# Any Floridians ever use coquina rock?



## actionyak (Mar 16, 2004)

I picked up a couple hundred pounds of coquina off the beach tonight and am planning to add some to my new grow out tank and some to my main show tank to get some more height. I was curious if anyone else has used coquina before. My only concern is the amount of stuff that is likely living on and in it, since it was right on the beach. I've got a cooler full soaking in water and 5 capfulls of bleach right now.

Here's what it looks like, the tennis ball is in the middle to give an idea of scale.










A couple of closeups:



















For those of you not familiar with coquina, from the Volusia County Heritage web site:

"Coquina rock is the product of sedimentary formations that underlie much of Florida's Atlantic shore. Coquina is a mixture of shell fragments and quartz grains held together by calcium carbonate that formed when higher sea levels covered our present coast. Coquina means "tiny shell" in Spanish. The name also was given to the small clam, Donaxvariabilis, whose shells provided the natural aggregate for Coquina rock.... Large-scale quarrying began under Spanish rule in 1671 for the construction of the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine."

Seems like it may be good to help buffer the water, as well.

Anyone have any experience with it in a cichlid tank?


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

I had it, then pulled it out. 
After a few times moving it around, you already know it has lots of sharp areas on it.
I thought it would just be a matter of time, before one of my "MalawiManiacs" got sliced open.
Ended up at a landscape supply yard and paid around $20 for some smooth rock.


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

the only fear i would have is how sharp the rck is like kaiser said, otherwise it's a good rock for cichlids


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## fordgtmustang (Sep 29, 2010)

I have some in my 75 gallon and was afraid of the edges as well. That was until i got the hand sander out and sanded the rocks down and they actually came out nice and smooth


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## baitfish2000 (Mar 11, 2005)

I am not far from Daytona and used Coquina in my tank for awhile - with Tangs - did not have any problems but did see some scratches on the fish so I got rid of it - I prefer to use the shelly sand that is found in Flagler County area - think alot of that is just crushed coquina rock - if you can sand off the rougher edges I think it would be fine.


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