Dragon stone in reef

[Grapefruit509]

Anyone use a Fw dragon stone in their reef? I have one left over from my fw tanks and I want to put it in a spot surrounded by macros.
The rest of the scape will be dry rock 55 gal

 

[N.Sreefer]

Dragon stone is normally sedimentary but can be igneous the sedimentary version will leach clay and organics and break down over time in saltwater. The igneous form could leach heavy metals but would be pretty stable physically and not fall apart.

 

[Grapefruit509]

Clay = bad? How would just this single rock do in a regular aquascaped reef in terms of leeching

 

[N.Sreefer]

Clay = bad? How would just this single rock do in a regular aquascaped reef in terms of leeching

I believe it will foul your water although I would love to be proven wrong on this. My suggestion put it in some saltwater in a bucket with some aggressive flow blasting it and see if it holds up like that at the very least it would get rid of alot of the organics if you decided to use it. Although imho it will crumble apart eventually and may stain your water with tannins/iron. Not to mention whatever heavy metals are found in the clay in that region. The clay in my area has copper iron lead cadmium and tace amounts of uranium (and a ton of other minerals and organics). Ive tried clay hydro media with saltwater and over a month my grow bed turned to mud.

 

[Grapefruit509]

Thanks, anybody else?

 

[Chrisv.]

I guess my question is, why use it? With options available that you know are safe for sure, why gamble on something like this?

 

[dhnguyen]

I personally wouldn't use it. Too many unknowns to risk it.

 

[Grapefruit509]

I guess my question is, why use it? With options available that you know are safe for sure, why gamble on something like this?

Looks nice and I have an extra one, would be cool to surround with algae as a center piece

 

[dhnguyen]

Looks nice and I have an extra one, would be cool to surround with algae as a center piece

Wait... What? You actually want algae?

 

[Grapefruit509]

Wait... What? You actually want algae?

Building a half macro algae dominant/ half coral scape, which is why I wasthinking this some would look very nice in a small cove surrounded by algae and then regular dry rock, give it a nice greener section on one side

 

[Chrisv.]

Building a half macro algae dominant/ half coral scape, which is why I wasthinking this some would look very nice in a small cove surrounded by algae and then regular dry rock, give it a nice greener section on one side

I understand the motivation, but my vote is to go to your LFS and pick through the bin of rocks for reefs and find a special one for your centerpiece instead.

 

[Grapefruit509]

I understand the motivation, but my vote is to go to your LFS and pick through the bin of rocks for reefs and find a special one for your centerpiece instead.

I feel u, not really looking for a centerpiece per say, just this one has a nice look that I could be made into a centerpiece. I've got maybe 10lb left over life rock rn, gotta order another 30 pounds or so, I'll leave the ohko stone out unless I hear something safe about them

 

[dhnguyen]

You would be better off using dry rock IMO for this. Or if not at least lava rock instead.

 

[Grapefruit509]

You would be better off using dry rock IMO for this. Or if not at least lava rock instead.

Right, the idea was the whole scape dry rock plus this single stone

 

[dhnguyen]

How about using slate rock instead? It would give a similar look that you're after without risk it falling apart and leaching anything.

 

[WheatToast]

You would be better off using dry rock IMO for this. Or if not at least lava rock instead.

How about using slate rock instead? It would give a similar look that you're after without risk it falling apart and leaching anything.

Anyone use a Fw dragon stone in their reef? I have one left over from my fw tanks and I want to put it in a spot surrounded by macros.
The rest of the scape will be dry rock 55 gal

From one of my posts on another thread:
"I have maintained a coldwater marine tank with some freshwater rock in the past (ex. lava, slate, dragon), though leaching from the rocks (and other freshwater substrate) likely caused the never ending diatom bloom in said system :(."
Personally, I would avoid freshwater rocks in most marine systems, just to be safe.