can I use dead (lime) rock for aquascaping

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The owner and aquarist of a LFS came to see my setup at home I was having problems and he saw I had deadrock and he asked me where i got it I bought it. online 50lbs, he said not to use it because it is LIME rock and in his experience limerock removes the magnesium of the saltwater. He said I was looking for trouble with those rocks. My intentions were to get 50lbs deadrock and 50lbs liverocks and aquascape w/ it then cycle tank to get ready to introduce my corals.

To all , is limerock harmful to a marine reef setup? I have live caribbean sand and live rock in my setup cycling for 2wks now. I checked amonia,nitrite, nitrate, and Ph levels all are 0 and my Ph is 7.8 is this ok. ? Should i be using a skimmer while cycling tank in my new setup? I see skimmer cup very clean no foam it's been 2days since setup and I am worried that there is no foam in my skimmer's cup. But again there is no waste to be picked up since I am in the cycling stage of my thank right? The LFS aquarist said to just let the setup run with just liverock and sand for 4 to 6 wks before introducing any fish or corals is this ok? Please excuse me for asking so much questions it's just that I have a 75gal saltwater tank my dream is to be able to put corals and fish in there and hope the way I'm doing it is thhe right way thanks:biggrin:
 
The owner and aquarist of a LFS came to see my setup at home I was having problems and he saw I had deadrock What is dead rock? did he explain?and he asked me where i got it I bought it. online 50lbs, he said not to use it because it is LIME rock and in his experience limerock removes the magnesium of the saltwater. How does it do that? He said I was looking for trouble with those rocks. My intentions were to get 50lbs deadrock and 50lbs liverocks and aquascape w/ it then cycle tank to get ready to introduce my corals.

To all , is limerock harmful to a marine reef setup? not necessary I have live caribbean sand and live rock in my setup cycling for 2wks now. I checked amonia,nitrite, nitrate, and Ph levels all are 0 and my Ph is 7.8 is this ok. if test kits good.? Should i be using a skimmer while cycling tank in my new setup? yes
I see skimmer cup very clean no foam it's been 2days since setup and I am worried that there is no foam in my skimmer's cup. But again there is no waste to be picked up since I am in the cycling stage of my thank right? Yes, The LFS aquarist said to just let the setup run with just liverock and sand for 4 to 6 wks before introducing any fish or corals is this ok? Yes but how much LS Please excuse me for asking so much questions it's just that I have a 75gal saltwater tank my dream is to be able to put corals and fish in there and hope the way I'm doing it is thhe right way thanks:biggrin:

Test the rock for PO4 more important.
 
Ph of below 8 is bad, ideal ph is about 8.3. As for just running with liverock and sand for 4-6 weeks is correct :thumbup: biological cycling and 'battle of the algaes' as i like to call it, happen during this time.
Some pics of the 'lime rock' would help, I would assume you meant limestone, its basically calcium cabonate and i have no idea why he said it would remove Mg from the water, i guess he meant that as the carbonate dissolves from the rock as i think limestone will do unlike aragonite(i could be mistaken), binding to Mg forming magnesium carbonate, this will reduce the active Mg concentration in the water but the Mg won't dissappear :p. Just make sure you 'cook' the dead rock to remove all the dead stuff and do some phosphate tests to check is its giving off Phosphates. By cooking i mean curing.
Not too sure bout cycling with skimmer but i think it should be on, but some pics would help of course :razz:.
Oh and the more questions the better, there are no 'stupid questions'.
Hope that helps buddy
 
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