has anyone else

[Zestay]

started out with nothing but base rock?
i have about 40 pounds of base rock and 2 pounds of live rock.

what down sides should i see from this. aside from the obvious lack of hitch hikers. i did pick up some Live rubble for my sump just to help filter..

how long does the bactiera take to grow on the rock that aides in the filtration process?

 

[bertoni]

That aproach should work as far as filtration. The bacteria might take up to 6 weeks to get going, depending on the type of base rock that you use. I would add some detritivore kits or a bit of good-quality live rock, to get various animal populations going. Bristleworms, amphipods, copepods, and mysid shrimp come to mind.

 

[tk1360]

another money saving option would be to try to get some seed sand from and established reef. That would give you some beneficial backteria that will help seed the base rocks.