View Full Version : Live rock question
rica5tully
05-09-2003, 1:50 PM
I have three quick questions about a saltwater tank I'm setting up:
1) How much rock (live rock or "seeded" base rock) should I have in a 55 gallon so that I don't need other biological filtration (I'll have a good skimmer and some powerheads)
2) Where should I buy live rock? What mail-order site do you recommend?
3) I read in another thread that you cycle a tank with base rock and then add live rock to seed it. Is that live rock cured or uncured?
Thank you very much.
kreblak
05-09-2003, 3:32 PM
A good rule of thumb is to have 1.5 - 2 lbs of LR per gallon for complete biological filtration, as well as a realitively deep substrate bed so that your bacteria can grow there as well.
I have ordered from www.drsfostersmith.com (aka www.liveaquaria.com) with no problems. The LR you will receive is partially cured, and it is recommended by them that you further cure the rock yourself. I found it excellent for tank cycling as it was, and got some cool hitchhikers to boot. You will pay through the nose for shipping, though. :mad: but what can you do, right? They have several different kinds to pick from. The Fiji LR is quite beautiful, and fish really seem to take to it.
I don't know about price comparisons, as I have only ordered from the above sites. I can say I found it somewhat expensive. Anyone else able to find a good quality LR from a cheap online store?
BrianH
05-09-2003, 4:37 PM
IMHO 1 to 1.5 lbs per gallon of LR combined with a deep sand bed is normally enough biofiltration for most tanks.
I recommend Gulf-View (http://www.gulf-view.com) for live rock. They sell Florida aquacultured live rock. This is dry rock that was planted in the caribbean at least 5 years ago. When you place an order, they dive for the rock and ship it to your door next day air. If your interested, give Dale, the owner a call. He's a nice guy and will help you out and pick the the best rock for your situation.
Brian
I have 10lb of LR in a 10g nano reef. No other filtration. Just 2 PH's. I have about a inch of sand/aragonite mix. I have corals, one blue damsel, and a bunch of "critters". It would depend on what sort of bioload you were planning on.