Adding purple lava rock

[Bailey D.]

hey guys,I have a marine tank that has been running for about 8 months and I want to add 1 more piece of rock, I went to the shops and found a piece of purple lava rock and I was wondering if it was alright to put that in the tank. My tank is 120 litres (31 gallons) and has about 4 large brick sized pieces of live rock in it. Thanks

 

[Retro Reefer]

Some of it is safe and some is not, I wouldn’t risk it

 

[Bailey D.]

how would it affect the tank.

 

[Bailey D.]

?

 

[DSC reef]

From what I've read some lava rock can leach stuff like metals, etc in the tank. I'm sure some have used it but personally I wouldn't risk it.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Some of it can leach metals into your water.. not good for corals or inverts.

 

[Billdogg]

In addition to the possibility of it leeching heavy metals or other contaminates into your tank, lava rock tends to be very dense - not porous like good rock, and so should be avoided.

 

[Bailey D.]

Thanks for the answers guys, but if it leeches heavy metals and stuff why is it ok for freshwater?

 

[Flippers4pups]

Thanks for the answers guys, but if it leeches heavy metals and stuff why is it ok for freshwater?

In all honesty, it's not.

 

[Bailey D.]

Thanks for contributing guys. I’ll put off buying that and try and find something else

 

[Brew12]

Thanks for the answers guys, but if it leeches heavy metals and stuff why is it ok for freshwater?

The big reason you see it in freshwater is the lack of anything as sensitive to metals as corals. Where a planted tank will absorb metals and clean the water, the metals can kill coral.