tufa prices
 

i'm planning to use ~100 lbs of tufa in my 150. rocky mountain tufa in brisco, bc sells it for $0.30/lb on 100 lbs +, $0.25/lb on 200 lbs +, etc. is there somewhere else that is cheaper? also has anyone had any bad experiences with tufa? i know a number of you are using it.

Re: tufa prices
 

What is tufa?

Re: tufa prices
 

Tufa is "calcium carbonate rock" that's about the best/only explanation I can give you.
Quinn you know I used about 100lbs of it in my tank initially and it's fine.
I know there is a place here in calgary that sells it. I do not know the name but Walter knows. He's not on here much.

It is a landscape supply place on 11th St NE. I don't know the name, but it is due east of Deerfoot Mall. It is on the right of 11th St, just past 8th Ave. You can't miss it, you can see the Airport control tower just up the hill. :mrgreen:

Re: tufa prices
 

What does it look like? Do you buy it in small sheets, or is it shaped irregularly and looks more like live rock? I'm going to guess that it is rock that used to be reef rock, but from a very long time ago. Is this correct?

Sorry for the dumb questions :confused:

Tufa is formed when water evaporates from lime-rich waters, leaving calcite (calcium carbonate) to crystallize, often with impurities of iron oxides (rust), which give tufa its yellow and red coloration.

if you get tufa I would sugest you hand pick it and look for chunks that are white, this will help in minimizing the amount of iron oxides which can help fuel algae blooms.

I looked at Tufa as a money saving idea when I was first setting up my tank but I decided to spend the extra money and get live rock. my thinking was "while tufa might be perfectily fine, there is no guarente that it won;t have minerals that are undesiriable or unwanted. And if it did have thease I would hate to have to go through all the problems of tracking down the cause of a potential problem, then having to figure out how to deal with it."

here are some pictures of Tufa
http://www.tufa.bc.ca/gallery.htm


Water-worn limestone, limestone that is very attractive in appearance because of the action of water on its softer parts, is sometimes confused with tufa. It is a calcium carbonate, but it is not tufa, so check and see which it is.

here are a couple retailers in Calgary

EDWARDS GARDEN CENTER & LANDSCAPING (R)
Calgary, AB
403-288-9638

GARDEN CREATIONS (R)
Calgary, AB
403-236-5175


And one in St. Albert

HOLE'S GREENHOUSES & GARDENS LTD. (R)
St. Albert, AB
780-419-6800

hope this helps

Steve

Thanks for the explanation and link, Steve.

While I've never heard of tufa, I would only consider using live rock in our reefs. IMO, the home reef benefits from having the real thing in so many ways. The top of the list being it's what's natural to a wild reef and I like the idea of having my reefs as authentic as they can be. Also, so much life comes with live rock (some of it unwanted :frown: ) that live rock can't be beat. IMO, that is.

i hear what you're saying, but the cost difference is significant. i am prepared to deal with whatever bad mineral deposits i possibly end up with. :neutral:

Well I now have 160lbs of live rock and I only purchased about 60lbs. You cant tell the diffrence now between the tufa and my live rock.

From reading the thread so far, the cost of tufa is tremendously lower than LR. And when one is on a tight budget, the cost of LR is astronomical, for sure :eek: Heck, even when money is a little more prevelant, the cost'll almost kill you :cry:

I know how much you'd like to get your reef up and running, as nobody likes to wait forever to get the ball rolling on such an important part of their lives. Yeah, reefkeepers can stand only so much delay then they simply have to go for what they can financially handle.

However, think of your reef as a long term investment and an even longer term personal commitment. It'll be something you enjoy, and pull your hair out over with the problems it brings to your life, for years and years - possibly until you're as old as I am :eek: :eek: :eek: And how old am I, you might wonder? Well, let's just say I'm over 45, so in your case, you'd be looking at 20 years or so of keeping your wonderful ecosystem alive, healthy and flourishing.

So, starting out with the best of the basics will only bring you more satisfaction, and hopefully less hair-pulling, down the long road of keeping your wonderful reef. You're still a little bit away from the point of actually putting rock in your tank. Maybe someone on the board will be selling their setup and you'll be able to take their rock and other stock. Or maybe you'll decide to wait a little while longer to order a box or two of J&L's LR just to get started.

Whatever you decide to do is certainly up to you based on your individual circumstances. We've decided to do what we did based on our experience and circumstances, and so has everyone else on this board. Good luck with your decisions :smile: