Lava Rock

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C

Coutl

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 22, 2007
56
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ohio
Hi Ive heard of ppl putting lava rock in their tank?? What does it do? is it good for bio?
 
From my experience, it is great for filtering. Lots of surface area for bacteria to grow. Plus, think of all the lava formations on the sea floor and lake bottoms. I use it as media in an empty Ocean Clear canister.
 
i personally don'tlike it but alot of people seem to.
 
it's bad luck to take lava rocks, actually. according to hawaiian legend. it's not true though. i've taken a ton of rocks from kilauea and all i have is pulmonary fibrosis.
 
Lava rock can be used a bio media, which is how it was done back in the day. Nylon scrubbies are much more effective, and have far more surface area. All manufactured bio-medias will have FAR more surface area than either of these 'economic' bio-medias.
 
Also, it depends on whether you are talking about lava rock or pumice. I have 2 caves that are made of pumice, and it definitely has far more surface area than any biomedia I know of. Only problem, it floats. So I had to weight it down with 1" thick marble and Eco Complete. Even with the marble attached, it still floated, so I had to use the Eco to cover the marble to hold it down. Also, it's so soft you can carve it with a butter knife. I used a butter knife to flatten the bottom so I could attach it to the marble.

As for lava rock, I also have lava rock in my 55G. It's heavier, and doesn't float. Has a lot of surface area as well, but ceramic cylinders probably has a little more surface area.

If I had the choice, it would be pumice if you could keep it under water. As for lava rock and ceramic, I think they are pretty close. If you can get similar sized ones as the ceramic cylinders, you'll have more than enough surface area to do the job.
 
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