South Seas Base Rock Review (Caribsea)

[wade]

After doing much digging, I found a great deal on some of Caribsea's "south seas" base rock. According to online vendors (I emailed Caribsea, but have not heard anything back yet) it is mined rock (no ocean impact). It is definitely what can be called "lace rock". It is definitely limestone, that is exceptionally porous.

 

Attached are a couple of pictures I took this morning.

 

You can see how many of the pores penetrate all the way through the rock. It appears as though it was aragonite sand that became cemented down in layers over time naturally. And then the in between layers have been washed/eroded away leaving just the limestone. There are fragments of shells, but it is very course and feels more like sand.

 

The pores and the lace features of the rock really make me hesitate to use this base rock on any light exposed surfaces. Nothing will be able to graze those surfaces effectively if the need arises. As a base layer though, it will be excellent for water flow. It can be used in sump and in tank as an excellent substrate for cryptic filtering organisms.

 

So far, I am very happy with the quality of this rock. It came in ~40lbs box, inside another box, surrounded by peanuts and there's almost no dust and there is no rubble. Some pieces are 10+lbs and most are softball+ to larger than football sized.

 

Uknowns currently (cannot find online or in discussions):

-does this rock leach phosphates?

 

 

I will keep adding to this review as I move forward with both testing (water flowing through it) and potentially leach testing.

[wade]

Placeholder for liquid testing.

[wade]

Placeholder for leachate testing.

 

PS- Does anyone have a phosphate test?

Edited March 22, 2013 by wade

[howaboutme]

It looks very similar to what you would get from reefcleaners.org or marcorocks, all "florida", inland rock. I like the porosity but it does present some challenges when placing corals. My snails have crawled all over it but they do tend to stay closer to my cured LR, which doesn't have the pores pentrating from one end to the other.

[Ryan S]

I would bet it leaches phos like the other similarly mined dry rock. I would definitely cook it to be safe. Don't chance the hair algae down the road.

[zygote2k]

Why not go with "Real Reef" instead?

Looks better, colors up quickly, man-made, reef safe, no phosphate issues, no need to 'cook' it before use.

Cheap too. $4/#

[overklok]

I can personally vouch for BRS Pukani Rock. I did treat it with HCL and lanthanum chloride, to eliminate organics and phosphates. I have had it running in the system since November. I now have coraline algae on the rock and green pocillopora has spawned and started to grow out all over the place. It is very light and porous, they can send any size you like, even giant boulders!!!

[sachabballi reef]

I can personally vouch for BRS Pukani Rock. I did treat it with HCL and lanthanum chloride, to eliminate organics and phosphates. I have had it running in the system since November. I now have coraline algae on the rock and green pocillopora has spawned and started to grow out all over the place. It is very light and porous, they can send any size you like, even giant boulders!!!

 

I agree.. I didn't even treat mine and after 2 water changes after cycle phosphate is 0.03....got it on sale and awesome rock to scape with

 

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