Lava Rock As Base Rock?

[tropicalwaters]

is lava rock a good idea to seed with regular live rock?

 

[jeasko]

for me i wouldnt put lava rock in my marine tank, for no other reason than that stuff has really ruff edges and wouldnt want to risk injuriung/killing a fish, as far as im aware provided its properly washed and left to cure there is no reason you couldnt actually use it, other than personal reasons.

 

[Adrinal]

Short answer:
potential (and likely) mineral leaching = no.

 

[Colin_T]

It isn't normally used for the above reasons but also because it won't help with the PH of the water. Rocks in a marine tank are normally calcium based to help buffer the PH.

 

[tropicalwaters]

great that i checked before ordering! i decided to go with tonga. thanks!

 

[Lynden]

In case you guys didn't realize, the Hawai'ian reefs (among others) are seated almost entirely upon lava rock. It and tufa are always given a bad rap, but in reality good quality of either can be used. In my opinion, most of it isn't terribly attractive compared to live rock, but there is no reason it couldn't be used for base rock then brought to the front when colonized.

 

[Adrinal]

You may have missed the point that the Hawaiian reefs have the ABYSS as a filter.

;p

 

[Lynden]

P.S.
I got that info from a borrowed issue of "Aquarium Fish International" in which the author suggests that lava and tufa rocks are good alternatives to live rock. However, I find them to not be the outright "authority" in fishkeeping and indeed disagree with some points. It really is too general and beginner oriented, but a good reading nonetheless, especially during math class when the teacher isn't looking.

 

[Colin_T]

if you are after cheap base rock use limestone from the beach. It is calcium based and within 6 months will look like live rock

 

[rhysiboy]

noo dont take t of the beach! Often - unles you have amazingly clean sea surrounding you- stuff from the beach is not nice at all i.e contain way too much nutrients. Also not sure if this is true but i hear that occasionaly gasses trapped within lava can be released and have majorly negative effects on a tank. Of course i may be talking through my ar$e as im not that clued up on rocks

 

[@ombomb]

I tried taking some shells from a beach near me, boiled them for about 12 hours and the stench was unbelievable no matter how many times i changed the water and rinsed them off.

I'd think long and hard before collecting anything off the UK coast after that.

Saying that, not everywhere in the world is quite as horribley polluted as the north sea