Could I....

[Kempker1498]

Could I just go out to a field...find 100 pounds of rock (cool looking of course), clean it up and mix it with 50 pounds of live rock? Will that dry rock turn into live rock during the cycle? It's just a hard pill to swallow when they want 3.00 bucks a pound for dry rock!!!!

 

[joy13]

A lot of rocks have things like trace amounts of copper and iron that can cause problems in a saltwater tank. Saltwater hobby can be very expensive but if you look on youtube you can find videos on how to make your own rock it needs to cure between 30 and 90 days.

 

[carey]

I agree with joy , I wouldnt try it as you don't know what can be in the rocks that can leech out in the future. have you checked ReefCleaners.org | Clean Up Crews and Macro Algae for their dry rock? It's about $2 a lb there with free shipping. I have used it in all my tanks and like it very much, it's super porous and very light which is what you want.

 

[boardsurfer]

I agree with the above. I used lace rock initially for about 20% of the rock in my tank. I found that lace rock leaches different metals into the system (high amounts of phosphates and iron), so be careful what you use! You don't want those to trigger nuisance algaes.