base rock

[ClownieandBilly]

what opinions do you guys have on the best type of base rock and why??

[OrionGirl]

Tufa. It's easy to work with and shape, highly porous, and cheap.

[ClownieandBilly]

what is the difference between tufa and ocean rock?What does tufa rock look like ?does anyone have a picture?

[DeltaUguy]

I've never found Tufa rock at any of my LFS so I just use lace rock. It can come in some pretty interesting shapes. Here's a 30 lbs piece I just picked up at my LFS. The big hole made it irresistable:

http://aquaticadvice.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=232

Lace rock is relatively inexpensive as well. The only problem is that it is not really that porous, but it buffers Ph.

[Dale W.]

That looks like a pretty worn peice of lace rock. I use to get it by the truckload and there is some pretty porous stuff in the lace rock. Lace rock also seeds very well and gets to looking like LR in a pretty short time.

[BrianH]

I have also used lace rock.

Brian

[chasekwe]

If you have the tools, which I do, is there a particular reason not to make lace rock porous? Drilling holes to some extent probably wouldn't hurt would it?

[Redneck]

Delta,

Where/how'd you find 60lbs of lr for 105? Guessing not an internet store?

I used to work at a LFS in Lexington, and they guy we bought our live rock from once offered me 50lbs for $100, when he sold it to the store for $150. He also offered me a summer job diving with him to collect the rock...wish I took him up on both offers now. Been tryin' to find his card, but the store I worked at doesn't get LR from him anymore and the guy who found him was fired. All I know was he is from around Key Largo. Oh, well.

Anyway, to make this have something to due with the topic, I added about 30 lbs of lace rock to my tank, then dumped a bunch of LR on top of it...in not to long it the lace started to look a lot like the LR.

Red

[DeltaUguy]

Some guy on Reef Central was trying to get rid of it. Its from the Caribbean so the rock is probably pretty dense. As of today its still hadn't arrived. It looks like it got sent out on Tuesday and with the holiday on Friday, I probably won't get it until Monday. That's almost a week in wet newspaper! Looks like I just paid $105 for dead rock!!!!:mad:

He was supposed to send it out on Monday. The rock will probably cycle my tank all over again...:(

[BrianH]

DeltaGuy,

I would go buy a rubbermaid tub, make up a batch of saltwater, throw in a heater and a couple of powerheads(or hot filter) and cure the rock instead of putting dead rock in your tank and causing an ammonia spike.

Brian

[DeltaUguy]

I'm going to see if he'll cancel the shipment and send replacement rock. If not then I will definately do what you suggest and hope SOME life will make it...

[Corax]

Delta, what else is in the tank? Any fish or are you still cycling? If yer still cycling, then chuck the rock right in and cure it in the main tank. You'll get a huge ammonia spike and kickstart your biobed better than shrimp can ever hope to do. Kudos on the score, even if you have some loss, you still got a good deal.

Now, on to the topic of baserock. Good baserock is defined as a highly porus rock (that doesnt mean having holes drolled in it. It refers to the internal structure of the rock on a microscopic level where the bacteria grow.) that can affect your water chemistry in either a neutral or positive way. Meaning, it can either help you or it will make no difference. Looking nice is always a plus =) Lace and Tufa are both pretty neutral in what they will do to your tank. The buffering capacity of the Lace is minimal. My personal suggestion is to find an aragonite baserock to use. This is the same stuff that real honest to God liverock is made of. Find that, you are a few steps ahead of the game.

Lucky for you, I know a place that has it =) www.hirocks.com has 50lbs for about $50. You can indeed use Lace or Tufa, lots of people have and they've done fine with it. But the way I see it is that if you have the chance to get the real thing for the same $, then get the real thing.

[DeltaUguy]

I would do that, except the tank is already cycled. It has no fish or inverts, I was waiting on my LR before I bought anything.