hey all i finally got my 35 gallon up and running salinity in check sand is in. now time to add LR. i have approx 30 lbs of dry in the tank. I found a deal on LR and the person will only sell it as a lot of 50LBs. I have a sump under the tank also. would having all that rock between my display and sump be too much?
is it possible to have too much live rock?
- Thread starter new2reef2
- Start date
Psychomantix
New member
Anything is possible...
i have pretty decent flow in the tank. i am going to try and put most of the LR in the sump and keep the display tank more open.
Also now when cycling with live rock do I just add it and wait or is there any additives i should add. when i got the tank it came with 3 viles of Ammolock start. i could not find to much info on the stuff and how to use it.
Also now when cycling with live rock do I just add it and wait or is there any additives i should add. when i got the tank it came with 3 viles of Ammolock start. i could not find to much info on the stuff and how to use it.
Drewl117
New member
I used to have a 75 gallon system that I bought used and I started it with dry rock. I had at least 80lbs of rock in there. It looked nice but over time I always had an algae issue. The rock was packed so tight the power heads couldn't move the water in there and it trapped all kinds of junk. Like stated above don't put in to much... You will have problems!
Psychomantix
New member
With 50lb of LR, your tank should be pretty close if not done the nitrogen cycling part. Just test for a week to be sure, then you can probably add livestock. However, your tank will go through many other cycles (other than the nitrogen) as it matures and stabilizes.
CStrickland
New member
with 30# already in youre probs fine. It's just about getting it to look nice and have good places for coral to go. It's tempting in the beginning to fill up the tank but try to think of the coral as the last piece of your aquascape.
For me as long as theres enough spots for fish to sleep and it looks good, that's all you need. You an grow enough bacteria to process all your tank's ammonia on pretty minimal rocks, the extra in the sump can just cause problems by trapping all the poop that lands there. Like after a certain amount it's actually working against you. I disagree with the whole more is merrier position on rock. You see a lot of threads where people have their sumps chock full of sand and rock and algae, and they are fighting nitrates.
[unless youre trying to grow pods for a mandarin, then some rock piles are good pod-condos, you just have to clean up after them]
For me as long as theres enough spots for fish to sleep and it looks good, that's all you need. You an grow enough bacteria to process all your tank's ammonia on pretty minimal rocks, the extra in the sump can just cause problems by trapping all the poop that lands there. Like after a certain amount it's actually working against you. I disagree with the whole more is merrier position on rock. You see a lot of threads where people have their sumps chock full of sand and rock and algae, and they are fighting nitrates.
[unless youre trying to grow pods for a mandarin, then some rock piles are good pod-condos, you just have to clean up after them]
toothybugs
New member
You could always sell the extra...
shifty51008
12-5 Chiefs record
+1
I have a 75 gal with about 50lbs of totoka rock in the display tank but also have 200 lbs of rock in my sump.
with some playing around i managed to fit it all in lots of room in the display with nice aquascape and then my sump is jammed pack im going to try and sell all the extra in the one part of the sump because i want to eventually put a skimmer there. so now that the LR is in the do i just wait for it to cycle or should i start feeding the tank food daily. il check my parameters tomorrow morning that will be about 24 hours since the rocks been in the tank. The rock went through about a 2 hour transport outside of water in a bag with some paper towel on it,
lifeoffaith
Member
My personal opinion is that it is about aesthetics mostly. If you can fit more in your sump where it isn't seen and make the display look cool, then go for it. Of course you can block flow and such which you'll also want to take into consideration.
Psychomantix
New member
You can test for a few days if you like but I assume your tank is pretty much done cycling if you got 50lb of LR from an established tank.
shifty51008
12-5 Chiefs record
An easy way to tell if your getting enough flow through the rock is wait a couple weeks and take a turkey baster and blow around at the rock and see how much stuff comes off.
