Live rock question

[rica5tully]

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]

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. 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]

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 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

 

[BHRay]

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.