Can you use outdoor rock in saltwater tank

[joshbridges]

hey I have a 30-40 gallon tank with about 23lbs of live rock ,,, I'm told I need more , could I use rock from outside ? I'm not near any ocean and cant afford and more live rock atm ? I'm new to the hobby about 3 months into it with 20some mushroom corals, a clownfish , 8 bluelegged hermits , a red scarlet hermit and a short spine pincushion urchin , I know the rock is for ammonia and nitrate and nitrite filtration ,, will outdoor rocks work the same ?? I'm in Canada , near Ottawa so the ocean isn't a skip and a hop away for a freebie

 

[Crabs McJones]

hey I have a 30-40 gallon tank with about 23lbs of live rock ,,, I'm told I need more , could I use rock from outside ? I'm not near any ocean and cant afford and more live rock atm ? I'm new to the hobby about 3 months into it with 20some mushroom corals, a clownfish , 8 bluelegged hermits , a red scarlet hermit and a short spine pincushion urchin , I know the rock is for ammonia and nitrate and nitrite filtration ,, will outdoor rocks work the same ?? I'm in Canada , near Ottawa so the ocean isn't a skip and a hop away for a freebie

I do not believe you can. Different kind of rock.

 

[LadyMac]

Agreed, the rocks from outside could cause ph swings or have some minerals that would leech into the system, potentially killing off everything in there.

 

[rtparty]

First off, why do you need more? Don't follow the whole pound per gallon rule. It's old and outdated.

Also, you have to be very careful adding rock like that to your tank. You have no idea what chemicals it could have picked up over the years

 

[Big G]

Welcome to R2R! Most rock consists of silica. Bad for saltwater tank. Causes diatom problems. Live rock is actually coral reef material.

 

[DancingShark]

Apart from everything the guys have said, In the aquarium world you want a porous rock for your bacteria to colonize.
I am wondering who told you you need more rock. Can you post a pic of your tank. Would love to see it.

 

[joshbridges]

heres a pic of my tank (1st taken a week ago, 2nd taken over a month ago) and i was told i needed more by the forums and person I was purchasing live rock from (possibly said that to get me to purchase more) the live rock was established in someones sump for about 9-10 years, he wanted 15$lbs but I got him down to 2.50$ lbs (because of barely no established life on it and how it was pretty white to be 10 years old lol ) sorry for the poor quality photos

 

[rhdoug]

Can't see the whole tank, but it looks to me like you have plenty of rock. One question, what is the square-ish, orangey looking piece slightly left of center sticking out of the rockwork?

 

[joshbridges]

Can't see the whole tank, but it looks to me like you have plenty of rock. One question, what is the square-ish, orangey looking piece slightly left of center sticking out of the rockwork?

yes I used a webcam ,, currently taking new pics on the iPhone so they should be expert pictures ,, and it was rock my friend had from his tank extra and dry , then I realized this is an outdoor rock not an ocean rock so I removed it and all other I got from him and I changed my aquascape to the first picture ,,

 

[LadyMac]

I love your new aqua scape!

 

[joshbridges]

thank you very much i appreciate it ,, here is pictures i took this morning , keep in mind im 22 and havent alot of experience in this hobby,

 

[HB AL]

I would add some more when you can, maybe just get 1 rock a month or so till it's filled up a little more. Then again if your not gonna have many fish thus a small bioload you don't need much more. I have a 92 gallon simple tank with tons of rocks and lots of fish and lots of corals, with a sump that has 15 gallons of water with a protien skimmer, and more rock in the middle sump. I feed my fish some pellets in the day then in the evening 10 cubes of a mix of Hikari frozen. Every few days some reef roids and drops of phytoplankton. With the large bioload in my tank the copious amount of rock sure keeps the water in pristine conditions as my fish and corals are all thriving. If your gonna keep just a few fish and a few corals then you won't need much more rock. One thing I learned in the last 30+ years the more rock the better off your tank inhabitants will be. I have 15 fish in there, most are not tiny fish, they all are fat and sassy, and all kinds of different corals, in my opinion the tank stays healthy because of all the rock in it. Here's a pic from last night, and just now to give you an idea.

 

[joshbridges]

thank you very much ,, its appreciated ,, I love your reef ,, exactly what i want to accomplish right there !!! love the pics ,, if you have any advice on how my mushrooms look that would be nice, just so i have your opinion ,, you seem to know corals my brother

 

[videosilva]

I would be more worried about the Canadian rock that you find INDOORS !!!!!