20 gallon long w/ little live rock?

[roninmagik1]

I'm thinking of redoing my 20 gallon long, and using less live rock, so it's more open. I'm worried though about the amount of live rock. If i have less live rock, does that mean the tank will be able to handle less of a bio-load, i only have 3 fish in the tank, but i'm still wondering.....

 

[codyreef29]

I would put a sump and fill it with lr if your worried about it. But then again I wouldn't worry about it. I have only 3.5 lbs for my entire setup on my 7.5. I made a concrete structure about 15 lbs for display then I put 10 lbs dry rock AND ONLY 3.5 LBS LIVEROCK. I also put a deep sand bed about 6 inches deep in my fuge and 1 inch in display. Just keep your water clean. I also run a skimmer.

 

[roninmagik1]

thanks, i'm real low tech right now, i have a hob filter and a powerhead, i don't know how to put in a sump, i do have the hob filter filled w/ live rock. thanks for the advice though...i might try to see if i can find a complete setup on craigslist

 

[cloak]

I'm thinking of redoing my 20 gallon long, and using less live rock, so it's more open. I'm worried though about the amount of live rock. If i have less live rock, does that mean the tank will be able to handle less of a bio-load, i only have 3 fish in the tank, but i'm still wondering.....

Not really... The beneficial bacteria will cover everything that's submerged, not just the live rock. If you don't clean the back glass on a regular basis, it will function as a biological filter. No worries. HTH.

 

[roninmagik1]

I hadn't thought of that, i'll stop cleaning the back glass! =)

 

[cloak]

You can go ahead and clean the back glass if you want, it's just that everything left undisturbed for awhile will eventually function as a biological filter. (the pumps, your heater, the bottom half of a skimmer, etc)

 

[SushiGirl]

I would put a sump and fill it with lr if your worried about it. But then again I wouldn't worry about it. I have only 3.5 lbs for my entire setup on my 7.5. I made a concrete structure about 15 lbs for display then I put 10 lbs dry rock AND ONLY 3.5 LBS LIVEROCK. I also put a deep sand bed about 6 inches deep in my fuge and 1 inch in display. Just keep your water clean. I also run a skimmer.

Everything in your tank is now effectively "live rock" as Cloak said, even the concrete structure you made & the dry rock. So really you have 28.5 lbs of "live rock" in your tank now.