Tufa stone OK?

[almo75]

Hello everyone,
Is rock called Tufa OK to use? I saw it over at my local Petco. The reason I ask is I have a pair of damsels who had to be evicted from the main tank due to attitude issues and my daughter is happy to have a couple of fish in a small tank in her bedroom. I do not want to have to pull rock from my tank for her and was wondering if I could put it in my tank and then later transfer it to the small tank? It appears very man made and I question if it is suitable or not. They seem to use it in their tanks but my opinion of their water condition is questionable at best.
Thanks for your valued opinions,
Al

 

[fsn77]

While tufa is composed of calcium carbonate, I'd be hesitant to use it in a marine aquarium without knowing more about where it originally came from. There's the possibility of it containing undesirable impurities which I wouldn't want to risk putting in my reef tank.

 

[Denzil]

I have it in my tank for base rock. Its said that in the old days it was used by all marine hobbyists for its Nooks and crannies. Over time some said that the rock was so porous that it leaked nitrates back into the aquarium water. From personel experience It is great rock to use for base rock and mine is now beaming with life. Ive never had any water parameter probs. One thing a will say is, jet wash it first. I didnt and spent months constantly cleaning the fine sand and grit off the glass and other surrounding rock.

 

[boxcarskater90]

i have also used it as base rock in one of my tanks. it works great. No problems ever or at least yet! Thats a good Idea to jet or pressure wash it.