limestone live rock

can i buy limestone from my local landscaping store and use it in my reef tank if i boil it first?

 

What would boiling do? The issue is metals and other unknown contaminants boiling will not remove these. Bacteria is not an issue in saltwater. No reason to boil. Whether or no you could use it depends on the source. I would probably say not worth the risk.

What is the reason you are attached to this particular rock? Bulk reef supply or macro rocks, has rock with very nice porous rock, in interesting shapes for example. I would think lime-stone would just kind of be ugly slabs of non-porous rock. Pourous is important because the rock colonized bacteria an is actually your filter. Non-pourous rock has less surface area and does not make a good filter.

 

Almost all wild live rock is limestone and we deployed incredible weathered limestone on our offshore aquaculture lease site from the State of Florida. Our aquacultured live rock has nearly no phosphates with much lower levels of harmful phosphates than Fiji rock. got this info from Live Rock - Buy Live Rock For Sale At $3 Per Pound At Live Rock Ranch
i figured i can get it a lot cheaper then $5 a pound at my local store

 

Live rock is sometimes refereed to as "limestone" as it is calcium carbonate based, as is limestone. Calcium carbonate forms crystals in the forms of agronite and calcite depending on certain conditions. Limestone can be composed of calcite and/or agronite, however, it is terrestrial. Liverock is formed by corals, calcifying algae and other organisms. It tends to be knotty and forms interesting shapes and is fairly pure as anything going into it has to pass through a living organism before is becomes part of the structure. Limestone forms through different sedimentary processes and can have lots of other impurities and overall has a different chemical composition. Whether or not this is acceptable depends on where it comes from and how it was formed. Limestone is a very broad classification. I would not assume that limestone being used to build an artificial reef is the same as the limestone being sold by your local building supply store. Also, just look at it, does it look knotty, like this, or does is it more of a broken up slab?

 

If your limestone is anything like Missouri/Illinois limestone, it will be ugly, non-porous, and be loaded with Phosphorus (and potentially other things).