Live Rock suitable for Malawi Tank?

Hey guys,

I'm planning to do a 2 meter Mbuna tank and is busy doing my research. Would live rock be suitable for a Malawi tank after giving it a proper wash and hunting down those nasties (Pistol shrimp and bristle worms) which normally ships with them?

Also what is a very good adhesive since I will be building quite a tall mountain with these rocks.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Ruan

 

No no no

I can't understand why you're looking at Live Rock for your tank...

Firstly, liverock is a marine prerequisite.
Then, consider, liverock is>>R100/kg.

You'd be wasting valuable natural resources and money in doing, WHAT exactly?

:idea:Rather get limestone, or even sandstone.
Putty together pieces for aesthetics.

Research abit more...
and if you come unstuck, contact me directly by pm.:noworry:
I have suitable rock , natural and man-made, available for Marine or Freshwater aquariums as you intend......

:idea:Even consider making your own...according to "DIY LiveRock recipes"
Which is primarily some cement, water, sand admixture anyway.

google will help

.....and marineaquariumsa.com Will DEFINITELY assist in that regard

Downside, it requires around 6-8weeks to cure, and reduce harmful excessive alkalinity ( maybe too much info here...)

Without senseless murder of marine organisms in the process...:blink1:

 

Thanx Altum

I have found the man made bio rock which consist of crushed corals, white cement and coarse salt...but I don't have alot of faith with cement in my water and would not risk killing my fish.

Live Rock is quite expensive and I do understand that there is cheaper alternatives...Will do some more research into Limestone.

Once again thanks for your help.

 

Yeah! Better safe than sorry

You're welcome!

Just a quick note,
Rock I suggest and have available, is incapable of dangerous, excessive pH/KH effects.

Some are ceramics based, others are infact OLD LIVEROCK. Removed from neglected Reef tanks which I purchased to rehabilitate

Also, do not fear cement-based rock, if properly cured and allowed to leach into freshwater as prescribed..BEFORE placed into aquarium.... it will settle around 8.4-8.8pH

BONUS for RiftLake sytems:bigsmile:

 

As i understand that is the ideal for Malawis.Is it true?

 

Bit high for Malawis, but perfect for Tanganyikans. I'm using Bio Rock in my 6ft Malawi tank. Another bonus is some added bio media for filtration

 

I agree with altum..you'l be wasting lots of money n natural resources by using live rock in your tank..and secondly..even if you wash it off well..you'l probably have an ammonia EXPLOSION putting lots of live rock in fresh water..all the bacteria on the live rock would die off

 

hey wimpie, how far did you get with your rock search? im busy setting up a malawi tank and am now searching for suitable rock but no luck, also dont want to spend much on rock.

 

Wimpie I am going te agree with what almost everyone said, putting LR into a freshwater setup is really not the way to go. It is a VERY scarce resource and currently being depleted by irresponsible / illegal harvesting...so I aam trying to say if you dont really need it, dont use it.

As for Base rock (man made rock) , I have set up lots of tanks using it to no ill effect.

I worked in Malawi for almost a year and visited the lake area a few time, there are loads of different rock types, maybe use something easy to get like limestone (I know there is a lot of that around the lake