LR Question

[cumminz]

Ok heres the deal. I am living in my grandmas 1 bedroom basement. I dont ave enough room for my 125, bu ti do have a 25 or 30 sitting outside. What if I bought like 25 lbs of baserock and like a nice sized premium LR and put it in there so that i can get it to spread before i get my full blown 125 gal reef going? What exactly would I need? Or would this even work?

 

[Bifferwine]

You would essentially be curing and seeding live rock. You could do it in your smaller tank, and you would need a heater, powerhead and lights if you want to see coralline growth. You would have to do water changes to keep your parameters in check, just like a regular tank. And you would have to add some fish food once in a while to the empty tank. Basically, it'd be just like having a functional tank without any animals in it.

 

[Doc]

I agree with biff. Not a bad idea to get some cheap live rock!

-Doc

 

[cumminz]

That is what i thought!! I cant spend 500 on LR but i can get Base Rock for 1.75 per lb at my LFS. how often would i need to add food, and how would i not grow gren algea?

 

[cumminz]

Maybe add a fish? a few snails or crabs?

 

[RyanG]

If you are going to add a fish and/or snails you mights just as well run it as a display tank until you get your125 up and running. It would be a great learning experience!

 

[fatman]

I would initially feed the tank about one-fourth of what you would feed if there were fish in the tank. After the nitrite readings go to zero I would up the feedings to about one-half of what you would feed if you had fish in the tank. Stay at that level until you set up your larger tank. This is assuming you do not normally over feed or grossly overstock your tanks. Considering that fish actually utilize little of what they are fed and therefore most food passes through undigested, you will be developing the rock to initially handle the load of how ever many fish the food would have fed if they had been in the tank.

 

[cumminz]

ok ya im not gonna add a fish or anything. wont i grow gren algea and stuff without a skimmer?

 

[fatman]

Regular water changes will keep things pretty much in check.