Tuffa rock - is it safe?

[thepirate]

i am just in the process of setting up my first reef tank.

i have loads of tuffa rock which i got with the tank (second hand).

my lfs as warned me not to use tuffa rock, they said that over time it can store phosphates and nitrates and then release them into the tank.

he advised that i should buy ocean rock from his shop (which incidently looks just like tuffa).

is there any truth in his theory, or is he just trying to get me to buy his rock?

just for info, i will be putting in about 30kg of live rock as well.

mark

 

[electrikat]

I personally have never heard or read that. I have only heard good things about tufu.

 

[thepirate]

the tuffa rock that i have as been used in a reef system before. it is now dried out and all of the life on it has died.

i'm a bit concerned about using this to cycle my tank because i believe the rock will produce a lot of ammonia due to the previous life forms decomposing.

would this harm the live rock at all?

any thoughts on this?

mark

 

[electrikat]

You want the ammonia on it so you can cycle the tank without fish or shrimp. Lr cycles a tank great.

 

[thepirate]

i'm just concerned that because of all the dead stuff on the tufa the ammonia levels will be too high.

i am thinking of putting my cured live rock in at the same time.

if the ammonia levels are high will it kill off the good stuff on the live rock?

as you know live rock is expensive, i worried about spending all that money only to kill it all off!

would i be better off cycling with the tufa and then adding the cured live rock once the cycle has finished?

your help is appreciated, i'm really stuck here!

mark

 

[thepirate]

i've just found this article which warns not to use fully cured live rock.

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/filterselection/a/aa111901_3.htm

now i am confused.

mark

 

[mjvincent]

i've just found this article which warns not to use fully cured live rock.

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/filterselection/a/aa111901_3.htm

now i am confused.

mark

Tuffa is not live rock unless it came from another saltwater tank and had resided in there for a period of time... Uncured Live rock is not recommended in established systems because of the ammonia spike that they cause. If you are cycling a tank uncured rock will be fine and even desired...

 

[thepirate]

thanks for the advice.

so i add the uncured tufa rock to start the cycle,

should i also include the live cured live rock at this time? i dont want to spend £9 kg on this stuff only to kill it off two days later!

or do i wait a couple of weeks just to be safe?

mark