limestone rock

koranAngel · 08/12/2009, 01:52 AM

are there any benefits of using limestone rock as base rock for cycling the tank

ive read something in the line it containg high calcium levels and and can act as a buffer is this true?

if abundance in calcium will corals do well??

as ive already purchased 40kg of the stuff making a fairly decent base and scaping rock
LR will be added at a later stage.

the limestone i have is not just square block boulders
plenty of tiny n big holes

HERE IS A QUOTE

TIME TO NATURALIZATION & INTEGRATION
After 3.5 months the limestone that is in high light zones is now covered with red & purple coralline algae.
Organisms which are present on the live rock used to seed the system rapidly migrate to cavities upon the limestone.
No doubt anyone who keeps a reef tank will have found that tube worms rapidly multiply in coral sand and also spread all over uncleaned glass surfaces as does corralline algae which constantly grows across the front window of the aquarium.
METHOD:
1. The first step was to carve the limestone with channels and ledges and to also create a large cave.
This was then placed at the end of a 5ft. x 20in. x 20in. tank.
It sits on the top of the plenum with no coral sand beneath.
The corral sand covers only the plenum and the lower section of live rock (to the depth of the sand).
With no artistic flair whatsoever the writer believes that the structure for a first attempt looks very natural and is certainly better than most live rock aquascaped tanks.
The cave mentioned is located at the front of the tank and is basically just a 10in. long cavity viewed through the front glass.
At the origin of the cave there is an outlet for a power head.
The pump is placed in a cavity at the surface and constantly pumps water through the cave.
Thereby creating a current that passes by a yellow and an orange Tubastrea Coral.
This facilitates a convenient form of feeding the coral as all that is required is to place frozen food at the inlet of the pump.
2. By approx the end of the first month the high light areas of the limestone surface were covered by a brown algae, perhaps a diatom growth.
There was approx. (6) small spots of purple coraline algae beginning to grow and many spots of red coraline algae.
The system being used for calcium addition is an automatic top-up unit flowing through a magnetically stirred calcium hydroxide unit as per description in "The Reef Aquarium" by J.Charles Delbeek & Julian Sprung and also "The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium" by Svein A. Fossao & Alf Jacob Nilsen.
3. At approx. (2) months red coralline algae has 50% covered highly lit surfaces and purple coralline algae is noticeably prevalent.
Brown algae is now populating lower light areas with a light covering.
4. At (3) months there is the beginning of a population of small tube worms on the glass inside the cave so therefore I would assume that they are also populating the inner surfaces of the cave.
There is currently no algae whatsoever inhabiting this cave.
The lit surfaces are now 70% covered with coralline algae and the shaded surfaces are starting to grow purple and red coralline algae.
5. Today there is only slight growth of the various coralline algae as was on the third month.
Due to the fact that the limestone is carved and not assembled, as the live rock requires, it is possible to create solid caves.

08/12/2009, 01:52 AM	#1
koranAngel always on ** at work Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: sydney Posts: 436	limestone rock are there any benefits of using limestone rock as base rock for cycling the tank ive read something in the line it containg high calcium levels and and can act as a buffer is this true? if abundance in calcium will corals do well?? as ive already purchased 40kg of the stuff making a fairly decent base and scaping rock LR will be added at a later stage. the limestone i have is not just square block boulders plenty of tiny n big holes HERE IS A QUOTE TIME TO NATURALIZATION & INTEGRATION After 3.5 months the limestone that is in high light zones is now covered with red & purple coralline algae. Organisms which are present on the live rock used to seed the system rapidly migrate to cavities upon the limestone. No doubt anyone who keeps a reef tank will have found that tube worms rapidly multiply in coral sand and also spread all over uncleaned glass surfaces as does corralline algae which constantly grows across the front window of the aquarium. METHOD: 1. The first step was to carve the limestone with channels and ledges and to also create a large cave. This was then placed at the end of a 5ft. x 20in. x 20in. tank. It sits on the top of the plenum with no coral sand beneath. The corral sand covers only the plenum and the lower section of live rock (to the depth of the sand). With no artistic flair whatsoever the writer believes that the structure for a first attempt looks very natural and is certainly better than most live rock aquascaped tanks. The cave mentioned is located at the front of the tank and is basically just a 10in. long cavity viewed through the front glass. At the origin of the cave there is an outlet for a power head. The pump is placed in a cavity at the surface and constantly pumps water through the cave. Thereby creating a current that passes by a yellow and an orange Tubastrea Coral. This facilitates a convenient form of feeding the coral as all that is required is to place frozen food at the inlet of the pump. 2. By approx the end of the first month the high light areas of the limestone surface were covered by a brown algae, perhaps a diatom growth. There was approx. (6) small spots of purple coraline algae beginning to grow and many spots of red coraline algae. The system being used for calcium addition is an automatic top-up unit flowing through a magnetically stirred calcium hydroxide unit as per description in "The Reef Aquarium" by J.Charles Delbeek & Julian Sprung and also "The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium" by Svein A. Fossao & Alf Jacob Nilsen. 3. At approx. (2) months red coralline algae has 50% covered highly lit surfaces and purple coralline algae is noticeably prevalent. Brown algae is now populating lower light areas with a light covering. 4. At (3) months there is the beginning of a population of small tube worms on the glass inside the cave so therefore I would assume that they are also populating the inner surfaces of the cave. There is currently no algae whatsoever inhabiting this cave. The lit surfaces are now 70% covered with coralline algae and the shaded surfaces are starting to grow purple and red coralline algae. 5. Today there is only slight growth of the various coralline algae as was on the third month. Due to the fact that the limestone is carved and not assembled, as the live rock requires, it is possible to create solid caves.