type.

[StirCrazy]

Tuffa is commonly sold for tanks at stores that don't know any better, it is good for decorationg a rock garden but not your tank.. the reason is it is a bunch of minerals that are bound in softer stone that water can erode away. this is why it is so pourous. but with this also come the ability for our tanks to erode it further causing a release of mineral, most comonly iron which can lead to lots of algae blooms. Lava rock is also a bad choice as you never know what the chemical composition of it is.

Steve

[new but handy]

Hi I don't think I've seen any good base rock in vernon or kelowna.
I bought a 50# box at J&L, 50# of live rock at OA, and I made 100ish# of my own rock.
Like everyone says you shouldn't use lava rock or limestone, lots of chemicles in those to leech into your a-querium. My tank has been running since sept. My base rock looks like my live rock and my home made rock is getting close.
I added my cuc after about a month. Corriline is just starting to spread(finally)onto glass and pumps ect.
Have fun and go slow (It's hard)

[makana]

Does anyone have firsthand experiance with tuffa rock, negative or positive?

I have read lots of articles and posts claiming that tuffa is bad but they are never by someone who has actually used it. All the posts I am finding from people who have used it are positive.

I read a post from a woman who claims to have nothing but tuffa in her tank with no problems for years. I also read a post from someone who claimed to have 350lbs of concrete with only 40lbs of live rock and no problems.

I would be interested to hear from people here what your experiances are with it.

[Patrice]

Originally Posted by makana

I have read lots of articles and posts claiming that tuffa is bad but they are never by someone who has actually used it. All the posts I am finding from people who have used it are positive.

That is true for many things in this hobby. I like to experiment new stuff and most of the time, people tell me it can't work (even when it actually does work). That surprise me when you think that curiosity is a big thing in this hobby. This is just like the time when we use to say the earth is flat and don't want to hear an other theory about it.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by makana

Does anyone have firsthand experiance with tuffa rock, negative or positive?

I have read lots of articles and posts claiming that tuffa is bad but they are never by someone who has actually used it. All the posts I am finding from people who have used it are positive.

yes, I used it about 20 years ago on my first Reef tank, and I have tried it on several fresh water tanks..

people like it as it is cheep, very cheep about 17 cents a lb is you go to the mines in BC and buy it direct. they also refuse to believe that that is what could be causing the problem. Now not every piece of tuffa or lava rock will cause problems it all depends whats in it. I had algae problems for two years till I broke down and got some live rock, which was very expensive and hard to come by back then. then magicly all my algae problems dissapered over the course of a month.

This has come up on the board a few times over the years, I think about 5 years ago there was a lot of discussion on it if you wanted to do a search. I was actualy one of the people looking into trying it again as I am inharently cheep Actualy if you go back to the start of the board there were a bunch of us cheep guys and we tried to do all kinds of things with lights, sand, ect some interisting reading on some, others a real good laugh.

Steve

[Myka]

Check out the Guides in my signature on live rock, cycling, and hair algae. It usually takes about 6 months ime for the base rock to blend in with the live rock. It takes about one year for the anaerobic bacteria to fully colonize the base rock. However, for all intents and purposes you can consider base rock to be "live" rock after about six months. The amount of biological filtration you have will be much lower by using so much base rock, so you will have to stock your tank a bit slower than normal. Joe's Juice works really well on aiptasia. Just be sure to turn off all water circulation and get the juice right down into the mouth of the aiptasia.

It sounds like you're off to a good start!

[makana]

Thanks for all the input. Since im not in any hurry I will give the tuffa its chance. Amonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate were all at 0 yesterday so I did a water change today.

My PH is 8.1, Cal 440ppm, Sal 34ppt, but Alk is only 7dkh. I have read that it can be caused by the cycle but can't find out if it will recover now that the cycle is done or should I raise it?

I also checked my water for phosphate and there was none, then I mixed in the salt and checked again and it had 0.5mg/l. Is this normal or do I have bad salt?

I also seem to have a breeding population of stomatella snails living in the live rock. Are they good or bad?

[Myka]

Stomatella snails are my favourite! I love those little guys. I wish i still had some. I wasn't aware that Peppermint shrimp eat Stomatellas until I added a Peppermint!

The "Tufa" rock I've seen for sale in stores varies greatly. I wouldn't buy any of it though. I like the feedback, and looks of the "dry live rock" that you see for sale at places like www.bulkreefsupply.com and it is affordable as well. Personally though, I would cook all forms of dry rock as in the Guide in my signature on cycling and live rock.