Tuffa Rock

[hi-dro]

Well my tank is neally set up i just need my sand and live rock

http/www.stm-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Online_...ve_Rock_14.html

i was goin to get 15 kg of fiji live rock from this site...

but my real question is can i use tuffa rock as a base in my tank and will the fiji live rock seed it over time?

as my lfs sells dry tuffa rock preety cheap...

thanks in advance

 

[hi-dro]

guess it was a stupid question lol

 

[Lynden]

Why do you say that? It's a good question.

Since tufa rock is man-made it tends to store nitrogenous compounds very easily, then releases them over time. I wouldn't use it if I were you, but you can try.

-Lynden

 

[Chac]

I have heard of loads of people that use Tuffa with mixed results

Tuffa is primarily made up of Calcium Carbonate precipitated from Lime Rich Water, which make it a good chose but there MAY be impurities in the rock along the lines of Iron oxides.

There is another option, Have a look at Reef bones

 

[SkiFletch]

guess it was a stupid question lol

The only stupid question is the question not-asked

 

[hi-dro]

thanks for the replys will get some pictures up the weekend!

 

[xd2-david]

most of the rock that came with my tank was tuffa rock I might consider replacing it then

 

[Pheonix]

rather than tuffa see if your LFS or online has some "ocean rock" itll be a dit more than tuffa but still alot less than live rock!! its an excellent base rock and will seed very well once your tank is established

HTH
Andy

 

[Tommy Gunnz]

Wow, I am amazed! I looked into using tuffa rock for a second, but the extremely high price in my area made my mind up quickly! At even the big chain stores (Petco and Petsmart) in the U.S., Tuffa rock is going for upwards of 10 dollars (US) a pound! I was buying my live rock at 5 dollars, and so I ended up going with mostly all live rock.

I did however, buy some 'almost live' rock, which is basically rubble and old live rock that died off for some reason. I only needed a little of it though because like I said, I went mostly with all live rock; half was shipped to me (which I had a bit of die off on) and half right out of the LFS's fish tanks.

I also heard that tuffa 'breaks down' over time and can be bad, but then again, some people swear by it because it is nice and 'holey'. In my opinion, you might want to stick to something that most everyone will agree is good and not be as wishy washy as people are about tuffa.

 

[boshank23]

would lava rock be good to use as a "behind the scenes" rock? very porous and its natural. would look ok when the coraline started to grow on it

 

[callell]

Ocean Rock has no denitrifying value at all, it is very heavy & dense & useless in a marine tank, the small up side to ocean rock (& it is small) is that it will offer a small amount of carbonate buffering

Reef Bones are the best option along with liverock

 

[Pheonix]

it has no value as it is thats true but once its seeded its great, ive used it in my last two tanks everything growns on it really well and it provides lots of holes and pockets for things to hide in like fire fish blennys etc

 

[callell]

I was actually meaning after the ocean rock was seeded it has little/no denitrifying value due to its weight & density

Ocean Rock may have holes & pockets but generally they are shallow & Ocean Rock cannot house the deep burrowing bacteria that Reef Bones of Liverock can

 

[Chac]

Given the choice I would prefer to use Reef bones over Tufa & defo over Ocean Rock

Reef bones are the closest, cheapest way to increase your Bio Filtration without adding more liverock

 

[Tommy Gunnz]

Lava rock is not a good option. Cant really tell you why that is, but wanted to answer your question quickly before you went that route. I asked a million people about it since I can get it for super cheap. I think something to do with it dissolving over time or creating a water quality issue.

Sorry I couldnt be more spacific. Hopefully some else can expand on the reasons for ya!