Red Volcano rock

a friend of mine bought a 200 gal cichlid tank that he converted to SW...

anyway, it had red rock, the volcano looking style in the tank...my buddy used it as his base and set his existing rock on it....

he also gave me a good amount of it, and i want to put it all in my refugium...im always one to ask...so if i clean it and all...should it be alright once its seeded?

 

My only concern with adding rock that is not carbonate based, the rock your talking about may be, im not sure, is that it can potentially leach silicates into the water causing algae blooms. Just be aware of that.

 

meaning that it could eventually even break down??

is there anyway id be able to know for sure??

i also know the rock the tank came from also had a low amount of salinity in it to satisfy the cichlids...would that play a roll?

 

I wouldn't worry about it breaking down or anything like that, but if it is silicate based it may result in algae blooms, particularly diatoms. If you notice on reef sand packages it will say silicate free among other things. This is the reason why it is important not to have silicates. As to how you would know, Im really not sure. If you know it's actually volcanic, such as pumice, than it is more likely than not, silicate based. Pumice is volcanic glass. Most glass is silicate based. If it is some form of limestone, then you should be fine as it is carbonate based. Again though, im really not sure.

 

if its synthetic than theres a better chance maybe???
this is "real rock" i believe, ha, if that makes sense

 

If it's synthetic then it is probably made of cement which is carbonate based. Again though, it's hard to know exactly. Another note, it is more than likely not pumice either because pumice floats. I would ask your friend where he got it from.

 

i guess ill try to do some research online to see if something turns up...
all i know is that it was originally used without a problem in a cichlid tank, but that doesnt necessarily translate to the saltwater world.

 

you said it was red? if it looks like long tubes that is not rock really but dead briariem, a type of coral, which is totally safe, and very cool i might add, for your tank, if it is actual lava rock though it will leach iron in to your tank along with silicates

 

its porous red rock...each piece has a hole or two in it so the fish can go in and out...
im not sure what else to add...it is really porous though, and doesnt have a fake look or feel to it either...

 

try uploading a pic... odds are if it's lava rock it's probably not something you want in your tank. Lava is almost never silica free...