How Much Live Rock / Base Rock Do I Need??

[ej1698]

Hello All,

I Am Setting Up A 90 Gallon Tank And Are Unsure Of The Rock To Water ThinG. I Am Thinking Of Putting 55lb. Of Base Rock In. How Much Live Rock Do I Need??

Thanks For All The Help

Ej

[macphoto]

I think 1 - 2 lbs. of rock per gallon of water is the generally accepted standard amount (less rock if it's light and porous, more if it's dense and heavy). For visual reference, here is a 90 gallon tank with 90lbs. of dry rock and 35lbs. of mostly Fiji live rock.

http://www.michaelcaswell.com/aquarium/IMG_1408.JPG


--Mike

[ej1698]

Thanks mike, that your tank...pretty awesome!!

ej

[ej1698]

[B]it looks like there's 3 power heads in the tank...I have 2 rio 600's is that good enough?

[USCavalry19d]

The correct amount of live rock is in-between 1.3 - 1.5 Lbs per Gallon of water. The minimum would be 1 Lb while never exceeding 1.75 Lbs. per Gallon.

[macphoto]

it looks like there's 3 power heads in the tank...I have 2 rio 600's is that good enough?
Do you have any additional circulation (sump return, power filter, etc.)? If not, you might want to add another powerhead or two.

A turnover rate of at least 10x the volume of the tank is recommended.

--Mike

[Gealcath]

Dont use Rios, they tend to leak oil into the aquarium.

[ej1698]

i will be using a ca 2200 return pump from my wet/dry filter 685gph would that be enough.

thanks for all the help.

what's a good brand of pump

[macphoto]

i will be using a ca 2200 return pump from my wet/dry filter 685gph would that be enough.
Yes, assuming the tank is FOWLR, the return pump plus a couple of powerheads should be plenty.


what's a good brand of pump
Do you mean pump or powerhead? I have a Pentair Aquatics QuietOne 3000, which I like, but the most popular pump seems to be the MagDrives. As for powerheads, Maxijets are good, and reasonably priced. But if you want even more flow than the 300gph the Maxijet 1200 offers, SEIO Super Flows are well regarded too.

--Mike