live rock
- Thread starter twistedimage92
- Start date
This is just a guess - but probably expensive since divers have to go get it. I've heard a good amount is a pound of LR per gallon, but I don't think that much is necessary. Someone with more experience could probably answer better. It's definitely not a necessity in a SW tank unless you want a reef effect.
This sticky should answer most of your questions: http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?t=28755
In response to the original q's...
1. Live rock is expensive because 1. someone has to go i na boat and get it, and then it has to be flown from Fiji et al. Now even with superdiscounted airfreight (which it gets), freight is not cheap. If you think you can do it cheaper fly me back 100 pounds and I'll give you a hundred dollars for it.
There is aquacultured live rock coming out of Florida, but it's really not that good. The basic problem is the rock is too dense and the porosit nad permeability is somewhat less than the Fiji stuff. You'll need about twice as much Florida as you will Fiji, by weight , to get the job done, and whenever I see anyones tank with it , it always look like a pile of bricks. Not good.
Live rock is NOT essential however it is a very easy way to get a functioning marine aquaria. I can assure you a tank with a big skimmer, a lot of water movement and a bunch of live rock is a lot, lot easier to maintain than a modified freshwater setup. I'm sure your dad has done great with tanks, I'm not going to argue that, but it's just easier, and you can keep a greater variety of species easily, with a live rock equipped tank.
I just use a simple piece of foam as a mechanical filter, and have a small overflow into my skimmer to make sure I don't get a surface film.
1. Live rock is expensive because 1. someone has to go i na boat and get it, and then it has to be flown from Fiji et al. Now even with superdiscounted airfreight (which it gets), freight is not cheap. If you think you can do it cheaper fly me back 100 pounds and I'll give you a hundred dollars for it.
There is aquacultured live rock coming out of Florida, but it's really not that good. The basic problem is the rock is too dense and the porosit nad permeability is somewhat less than the Fiji stuff. You'll need about twice as much Florida as you will Fiji, by weight , to get the job done, and whenever I see anyones tank with it , it always look like a pile of bricks. Not good.
Live rock is NOT essential however it is a very easy way to get a functioning marine aquaria. I can assure you a tank with a big skimmer, a lot of water movement and a bunch of live rock is a lot, lot easier to maintain than a modified freshwater setup. I'm sure your dad has done great with tanks, I'm not going to argue that, but it's just easier, and you can keep a greater variety of species easily, with a live rock equipped tank.
I just use a simple piece of foam as a mechanical filter, and have a small overflow into my skimmer to make sure I don't get a surface film.
so for a summary, have an overflow in the main tank and run the water onto foam or other machanical filter, dont use bioballs (will it be ok if i do?) let it drip into a sump with a protein skimmer, run the water back to the tank and make sure that every peice of rock gets a good current... all right?
Or, overflow from the main tank, down to sump, into skimmer compartment. Skim the dirtiest water, relieves the load on the bacteria. You can either mech filter it going in or out of the skimmer box, no big deal with foam or a micron sock on the end of the down pipe. Personally I don't like any mech filtering.
Once it's skimmed, let it into the main compartment of the sump.
Now I am no big fan of bioballs , though they can be useful. The basic problem is they are too good at reducing ammonia to nitrate. As your tank will, on balance , be somewhat better at producing nitrate than reducing it, you will get a creeping nitrate that wil likely reveal itself as a creeping algae problem. Now if you like to overstock, then bioballs are a saviour as they will get rid of the highly toxic ammonia very well, but you are left with the nitrates, which is a problem. So rather than bioballs I'd suggest you put a macroalgae like caulerpa or ghaetomorpha i nthe sump. Take it from me, with live rock , live sand and other solid surfaces you have plenty of places to produce nitrate, you jsut need to worry about getting rid of it, and the answer is to grow easily harvested algaes out of sight in the sump rather than hard to control kak in the main display.
FWIW Liverock has the ability to reduce nitrate to nitrogen gas, but in most situations the production of nitrate will overload this ability
Once it's skimmed, let it into the main compartment of the sump.
Now I am no big fan of bioballs , though they can be useful. The basic problem is they are too good at reducing ammonia to nitrate. As your tank will, on balance , be somewhat better at producing nitrate than reducing it, you will get a creeping nitrate that wil likely reveal itself as a creeping algae problem. Now if you like to overstock, then bioballs are a saviour as they will get rid of the highly toxic ammonia very well, but you are left with the nitrates, which is a problem. So rather than bioballs I'd suggest you put a macroalgae like caulerpa or ghaetomorpha i nthe sump. Take it from me, with live rock , live sand and other solid surfaces you have plenty of places to produce nitrate, you jsut need to worry about getting rid of it, and the answer is to grow easily harvested algaes out of sight in the sump rather than hard to control kak in the main display.
FWIW Liverock has the ability to reduce nitrate to nitrogen gas, but in most situations the production of nitrate will overload this ability