Coral skeletons as base rock?

[Evo8]

Can I use coral skeletons as base rock in my saltwater tank?

 

[TheTodd]

You can, but they will get brown with algae and you will have to remove them and bleach them about once a month to keep them white. That kills all the beneficial bacteria, which can cause problems depending on what else you have in there.

 

[mr_X]

Live rock is made of coral skeletons. Don't worry about removing them to keep them white. Let them get covered with coralline, and corals!

 

[Evo8]

Even if I'm seeding them with Fiji rock they will turn brown? I want that nice purple.color

 

[mr_X]

That's coralline algae. That has to be introduced. If it's not on the live rock you are putting in, it wont show up on it's own.

 

[AquaRick]

The purple coraline algae will come in time with good water parameters. Please note you will need to introduce coraline to seed the rest of your rock.

 

[TheTodd]

Agreed..,if you aren't looking to keep the pure white look, you can shoot for coralline.

 

[Evo8]

Will my purple Fiji seed it and cover it purple , not brown? What would be the best way to clean the rock, I get it off my beaches here in SWFL. I have about 60-70 lbs in my cichlid tank which I bleached then dechlorinated . Can I use the same method? This might be a dumb question. But can I just put it in my tank seeing how its coming from saltwater?

 

[TheTodd]

If you can get coralline growing in your tank, it should eventually cover it. In my experience, the ugly brown and/or green stuff grows faster and easier, so you might get a brown period until the purple kicks in.

 

[Evo8]

OK..BTW sorry for asking about the coralline after like 10 of you told me about it. I'm using the app and Idk what happened but I didn't see your replies earlier! And yes I'm introducing about 20-25lb of live Fiji rock with coralline

 

[Evo8]

bumpp

How should i clean these rocks? how much live rock vs base rock?
29g bio cube

 

[AquaRick]

bumpp

How should i clean these rocks? how much live rock vs base rock?
29g bio cube

If you're asking about the coral skeletons, you can soak them in a bucket of rodi water with a PH. You can also brush the rock if you'd like to remove any junk off of it. From the picture, the rock looks like it's been already bleached and ready to go provided the bleach has been washed off etc.

As for live rock vs base rock, it's all up to you and your wallet. You can potentially skip the cycling process by using all or mostly live rock, but all base rock will eventually become live over time.

 

[Evo8]

If you're asking about the coral skeletons, you can soak them in a bucket of rodi water with a PH. You can also brush the rock if you'd like to remove any junk off of it. From the picture, the rock looks like it's been already bleached and ready to go provided the bleach has been washed off etc.

As for live rock vs base rock, it's all up to you and your wallet. You can potentially skip the cycling process by using all or mostly live rock, but all base rock will eventually become live over time.

Yes siirree bob...I bleached that rock I showed for my 60g. Cichlid tank...it ended up being an extra..but you don't think I'll have problems with phosphates..or whatever else? I can get tons of this stuff by the beach by me..they use it for filler along aide of bridges or where they don't want you to use the beach as the beach. Lol

 

[Evo8]

BTW I'm picking up around 25 lbs of live Fiji tomorrow or the next day..so should I no even bother with the skeleton. Do the pros outweigh the cons? Its not exactly about me being cheap either. I just love the way the skeleton looks and there's ample of it for the taking in my area..so would say 15 lbs of it be worth putting in my tank of I'm already putting in 25-30 lbs of LR

 

[mr_X]

It's totally up to you. Live rock is made out of coral skeletons anyway. There is no pros or cons, except for spending money. You could completely skip the live rock (because what you have there will be live rock in a short time anyway), or completely skip the coral skeletons.

 

[Evo8]

What can I use to glue my rocks together and make nice structure/cave? JB water weld?

 

[mr_X]

Yes, you could use that.