First Reef. Coral skeleton usage?

[Degenerate]

Hello.
I am starting my new adventure of my first reef tank soon, which will be a 10gal coral only, and have been collecting the equipment that I will need to get things going. One of the last things that I need before I throw it all together is sand and rock. I was looking around the internet for options such as live rock, dry rock and even fabricating rock. I am on a fairly tight budget and spent most of it on the light already. I went to my father, knowing that he collects random things, to see if he had any rock that I could use. Turns out, he had a bunch of football and softball sized coral skeleton, maybe 20lb in total.

Would I be able to use any of these as base rock? What are some of the concerns that I would want to be aware of compared to the normal live/dry rock that they are selling at my LFS?

searching through older posts I heard that algae would grow easier on the skeleton, but my understading is that algae would grow on the other types of rock as well. If I am mistaken please enlighten me.

Not sure if it shows up well in the pictures but, some of them have what seems like coloration of some sort of surface mold from sitting in a basement for too long.

 

[ReefStable Verified Sponsor]

I think most of those would be fine to use as base rock. It will be the same as dry rock.

Between live and dry, I prefer dry because you don't risk pests, hitchhikers, or bad bacteria.

Dry rock and coral will show algae quicker while the bacteria builds up on them. This is pretty normal though.

 

[randomfishdude]

No issue with it. I pick up shells and coral bits off the beach and put them in my tanks.
(After a wash)

 

[CK00020]

I’m not sure it’s an issue but the coral skeletons are super porous making certain algae types very hard to remove.

 

[19Mateo83]

The brain corals can have some value as is, may be worth seeing if you could sell them as decorative pieces and pay for more intricate pieces. Just a thought. If not they will make good live rock once they are cycled. Nice and porous. Not very intricate though.

 

[Degenerate]

Thank you so much for all the replies, I really appreciate all the helpful information. I have decided that I will use them starting out. From what I understand, the porous skeleton is a good place for bacteria to colonize, with some being better than others. I am going to arrange the pieces that I want into the tank to figure out the layout. What I don't end up using I will sell.

 

[Degenerate]

I came up with an arrangement that I think works. I tried to place them according to what seems natural, with the tops being up. The tank size is 10gal.

 

[Rmckoy]

I’m not sure it’s an issue but the coral skeletons are super porous making certain algae types very hard to remove.

I would assume these coral skeletons appear to be more dense compared to live rock but still would be great for base rocks ( only problem being they don’t generally stack well and can be unstable .

I’ve tried placing dead skeletons close to encrusting and spreading corals to see if I can grow different corals on them .