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View Full Version : Any use for coral skeletons?


J2T
06/12/2011, 03:57 PM
I'm slowly putting a 75g tank together and was wondering if there is any use for old pieces of dead coral? I have two pieces that were given to me by my wife's aunt awhile ago and figured if they provide any sort of benefit then why not?

I tried searching but didn't really come up with too much. Thoughts for this newbie?

tgray3
06/12/2011, 04:11 PM
You can throw them in a calcium reactor in place of media or just break them up and mount frags on them.

cloak
06/12/2011, 04:32 PM
There really no different than a piece of base rock to me. Given time both of those will be covered in coralline algae, sponges, tube worms etc. Just give them a good rinse if you do decide on using them.

aleonn
06/12/2011, 05:43 PM
You can use them as a substrate for frags. I glue down zoa/paly frags on my coral skeletons.

J2T
06/12/2011, 06:50 PM
What about breaking them up and using as rubble rock in my sump return?

cloak
06/12/2011, 07:40 PM
I think you would be better off just purchasing some baseball size pieces of live rock if you want to put something in your sump. The smaller rubble would probably just end up being a nightmare. I figured you were just in a pinch and wanted to use them as a filler in your DT, which will work. If that's not the case though, I wouldn't even mess with them. Save yourself the trouble. Set them aside, get your tank up and running, and then see if you can use them somehow down the road. If your corals do end up growing like crazy, busting them up and using them as frags plugs would be a great idea. :)

J2T
06/12/2011, 07:42 PM
No, not in a pinch. Just had them sitting there and was thinking maybe a way to use them now. :) I'll just set them aside for use later hopefully ;) Thanks for the help.

reefmanmatt
06/12/2011, 07:49 PM
What about breaking them up and using as rubble rock in my sump return?

you can do any number of things suggested including making rubble . "rock" is made of old skeletons among other things . i use it for rubble + frags personally . i just got about 75 lbs. of skeletal pieces today with a 70 gallon rubbermaid sump so im sitting in the garage sorting as soon as break is over :)