Quantity Of Live Rock ?:s

[lil_phelpsy]

hi everyone got a quick maybe very simple question lol
im moving at the start of febuary and am going to convert to marine keeping most aspects ive got sussed
just wonderd how much live rock you would recommend for a 450 ltr tank running a 1200lph external filter at the same time also how many powerheads to use

ive been looking at getting between 40-50kgs but whilst visiting a lfs yesterday the person told me i wouldnt need that much...

so here i am asking the people who no best any advise and comments would be massively appreciated cheers louis

 

[lljdma06]

Actually, that figure looks about right, but it ultimately depends on the rock. Some rocks are denser, some are lighting. Ultimately, you want to go for surface area. Look for rock that has a lot of surface area. And ultimately shapes that you can use for aquascaping.

 

[MBOU]

You could get away with adding a little less and adding more as you go along, but its much more risky as you risk a mini cycle or ammonia spike if you happen to get some uncured liverock.

Better off saving up and buying as much as you can in one go! The more purple it is the better and look out for nasty little pest starfish (dont worry about the brittle stars) its asterinas you want to watch out for and things like pest anemones like aiptasia... (google them or look in the info section).

The more liverock you have, the better the quality of your water as liverock is a huge part of your filtration

 

[lil_phelpsy]

thank you very much for your advise another maybe (stupid) question but do i put in the subtrates then live rock then fill with water or live rock after filling tank also how many powerheads would you recommend as dont want to much water flow or not enough the tank size is 145cm long x 53cm x 53cm internal

once again thanks in advance

 

[MBOU]

Personally, i always put some eggcrate under my liverock to stop it slipping but i had bad experience so am overly cautious in that sense. I would add maybe 1/3 - 1/2 water and then start adding in some rock.

I say add water as it means the rock is 'lighter' to handle and manouver as the water supports it but you cant put all water in as rock will displace it...

So half water, add your rock, add your already rinsed sand around your rock and then top up the rest of the water

Always place the rock on wither eggcrate or the glass base, lots of snails, starfish, shrimp and fish like to dig in the sand and if they dislodge your base liverock... all hell will break loose!

 

[kj23502]

Add as much rock as you want. Are you doing a sump? I only have 6 pieces of rock in my tank, but have about 7 in my sump.

here's a pic of my DT

Here's a pic with some rock in my sump. I have added more since it was first set up.

I always put rock in first, then dump sand in. This ensures the rock is already on the glass so when you get a critter that burrows it won't undermine the rock structure by moving supporting sand out from under the base. I then pour water in. If you buy cured rock it can stay out of the water for this period of time. It would be good to have your sand already pre-rinsed, though.