Live Rock ?

[Dwhitt1981]

When starting a tank I have seen on here that 1-2 lb per gal is the number you need. Well I have seen a lot of tanks on here with base rock in them. So if I'm doing a 30 gal can I do 15lb LR + 15BR to get to 1lb per gal? Or does all 30lb need to be LR? I mean after my tank goes through it's cycle the BR will be in the starting stages of becoming LR. Or am I in left field. I'll be putting LS in the bottom at 1lb per gal give or take.

Sorry if it's a silly ? . It's just been about four yrs or so.Thanks for all the help.

 

[daugherty]

you are right on you are fine to use a half half mix of rock

 

[mblack]

as daugherty says you will be fine using 50/50 but you will have to stock the tank more slowly so the base rock can get the bacteria it needs to deal with the wastes

 

[Dwhitt1981]

Cool that helps with the $$. If I plan on putting 2lb per gal is it best to do it all from the start or can i do it 1/2 then and 1/2 a little later? Thanks for the help!!!!!!You guys rock

 

[RyanG]

You can always add rock to your system. If you are doing it after adding livestock you NEED to make sure the rock is well cured or you risk having a mini-cycle which can allow ammonia and nitrites to build in your system and they are highly toxic.

 

[Rcpilot]

It was all base rock at one time.

It will all be live rock in due time.

Beneficial bacteria will colonize the base rock and the sand eventually. It just takes time.

Starting out with 2lbs per gallon is great!! You will have a very strong biological filter with all that rock. I started out with 61lbs in a 30g tank. After about a year my corals needed more space...... 2lbs per gallon is PACKED in there...... so I was able to SLOWLY remove about 10lbs of rock over a 6 month period. Now I have about 50lbs in the 30g and 10lbs in the 10g frag tank.

Stay clear of canister filters and HOB filters. They are NOT what you want for a reef tank. Also stay clear of the wet/dry units. All of those filters will just contribute to high nitrate levels.

Best thing to do is use a sump with a refugium where you can grow a deep sand bed and some macro algae.

Good luck!! Do a tank build with lots of pics!!

 

[mng777777]

either fully cured or dry base rock when adding to an established system. Dry rock as stated takes time to build up the bacteria level and LR that hasn't been cured will cause a mini-cycle as Ryan pointed out, so pick your poison. If you go dry, make sure you rinse it very well with RO/DI

 

[Dwhitt1981]

Thanks for all the help guy!! It's been a few yrs and I'm tryin to brush up on my info before I get back into it. I think I'm going to try a 30 gal with 40-50lb LR ,15-20lb of LS and a sump/refuge. I think I'll start a thread on refuge.Thanks again

 

[mng777777]

Sounds like you are on the right track. Make sure to put up lots of pics as you are doing it.

 

[Dwhitt1981]

Will do. Just have to get the $$$ first. But so ready to get back into SW.