TX holy rock

[+KeeperOfTheZoo]

I grabbed this chunk of rock while out hiking with the kids a couple days ago. It's about fist size and weighs .8oz. Living as rural as I do our property is riddled with good old TX limestone/holey rock. It's 'clean' rock, no pesticide or chemicals that I know of for 6+ years, doubt either were ever used out here directly. This area is mostly ranching, not farming so no fields being sprayed either.

Would it be worth cleaning some of this up (getting the dirt off) and throwing it in my fuge? This piece has quite a few holes, not all of it is this porous. My thought is simply to give the pods more places to hide and of course it'll provide more surface area for beneficial bacteria. As a science project the kids and I put a chunk of rock in water and measured the pH before we put the rock in and after 24 hours of soaking the rock. Can't remember the exact readings but the number went up a decent amount (not too high for a saltwater tank but too high to use in a freshwater angel tank).

The rock is plentiful and free... if it wouldn't hurt I'm going to throw some in.

Thoughts?

[JamesL]

While it looks like harmless rock, I really would be worried as to what might be inside of it. There could be metals embedded in it that can not be seen.

For the amount of time, money, and effort I put into my tank, I personally would not want to risk it.

[+KeeperOfTheZoo]

Hmm, guess it could have metals. I kinda doubt it. As much of it as we've busted open around here (one of my sons is constantly on the hunt for geodes) I've never seen much 'streaking' of other elements. No geodes either sadly.

I just read a pretty good idea... pack a container with the rock and let it soak then add a few snails. If the snails live, doubtful there's contaminants. We already did this once without intent... the rock we soaked to test pH was in a container I threw some snails in after pulling them off some FW plants I'd bought. The snails lived for weeks... untill we went on vacation and my hubby let all their water evaporate. Oops. I could probably do the same thing and soak some polyfilter in the holding tank after a few days to see if anything showed up. Darn, I'm feeling more experimenation coming on.... I have access to SO much rock. I'd love to have a couple good sized rubble piles in my fuge.

Makes me wonder about the rock we add to our tanks in general. I've stopped following the latest updates about the oil eruption off the gulf coast. I just can't stand thinking about the ramifications and toxic effect it'll have.

Thanks for the thought James, made me research more and now I have more experiements the kids can run. I'm sure they'll be so thrilled.

[JamesL]

I think you hit more on what I was trying to say in my limited reply. It is not only metals I would be afraid of, just other contaminants in general. Your experiments are a good idea.

But I personally would be still be weary. Every time something went wrong in the tank, a little voice in the back of my mind would be questioning the rock. I would rather use something that has been part of an actual reef in my tank. Of course, this does not help in terms of reef conservation.. so I need to draw a line somewhere, I just don't know where it is right now

[Timfish]

I have no problems at all with the local limestone. Make sure to rinse it off real well and it can be fun getting the all the dirt out of the holes. Here's a picture that has roughly 2/3 local limestone and 1/3 cultured live rock.

[barderer]

I use it in my fish only tank. No problems. I let it soak for a few months first with just macro and sunlight.

[+KeeperOfTheZoo]

Quit showing off Tim, I'm already jealous enough of your tank! You get my vote for the best aquascaping I've ever seen.

Thanks for the input y'all! James, I know what you mean about conservation. The longer I have my tank the harder it is for me to support anything that isn't tank/captive raised. Its really a dilemma.

[JamesL]

OK, Tim's tank really puts a dent into my mistrust of land rock Beautiful tank, and the ledges actually make it seem more natural.

[Timfish]

Thank you all for the compliments on my aquascaping! It's funny though 'cause the reason I started doing it this way was for strictly pragmatic reasons. I didn't like my fish hiding from me and this gives the fish a sense of protection and there's only a few spots I can't see them with a flashlight if I want to count noses. It uses less rock and cheaper rock so initial cost is less and the system has more volume. But honestly what sets off this tank are the mature coral colonies and that just takes time and patience and water changes.

[offroadodge]

ok when i started my new tank i cycled all the LR in 2-55 gal barels and in it was 2 pieces of the TEXAS holy rock(limestone)...its very dense rock. For me I have not had any ill effect. The 2 rocks prob are maybe 2-3lbs total. Thats just my thought.