Starting Up With Tufa Rock

[j@mie]

hi guys, my uncle had a marine setup a few years back, he said he started off with lots of tufa rock then slowly added ocean rock and live rock once over a time when he had the money.

now i just setup my 75g(uk) with lots of tufa rock and sand, originally going for a lake malawi setup, but i would rather have marine and wondered obviously with the right equipment, ie protene skimmer and all the other minor essentials, i could make this work?

please let me know asap,.

thanks

 

[macpegg]

i would prob start with couple bits of live rock, and then add tuffa rock after a few month, that way the live rock should impregnate the tuffa. thats my opinion

 

[j@mie]

i would prob start with couple bits of live rock, and then add tuffa rock after a few month, that way the live rock should impregnate the tuffa. thats my opinion

problem is the tank is setup now, all the tuffa nicely stacked up, so i dont want to disturb it, cant i do it the other way around? start with tufa, then add live rock which would eventually impregnate it?

btw, do i buy it live ? or is it just ocean rock that would become live, it may sound daft, but i dont really know much about saltwater, so please help as much as poss

thanks

 

[j@mie]

i just read that you dont nessasarily have to have live rock, just get some cheap fish and some tufa, and start the hobby off that way this is what im gonna do.

i have good filtration and lighting, so im gonna go for it, only thing is i dont know where to start, adding salt ( how much ) etc protiene skimming, dont know about this.

ill read up

 

[macpegg]

i just read that you dont nessasarily have to have live rock, just get some cheap fish and some tufa, and start the hobby off that way this is what im gonna do.

i have good filtration and lighting, so im gonna go for it, only thing is i dont know where to start, adding salt ( how much ) etc protiene skimming, dont know about this.

ill read up

im guessing the water in ur tank isn`t actually salt water then?

 

[j@mie]

i just read that you dont nessasarily have to have live rock, just get some cheap fish and some tufa, and start the hobby off that way this is what im gonna do.

i have good filtration and lighting, so im gonna go for it, only thing is i dont know where to start, adding salt ( how much ) etc protiene skimming, dont know about this.

ill read up

im guessing the water in ur tank isn`t actually salt water then?

not yet, ive only just decided to make it marine - im getting the salt tomorrow

 

[richard t]

"JAMIE YOU REALLY DO NEED TO READ UP" Altough cycling your tank can be done with CHEAP fish, (cheap or expensive, wrong is wrong, as cruel is cruel) live rock is a nessersary expense! You can scatter LR amongst your existing decor, this will aid colanization of the tufa rock. It sounds like you do not want to change the arrangment of the rock in the tank, because it's all stacked up. Marine and Lazy do not sit well together. You set your tank up for cichlids. Now take it apart and set it up for marines.

 

[j@mie]

"JAMIE YOU REALLY DO NEED TO READ UP" Altough cycling your tank can be done with CHEAP fish, (cheap or expensive, wrong is wrong, as cruel is cruel) live rock is a nessersary expense! You can scatter LR amongst your existing decor, this will aid colanization of the tufa rock. It sounds like you do not want to change the arrangment of the rock in the tank, because it's all stacked up. Marine and Lazy do not sit well together. You set your tank up for cichlids. Now take it apart and set it up for marines.

well no ofference, but in one line you say "You can scatter LR amongst your existing decor" then u say take it all apart, how does that make sense - i spent 2 hours stacking this rock up as i have about 15 pieces. im not lazy, i just dont see the point in starting all over again, to get the same result! im not saying i dont want live rock, i would love it but the fact of the matter is, money is an object to me and every bit counts because im disabled.

over time i will buy some live rock, but at the moment, and from "reading" i understand that to start with, all the expensive decor isnt needed. Although i would love to have it.

In terms of cycling, i will be getting 4 damzels which i believe to be very very hardy, this to me isnt cruel, its common sense before i go and spend a fortune on fish that "might" just dye.

no offence intended, and i hope i havent caused any. Every reply helps so ty

 

[J-Money]

first off, its not good for the fish, even if people say they are hardy . 2nd of all, what are you going to do when you're done cycling? you gonna catch all 4 fish and take them back (and if you already have your rock set up in caves and such you may have to tear it down anyway to get to them)? damsels are very territorial and those 4 will probably bully just about anything you put in the tank after them since they will already have their ish established There's other ways to cycle your tank if you don't want to use LR. Maybe get some Live Sand to help kick start it. the other thing about adding LR later is that if it isn't fully cured when you put it in your tank you will most likely have another cycling which will hurt anything not "hardy". I suggest you read all the pinned topics to figure out what you're getting into...good luck

 

[j@mie]

first off, its not good for the fish, even if people say they are hardy . 2nd of all, what are you going to do when you're done cycling? you gonna catch all 4 fish and take them back (and if you already have your rock set up in caves and such you may have to tear it down anyway to get to them)? damsels are very territorial and those 4 will probably bully just about anything you put in the tank after them since they will already have their ish established There's other ways to cycle your tank if you don't want to use LR. Maybe get some Live Sand to help kick start it. the other thing about adding LR later is that if it isn't fully cured when you put it in your tank you will most likely have another cycling which will hurt anything not "hardy". I suggest you read all the pinned topics to figure out what you're getting into...good luck

hmm am i the one confused or is it everyone from the US. I have no intention of returning the damzels, why would i? and where was it mentioned you could use LR for cycling? i didnt read that.

every reply seems to steer away from what im trying to ask. but ty anyway, admn plz close this thread

 

[Chac]

Can I ask what you are going to use as you main Bio Filtration ??

I personally believe that beginning this hobby by being cruel to 'cheap fish' goes against everything I have learnt about fishkeeping also if cost is the most iis the most important factor than I would suggest sticking with Trops as running a healthy Reef is not cheap on Cash or Time

 

[Chac]

first off, its not good for the fish, even if people say they are hardy . 2nd of all, what are you going to do when you're done cycling? you gonna catch all 4 fish and take them back (and if you already have your rock set up in caves and such you may have to tear it down anyway to get to them)? damsels are very territorial and those 4 will probably bully just about anything you put in the tank after them since they will already have their ish established There's other ways to cycle your tank if you don't want to use LR. Maybe get some Live Sand to help kick start it. the other thing about adding LR later is that if it isn't fully cured when you put it in your tank you will most likely have another cycling which will hurt anything not "hardy". I suggest you read all the pinned topics to figure out what you're getting into...good luck

hmm am i the one confused or is it everyone from the US. I have no intention of returning the damzels, why would i? and where was it mentioned you could use LR for cycling? i didnt read that.

every reply seems to steer away from what im trying to ask. but ty anyway, admn plz close this thread

Damsels are IMO one of the worst fish to add to a tank early on, yes they are hardy but they are also very very territorial & any fish you add later will be harrassed/attacked (regardless of size)


You have confussed me with the sentence regarding the Live Rock cycling , can you explain what you mean
as cycling with Live Rock is the best/easiest & quickest way to do it

 

[j@mie]

first off, its not good for the fish, even if people say they are hardy . 2nd of all, what are you going to do when you're done cycling? you gonna catch all 4 fish and take them back (and if you already have your rock set up in caves and such you may have to tear it down anyway to get to them)? damsels are very territorial and those 4 will probably bully just about anything you put in the tank after them since they will already have their ish established There's other ways to cycle your tank if you don't want to use LR. Maybe get some Live Sand to help kick start it. the other thing about adding LR later is that if it isn't fully cured when you put it in your tank you will most likely have another cycling which will hurt anything not "hardy". I suggest you read all the pinned topics to figure out what you're getting into...good luck

hmm am i the one confused or is it everyone from the US. I have no intention of returning the damzels, why would i? and where was it mentioned you could use LR for cycling? i didnt read that.

every reply seems to steer away from what im trying to ask. but ty anyway, admn plz close this thread

Damsels are IMO one of the worst fish to add to a tank early on, yes they are hardy but they are also very very territorial & any fish you add later will be harrassed/attacked (regardless of size)


You have confussed me with the sentence regarding the Live Rock cycling , can you explain what you mean
as cycling with Live Rock is the best/easiest & quickest way to do it

ok it turns out im the one confused LR! i was thinking it was Lava Rock! sorry.

Anyway, with regards to that, its too expensive such early on, things like this i will purchase over time! - so my initial thought and as i was advised at my lfs, was to get a couple of hardy fish to cycle my water, OK this is cruel? but in an ideal world, you would not have to do anything with the water, just add the fish. But unfortunately its not an ideal world.

so first of all, my water parameters are going to be the best i can get them before i even consider adding any fish to cycle the tank, and secondly i was advised of these fish because of there hardyness and was advised they would survive if looked after. I mean no harm to anyone, or cruelty to any fish, thats not my intention, and i dont intend getting rid of the fish once the tank is ready to add more.

so these fish are nasty, i understand that, i cant afford to pay £12 a lb for live rock, so what other option do i have? rather than everyone just saying "cruel" in every post, please tell me other ways i can cycle the tank without LR or Fish! then maybe ill start calming down and stop thinking everyone is always finding fault with everything i type!

i come from tropical tanks, and ill be honest! ive used barbs for the same thing, and still have them, they are very happy. So please dont shoot me down and think ill have no care in the world about these fish, if i see any problems i will ask on here, and see what the best form of action is.

 

[Chac]

1st - you will get Live Rock a lot cheaper than that (I'll pm you a link)

2nd - During your Cycle your tank will contain very high levels of Ammonia that is toxic to fish & Inverts
IMO I would use a frozen shrimp to cycle the tank

What is going to be your BIOLOGICAL FILTRATION if not Live Rock ??

 

[Ethos]

"JAMIE YOU REALLY DO NEED TO READ UP" Altough cycling your tank can be done with CHEAP fish, (cheap or expensive, wrong is wrong, as cruel is cruel)

Thats kinda offensive.
Thats your opinion. Its not fact, so you can't speak of it as fact.
I still choose to cycle my tanks with fish. Its not cruel, its life.
We tend to give animals human charectoristsics, that are human.
Its kinda silly really.

Chac, as you said, they are very territorial.
But how many people usually keep their 'starter' fish in their display/final tanks?