Hey guys just a quick question here. We bought some pretty cheap man made dry rock that basically was a large chunk of sandy concrete. We used it for about 6 months or so. Everything was going pretty good but we noticed the rock was actually disintegrating over time. By a significant amount. Corals would actually fall off of their spots they were glued etc. We also started having significant GHA growth even though I was running enough carbon and phosphate remover for a tank 4 times that size. Overfeeding was not the issue as I cut down and the GHA kept accelerating on growth. Reduced lighting and no effect. Massive water changes and sand sifting had no effect.
My question is this. I know concrete has silica in it and I'm wondering that by using that really cheap substitute, as the rock was eaten away more of this silicate and other materials was continuously being deposited in the water making the phosphates go nuts even with all that remover. We already bought new and good rock and just installed it today (carribsea life rock). I just want to know if anyone else has heard of this?
My question is this. I know concrete has silica in it and I'm wondering that by using that really cheap substitute, as the rock was eaten away more of this silicate and other materials was continuously being deposited in the water making the phosphates go nuts even with all that remover. We already bought new and good rock and just installed it today (carribsea life rock). I just want to know if anyone else has heard of this?