lduncan Posted August 27, 2005 Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 Just starting a new thread from the change in topic from this discussion here: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/1-vt8423.html?start=0 does the same apply to rock? Well gravity is the main difference. Rock, as long as it is in an environment which is high nutrients, will soak up crap like a sponge, until it reaches equilibrium with the water's crap levels. What happens when the surrounding environment is lower nutrient than the rocks? The rocks shed some crap, to match the conditions, they reach an equilibrium. Gravity pulls this shedded crap to the bottom of the tank. This is the rock cooking process. With sandbeds gravity is the main reason why they accumulate more and more crap. When they are full they leach phosphate. So what happens when the water is clean and rock is sitting in a dirty sand bed? This is when the rock absorbs the phosphate and crap from the sandbed like a sponge, if this seeps into coral skeletons it can cause problems with boring algae, which can kill sps, some believe it is responsible for stn. Indication this is happening is the skeleton structure of dead corals are green. Water parameters may appear fine in this case. The rocks will indicate there are problems brewing. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted August 27, 2005 Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 the equilibrium part makes sense, thats why i asked wether the water would be dirty if the rocks are. im still deciding on BB or SSB for the new tank, in the end i think that i will go with BB at the start at least cause its easer to add sand than it is to add starboard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted August 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2005 Just keep in mind that equilibrium doesn't always mean static or equal concentration. So the water may be cleaner than the rock, yet still have reached equilibrium. Just for interest start of BB, and see how much stuff comes out of your rock, I think you'll be surprised. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted August 28, 2005 Report Share Posted August 28, 2005 yep i saw that when i moved every thing out of my 4 footer into a BB tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted August 28, 2005 Report Share Posted August 28, 2005 the equilibrium part makes sense, thats why i asked wether the water would be dirty if the rocks are. im still deciding on BB or SSB for the new tank, in the end i think that i will go with BB at the start at least cause its easer to add sand than it is to add starboard Yeah i agree I have put some HDPE (cuttingboard) in my new tank, i it doesn't turn out like i want then i can just put sand on top. I really like the idea of the bb tanks, they should stay alot cleaner. The piece of HDPE cost me about $150 for a bit about 4foot x 3. Sand would have been the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.