How much LR is enough?

[armyvet]

Hello everyone. Well I am slowly gathering all my equipment together and plan on starting my tank in a few weeks. Purchased the sand you guys recommended ( sugar consistancy,dried, sterile, Playsand). Maxi-jet 1200 power heads and am ordering a remora skimmer. My question is this. I have a 36gal bowfront and am starting out with a FOWLR. I don't want to completely fill tank space with LR. I want room for fish to swim and bottom dwellers to live. You recommend 1-2 lbs of LR per gallon. If getting this much fills the tank too much, can I go with a lesser amount? Maybe less LR and some LS or crushed coral? If I have decorative rock in the tank with LR, will the decorative turn Live? Eventually, Iwould like to get maybe 1 anemone. You guys have been real helpful so far.

[PmAn2k3]

I'd say, you could get away with 25-35 pounds, I have 70 pounds in my 55 gallon, But More the merrier... Just get a great skimmer, and a nice power filter and you should be fine, I dont think the dec. rock will turn live, maybe get some algae on it, but thats about all atleast I think.



HTH :D

[gcvt]

1 pound of live rock per gallon will leave plenty of space for all your inhabitants to move around and it will look pretty good. You could start with 30 pounds and see how things look - you can always add more later. Your deco rock will eventually become live rock.

After your tank is up and running, finding a little LS is a great idea - a cup of live sand from one or more established tanks is a good way to go.

[PmAn2k3]

so the deco rock will become live? thats awesome, learn something new everyday.... So this means the base rock for 3.99$ a lb at my LFS, will eventually become live in my tank? thats SCHWEET!

[armyvet]

Once again, thanks for all the help. I am doing plenty of research (reading here and reading books) so I can do this right from the get go and not waste too much $. Once I get up and running I will post pics. Oh yeah, I am planning on a 3" sand bed I have heard this is sufficient and also deeper is better, any thoughts. Thanks.

[ben72227]

yes PmAn2k3. what happens is that the bacteria, and later algae, infests the deco rock, which in turn becomes live rock.

[OrionGirl]

Originally posted by ben72227
... infests the deco rock, which in turn becomes live rock.
I prefer to say 'colonize'--it lacks the negative connotation of 'infest'. For example, colonizing the moon sounds romantic and exciting--infesting the moon sounds like a call for antibiotics and bleach!

Semantics!:D