Base Rock/Live Rock

Alright canopy is done lights are in and now im a few steps closer to victory, now ive been lookin at previous threads and if im correct in can use say 20lbs of base rock(prob rock from Marcorock.com) and like 10-12lbs of cure live rock to seed the rest and i'll be ok and with some scrubbing the cured rock will seed the rest in time? Also goin with about 3-4in of argonite sand, also gonna try to seed from my LFS.

 

Absolutely can do that. You really dont need do do the scrubbing IMO.

 

it'll take a bit of time for the other rock to be fully seeded, but it will definitly get algae growth on it soon and both rock types will look similar

 

i agree with all of the above!

 

Yea I don't "scrub" the LR either. I place it in a seperate container with new made up SW and a power head, then a week later I epmty it and replace with New SW again. I do that about 3 or 4 times, depending on the smell of the LR. Then place it into the tank. It will take a few weeks for the base rock to start looking like the rest. By six months you'll be the only person who can tell the differance.

 

Ok cool info well absorbed, hey stupid! I see your from the St.Lou area can give me some good LFS around here to get worthy LR?

 

It's kind of hit an miss really. If you can I'd go to CPE Jan is closing the store at the end of this month. You might get a steal on the LR. Here's her stores info:
Clayton Pet Emporium
509 South Hanley
Clayton MO 63105
(314)725-7757

My second choice would be this one:
Marine Solutions ( www.stlmarinesolutions.com )
2236 First Capitol Drive
St. Charles, MO 63301
636-947-5999

and my third choice would be this store:
Tropical World Pets
8444 Watson Rd.
St. Louis, MO 63119
(314) 849-4020

If your around the IL side another really good place to go would be Velco's place. He is more of a high end store but his rock is really good and the price is the same as the rest. Here's his info:
Aquatic Treasures ( www.aquatictreasures.net )
525 Lincoln Hwy Suite 15
Fairview Heights IL 62208
(618)632-7333
I'll hold the other store's info back as you asked for worthy LR. And I'm sure you mean good rock and a fair price.

Stu.

 

Thanks stupid!! I will surely look into the CPE havent been there yet, nor marine solutions

 

Don't use 3 or 4 inches of sand.

Either use only 1" for looks and an AEROBIC bacteria bed

OR:

Use AT LEAST 6" for a Deep Sand Bed (DSB)

3" is just enough to provide a nice AEROBIC bacteria bed and also just enough to trap waste and other crap in the tank. But it's not enough to do any real break down of nitrates. You need 6" to get any ANAEROBIC bacteria and subsequent nitrate break down.

Lots of people don't want to give up 6" of space n the bottom of their tank. Thats' understandable. In that case, just use 1" of sand. 2" or 3" or 4" isn't any better than 1". It's actually worse.

My tank is 24" deep, so 6" of sand in the bottom is fine with me. I kinda need it because I only have 144w of T5 lighting and I've been told it takes a LOT of lights to penetrate way down that far. With 6" of sand in the bottom my lights only have to penetrate 18" to reach the bottom.

Option 1: 1"

Option 2: 6"

Setting yourself up for failure from the very beginning: 2", 3" or 4"

 

But if i wanted to keep sand sifters like a goby, would 1'' be ok?