Jump to content
Top Shelf Aquatics

Porous Rock & Coralline


nickkohrn

Recommended Posts

I have a question regarding the porosity of rock when coralline covers it.

 

We all want porous rock so that bacteria has plenty of surface area to attach to. We also want deep pore networks within the rock for the bacteria to process nutrients in the low-oxygen areas.

 

What happens when the surface area on the outside of the rock is covered in dense coralline? Sure, the parts of the rock that aren't covered will allow access to the internal pore network, but doesn't the coralline take away much of the access to the pore network? Do we, as hobbyists, overemphasize the need for very porous rock when most of the visible areas become covered with coralline, filled with detritus, or covered in encrusting corals?

 

I don't want to start a heated debate. I just want to hear your thoughts and try to come up with the best solution for my tank while I decide on what type of rock to use because that decision has absolutely been the most difficult decision for me regarding the future of my tank.

 

Thanks everyone!

Link to comment

I would assume there are micro pores and holes and bacteria has no problem accessing the porous rock since it is so small. Just my thoughts though.

 

I would think most rock in the hobby being sold for live rock purposes would be suitable enough even if some is more porous than others.

 

My cold water tank does not use porous rock at all (it's like actual what normal people call rocks...) and runs successfully and I have a lot of anenome mouths to feed. What I did was run a small bag of media in the back that serves the same purpose as live rock. You could do similar if you are concerned.

Link to comment

 

What I did was run a small bag of media in the back that serves the same purpose as live rock. You could do similar if you are concerned.

This is a good idea. I have thought about adding some MarinePure in one of the rear chambers and rinsing it out weekly. That would allow me to use almost any type of rock that I want; even no rock at all, if that were what I was going for. That media is incredibly porous.

Link to comment
IronChefItaly

A good consideration. I do recall Bulk Reef Supply mentioning in one of their educational videos the reduced porosity which would imply reduced effectiveness when live rock becomes heavily encrusted with coralline algae. I think you're on the right track with compensating with additional media within your sump or rear chambers. The key with any biological media is keeping it clean of detritus to prevent heavy nitrate production. Other than that there's no real downside.

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...