freshwater lava rock(from my freshwater tank)

alittlesalty

Reefing newb
Hello everyone,
I just got a 29 gallon bio cube tank(new in box). I have a lot of lava rock from my freshwater 30 gallon tall tank that I want to use in place of LR for base then add LR on top to see. Can this be done?

Also has anyone used the black live sand? I was looking for feedback on someone that tried it.

I am looking to use the lava rocks base, LR on top, with Black live sand?
Thanks
 
Well, a good rule to follow is that if it doesn't come from the ocean, it doesn't belong in your tank. Lava rock often contains different metals, which can leach out into your tank. Metals are especially dangerous to inverts. It's just not the same type of rock that comes from the ocean. Live rock is calcium based, lava rock is not.

Have you ever treated your freshwater tank with any medications, especially copper? If so, the rock is unusable in a reef tank, since the copper is absorbed by the rock.

I used black live sand in my old nano tank. It looked fine. It's no different than other types of sand, except color, IMO.
 
Take some vinegar and put it on the rock, if it doesnt fizz you shouldnt use it. I wouldnt use it either way but that is the sure fire test.
 
If it were me I'd use all LR instead of adding base rock and the LR on top. The reason I say this is because you only have a 29g tank and can use all the filtration you can get. The more LR you have the better bio-filtration you'll have.

I have a 14g biocube and about 18/19lbs of LR in it. I'd like to add some more to get closer to 2lbs per gal of LR. Good luck w/ the new tank!
 
Good advice above. The only thing I would change is save your money and dont buy "live" sand. I personally dont believe the "live" tag they put on sand. Just get some dry black sand and it will become live over time.
 
we had a lava rock in our 90 gal tank at one time and it seemed to kill all the fish especially angels that we put in the tank so from experience the lava rock is a bad idea in a salt tank thats from experience
 
I have freshwater tanks too and the only rock that was good to place in a saltwater tank was the Texas Holey rock. It will get seeded from the LR and turn into LR. I would not take the chance with the lava rock. I have read that it will leech bad chemicals into your saltwater.
 
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