Enough filtration?

[Chase]

I spent the weekend setting up my new 225g tank (72" x 24" x 30"). It will be a fish only tank but I will add some live rock and my concern is the amount of rock.

I will run 2 fluidized bed filters, a deep sand bed with NRS, a 30g refugium, and a large amount of bioballs fill the overflow leading to 2 2" drains. There are 2 pumps circulating water. One is an Amp master 3000 that pumps water from the 50 gallon sump directly into the tank. The other pump is a Gen-X that pumps water from the sump to the refugium, the FB filters, and a UV sterilizer. The skimmer is a Euroreef 12-1.

I plan to start with ALL young fish including a clown trigger, picasso trigger, harlequin tuskfish, golden moray, maculosus angelfish, maybe a lion and a large group of green chromis.

I am happy with the setup now but I would like to think that I can get away with only ~100 lbs of live rock in this tank because there is so much biofiltration from other sources. I would like to keep a large open swimming area rather than add too much LR. Any thoughts on this?

 

[kreblak]

All fish appreciate cover, even open swimmers. The more live rock you have, the more places to hide your fish have. You do have a lot of filtration running. I would suggest going with at least 150-200 lbs of live rock.

One other thing I might mention; I don't know how much current the stated pumps will provide to your tank, but it is always a good idea to place a couple of powerheads at odd angles in the tank to create some extra current. This will help keep your water oxygenated, prevent outbreaks of cyanobacteria, and more closely mimic the oceans currents.

The tank sounds very nice. Post some pics if you are able.

 

[wayne]

You're going to have to 'suck it and see'. By many standards 100 lbs isn't much for that lot, but you can help by aquascaping it into a nice 'airy' structure. It may work - there's really only one way to find out. Put it in a big pile and it won't be so good. Use zipties and putty to get it into taller, more open shapes
I'd worry about nitrate removal, but you will have a dsb to help there, and that the chromis will become lion snacks