Does aquarium rock "melt"?

[Palting]

Or maybe dissolve is a better term. I mean, I've had the same aquascape for 3 years now, but I swear I can see holes where there were no holes before, and the rocks seem to have a different shapes with ridges and valleys different than I remember. These are reef rocks, calcium based, so can they slowly "dissolve" over time? The rocks are sitting directly on glass and there has been no shifting in the aquascape, thank goodness. Just wondering.

[Allmost]

it can dissolve in Acid [or low PH water], but if that was the case, all living animals would die first.


there are however alot of worms that basically "drill" rocks with their acid ....
like these ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/18594493

[Mikelush78]

To my knowledge rocks do not dissolve however you may have creatures that burrow in the rocks. There are rock burrowing urchins and things like that... do you have anything in the tank like that?

[coralsnaked]

Absolutely !

I have holes that open up in the rock over periods of time. Most of that good ancient deep water rock is extremely porous and has not been subjected to the amouint of current we have in our tanks. Once that water flows through those pores where the rock is softest it has a tendancy to open up, but no worries ! It won't just continue to "melt away".

Merry Skerry

[Allmost]

Absolutely !

I have holes that open up in the rock over periods of time. Most of that good ancient deep water rock is extremely porous and has not been subjected to the amouint of current we have in our tanks. Once that water flows through those pores where the rock is softest it has a tendancy to open up, but no worries ! It won't just continue to "melt away".

Merry Skerry

as my canadian friend say, EHH ?

rock melts in water, but not that much ? lol
why, how ?

[KafudaFish]

Why wouldn't rocks erode due to wave action, burrowing, and chemical reactions?

Why else would the rock be porous?

[Khemul]

It can also depend on the exact type of rock. For instance, some of the rock from the Florida area is prone to crumbling or eroding unevenly. Those types of rock tend to do exactly what Coralsnaked describes.

On more solid live rock, I could see some of the biological processes going on within doing some damage. Not sure on what scale that'd be though. At least years.

[nogascans]

Not an expert by any means, but "if" the rock contains or is made up of calcium carbonate, can't it under the right conditions get it 'sucked out" by growing corals like it happens with shells?

Sincerely,

David

[Allmost]

Not an expert by any means, but "if" the rock contains or is made up of calcium carbonate, can't it under the right conditions get it 'sucked out" by growing corals like it happens with shells?

Sincerely,

David

that's how calcium reactors work. but they inject co2 into water to lower PH and basically melt corals.

[Allmost]

Why wouldn't rocks erode due to wave action, burrowing, and chemical reactions?

Why else would the rock be porous?

wave does erode rocks, thats how the reef shelves and ... are made in nature.

but that occurs over years and years in currents of ocean ...

from the documentaries Ive seen, mostly due to worms of different type that make an acid of some sort to "eat" rock. which essentially be same as chemical reactions ...

[nogascans]

thanks for explaining that. So, I guess thats why Alk and PH kinda go hand in hand?

I know early in my tank development, before starting dosing for Alk, Cal, and Mag, I would see the left over shells and such literally disentegrate in from of my eyes. And the live snails shells would have coraline algae grow on them but also seem to be "pitted"

Ever since dosing, I have actually been able to document the snails shell growths that create new white shell quicker than growth of attached forms of life.

Oh, and BTW, all of my corals including SPS and Chalices seem to appreciate it as well and have rewarded my with increased growth and color. Not sure of any increased growth patterns with LPS though.

Sincerely,

David

[Dexters Reef]

Ive heard that certain urchins "eat" live rock. Has anyone ever heard or experienced this? Do you have an urchin by chance?

[Palting]

Wow. Great mind pool, lots of excellent thoughts! Thanks. I was stuck at rock eating critters. LOL! I have 2 long spine urchins, Dexter, but I don't think they can bore the rock.