Equipment - Amount of Live Rock Question

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Amount of Live Rock Question

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Forum Name: Equipment
Forum Description: This is the place to ask question about reef equipment.
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Topic: Amount of Live Rock Question

Posted By: Molli
Subject: Amount of Live Rock Question
Date Posted: July 10 2012 at 11:42am

With the research that I did before purchasing my first tank about 7 weeks ago, most everything I read said I should add a minimum of 1 pound of live rock for every gallon in my tank, but that 1.5 - 2 pounds would be better. I purchased a 29 G tank and initially added 30 pounds of cured live rock and a couple of weeks later added 5 more pounds of cured live rock. I have been purchasing some softies and some of them are attached to some sizeable pieces of live rock, so I'd guess I now have about 40 pounds of Live Rock. It seems that there is a "movement" among some reef keepers to have a more limited amount of rock in their tanks (you even have a term to describe this style that I've seen on the boards, but I can't think of it right now). I am feeling as though my tank is overfilled with live rock and that my fish don't have much open space to swim around. Is there another thought process out there now that we don't need as much live rock as people originally thought we did? I'm not sure I want all of the rock I have in my tank, but perhaps I should keep it there and when I upgrade to a much larger tank around year end I can move it to that tank.

What rule of thought do you have about the ratio of live rock in your tank to the amount of gallons of water in your tank?

Replies:

Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: July 10 2012 at 12:19pm

You don't need any rock!
Find someone here with a tank that you love.... Then do whatever they did. Several club members in bountiful/Centerville. I'd recommend visiting Linn Griffith since gee is a nano guru.

Adam

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Come to a meeting, they�re fun!

Posted By: xlr8r
Date Posted: July 10 2012 at 4:46pm

The amount of space rock takes up in your tank should be one consideration. Since rock displaces water that means less water your fish have to live in. Also, dense, less poreous rock is heavier. Light weight, poreous rock is better. You want to provide a home for bacteria and other micro/macro fauna. Simple answer is to do what looks good to you!

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When you hear hoofbeats....Think of a zebra

Posted By: Akira
Date Posted: July 25 2012 at 1:50am

I did exactly what you did when i started but i was lucky enough to get about 95lbs of live rock from a tank that was about 2 yrs old. I put all of that rock into a 72g bow. after several months i began selling and moving rock to my refugium . When i was finally happy with the rockscape i would guess i only had about 50-60 lbs left in my display. For me less looked better . I just seemed to have a solid wall of rock. With that amount of rock it also left a lot less swim room for fish but it also blocked a ton of needed flow for my corals. For me less seemed to be better.

Posted By: 1stupidpunk
Date Posted: July 25 2012 at 6:19am

Another factor to consider is having enough places for your livestock to hide when feeling threatened (or bed time). I started my 72 bow with only 50 lbs of rock and liked all the open space, but quickly noticed that i didnt have enough caves and nooks for all the fish to hide in.

As long as you have some other form of good filtration the amount of rock you keep is subject to personal opinion. I have seen some really nice tanks that dont have LR but instead have lots of macros and employ use of canister and/or hangon back cartridge type filters..