Is ocean rock the same as reef rock?

[Pete Hammersley]

Hi, I am doing a massive jump in tank size, going from a 180 litre to a 900 litre tank. I currently have some well established reef rock, which has been great so far in keeping my waters nutrients in check. As the new tank is substantially bigger, I have just bought 2 x 25 kg boxes of "Ocean rock, not Reef rock" off eBay. Even though it does say on the advert it is suitable for marine tanks, when I look at the rock there seems very few pores or holes in it, and I'm not sure if the low surface area of this might give me problems? Has anybody used this type of rock for a mixed reef before, any experiences good or bad will be useful information.

Thanks,

Pete.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

You can really use any rock and make it live with time. The pores tend to be microscopic so hard to tell from just looking at it. Typically really porus rock 'feels' lighter than it looks, if that makes sense. As long as the rock doesn't have silicates in it then you are typically fine. Curing rock in a bin with saltwater for a few weeks-months will make your cycle a lot shorter. Also gives the rock a chance to leach out any impurities. I like to use lanthanum chloride and carbon periodically while curing.

 

[Silent]

I don't see why not. You might want to cycle it and check water parameters first. The lighter the rock the more porous.

 

[ss30]

Ocean rock is heavier and is a lot denser so it's not so porous(if it even is porous), so you would need a lot more ocean rock than live rock. It's normally used in fish only systems where most of the filtration is done in the sump.

 

[Pete Hammersley]

You can really use any rock and make it live with time. The pores tend to be microscopic so hard to tell from just looking at it. Typically really porus rock 'feels' lighter than it looks, if that makes sense. As long as the rock doesn't have silicates in it then you are typically fine. Curing rock in a bin with saltwater for a few weeks-months will make your cycle a lot shorter. Also gives the rock a chance to leach out any impurities. I like to use lanthanum chloride and carbon periodically while curing.

OK,

 

[JustinSmi86]

Try power washing it. It opened a lot of pores in my dry rock.

 

[JustinSmi86]

I have about 40lbs in display and another 120 being seeded.

 

[Pete Hammersley]

Thanks for the advice guys. Because I’ve got the rock there ready I’m hoping to give it a good 3 to 4 months curing, as it’s going as part of my house extension which is due to be started any day now. By Christmas it will be ready for aquascaping.