LAVA ROCK in reef tank?

[sfin52]

You should start your own thread, but in short, I would put all the old rock in a new brute can from Home Depot, fill it with fresh water and let it sit a few days and then test for phosphate and Copper. Copper can be removed with Cuprasorb if it is high, and phosphate can be removed with lanthanum chloride if it is high.

Once you know those parameters are good, dump and refill the Brute with salt water and rock (which look nice btw) and add your ammonia and Dr Tims into the bucket, with a heater to keep it about 80F. After 10 Days,or 2 weeks if you want to be really sure, the rock is cycled. Fill the tank 1/2 way, move the cycled rock, rinse and add the sand (See the sand rinse thread, fresh water rinse doesn't hurt bacteria) to avoid dust clouds forever.

Once the sand and rock are all in, fill the tank and start the filtration. Add fish. Good luck

This is the way.

 

[Glowurm]

Lol so I ended up buying dry rock,2 clowns,3chromis..2 rose nems tomorrow. Dry rock is in a bucket getting seeded atm lol yay

This will not end well....

 

[Omegared79]

 

[Omegared79]

Drilled 3/8 hole for plug and it is a good process

 

[Omegared79]

Drilled 3/8 hole for plug and it is a good process

No glue but a tight fit

 

[Daniel Doherty]

Ok, so I'm only going to address the lava rock concern as my cohorts have already addressed the other elephant in the room. I bought a lava rock from my LFS (which is hardly local as Anchorage is an hour way) and it had a bunch of zoas, a mushroom, and a good amount of Mexican Fern Macro on it. So far the rock has been in my tank for close to a month and I have had zero issues and everything in the tank is growing (some are growing too much). So I would say that lava rock is safe depending on where you are getting it and if it is cycled already.

Is it still going well? I’ve a load in my sump might take it out…

 

[Daniel Doherty]

I love all the posts saying you can't use lava rock in a reef tank. 100% of my rock is black lava rock, from a landscape supply.

3 years later, and I've been able to keep every fish and coral I've tried.

Any idea about the red stuff? I have it in my sump.

 

[Daniel Doherty]

Thank god I saw this thread. I’ve a load in my new tank upgrade which I’ll be taking out tomorrow!
View attachment 20251211_213941_C27DD4B0-E556-428D-AE7F-269E86B288D2.mov

 

[rrrrob]

has anyone used lava rocks/boulders in there reef tanks? live rock is hard to come by without alot of bad hitchhikers and i know lava rock is natural and porous its also really cheap and lighter then most live rocks. thanks in advance

I don't do corals, but I have used lava rock for years, mostly because of its light weight.

I like to use it as a base to build my aquascape up higher in the tank.

I have not had any issues, but again no corals and I do weekly water changes.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, I would not put lava or pumice into a reef tank out of possible concern for release of metals.