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So I have pukani and tonga shelf rock that has been soaking in fresh water for about 6 weeks. Does anybody have comments or suggestions on using freshwater to leach nutrients out vs. saltwater?
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Kershaw
Valuable Member
From what I understand. Put it in a trash can, fill with ro water, run a power head. Change water once a week for a few weeks then add fresh saltwater let it run with power head for a few weeks. Allot of people will say to you use bleach or murratic acid. I personally don’t do it as I don’t find it neccassary. But that’s just me. Mel’s reef has a good video on how to do it out chemicals
Idoc
Getting lazier and lazier with upkeep!
I cured my pukani in regular tap water (used one of those a dechlorinator product, maybe tetra possibly). Cured it for 6 weeks... probably shoukf have gone a little longer, but 6 weeks worked well. I changed the water every day or so for the first couple of weeks due to all the debri and nutrients exported. I also used a powerhead and cranked the heat up to astound 85 degrees to speed up the breakdown process. I also ran a bag of Phosguard to pull out the phosphates and changed every time i saw the phosphates rising.
You can use RODI water, but as often as i was changing it at first, I think that would have been a waste. It takes me quite awhile to make RODI.
You can use RODI water, but as often as i was changing it at first, I think that would have been a waste. It takes me quite awhile to make RODI.
Merv49
Active Member
The last time I did saltwater everybody was using live rock but I really like the way pukani loos plus I want to try some of that fancy aquascaping. I probably will add some live rock for biodiversity. just worried about hitchhikers. I did get 1 cool filterfeeding crab in the little tank but he hides all the time.
Idoc
Getting lazier and lazier with upkeep!
Chiseling pukani is really easy. Just makes several medium taps with the hammer in chisel so you don't crack the whole rock in half. I had a large ball of pukani and chiseled a tunnel thru it, created an overhang, etc... Fun project!
Yea thats a cool looking aquascape. I also have a large piece of tonga shelf with a built in cave/porch thing on top. I have been racking my brain figuring out how to incorprate this into the structure.Chiseling pukani is really easy. Just makes several medium taps with the hammer in chisel so you don't crack the whole rock in half. I had a large ball of pukani and chiseled a tunnel thru it, created an overhang, etc... Fun project!
So if you scroll up to the picture from inside my sump room you will see the oxygen equipment in the background. I'm supposed to use it all the time but i only do at night. Anyway I have a used O2 concentrator i bought at a yard sale for $100. I decided one day to aerate my water change with oxygen just out of curiosity. Man it really drove up the PH. I had to aerate with regular air for several hours before I could use it. Anyway it got me thinking what if you used oxygen as a ph controller? The machine only pulls 3 amps so you concievably could program the controller to kick it on at say 8.0 and shut it off at 8.2 or something. Any thoughts?
This water change was for my little tinker tank btw. I also have been using kalk to combat ph swings at night. i have a little sports squeeze bottle and i mix 1/8 teaspoon per cup on an overnight drip. the thing only holds 3 cups so it is about the right amount. Then I just add regular top off water throughout the day. seems to work pretty good at keeping the ph from dipping below 8.1.
drawman
2500 Club Member
I will tell you my big pieces of Pukani had sky high NO3 and PO4 (upper limit of Hanna Phosphorus checker and Salifert Nitrate kit) coming off of it after an acid bath (I did not bleach them). I've been using Lanthanum Chloride to kick out the PO4. That worked very well and a 100% water change took care of most of the NO3 in my curing bin.
Did you use baking soda to neutralize the acid? I don't know if that matters just curious?
I haven't even tested yet guess I need to do that. This time of year I'm too busy planting tomatoes.
drawman
2500 Club Member
Yes I did. I think it can vary from piece to piece but some of these can leach a ton of nutrients. Just a warning for those that put it directly into the tankDid you use baking soda to neutralize the acid? I don't know if that matters just curious?
I haven't even tested yet guess I need to do that. This time of year I'm too busy planting tomatoes.
OK thanks for the info. This tank will probably run barebottom for a couple of months and then add sand for a couple more months before I even try to stock it. Probably go through 3 or 4 buckets of salt during that time.Yes I did. I think it can vary from piece to piece but some of these can leach a ton of nutrients. Just a warning for those that put it directly into the tank
OK so the tank I set up to get back in practice is a nuvo fusion 20 but it only held 16 . Probably only has 12 with all the rock. but I liked the tank so much i ordered a fusion lagoon 25 for a coral quarantine tank. So I will start a cycle on the 25 as soon as it comes in and then when the big tank is ready I can move the rocks to the sump, put the coral in the 25 and use the 20 for fish quarantine. The little ghost desktop skimmer works better after i modified it. I connected an airline to the venturi and bypassed the valve that came with the skimmer (didnt work very well). I connected this airline to the outside to help ph.
The sump room has plumbing for a sink that i need to install. Also 3 separate 20 amp circuits, one for just the AC. I'm hoping the ac will keep things cool enough. I also put ventilation fan that will run occasionally and bring fresh air into the room. I'mm still trying to decide about lights. Right now I am leaning towards ATI T5 LED hybrid.
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