Is LESS Live Rock Now Okay?

[b7fig]

I have 180g with about 200 lbs of live rock, deep sand bed, refugium, sump, calcium reactor, radion lights, vortex powerhead, etc.

I have mostly softies and a few LPS and wanting to switch over to a SPS tank.

I keep seeing these amazing tanks without much rock and I really like the looks of them. I've never liked my "wall of rock". But I've had reef tanks for about 13 years, and I've always followed the old rule of them of 1 to 1.5 lbs per gallon.

Is the use of carbon dosing, ceramic plates, bioreactors changing the game? If I use some of these things, can a remove some of my live rock? And if so, what is the best one to use or combination to use?

Thank you.

 

[jedheuer]

Yes, many people are running tanks with significantly less live rock than the old rule of 1 to 1.5 pounds per gallon. I don't think you need to run any special gear if you go lower with the live rock.

 

[dixiedog]

I think that 1-1.5 pounds per gallon "rule" was invented by people selling live rock, and is easily double what you actually need.

 

[M Woodhill]

well guys don't forget about the sump. Some guys hide a lot of rocks in their sumps. A friend of mine loves that trick. He has a lot of rocks in the sump whereas his rockwork is very minimalistic

 

[b7fig]

Rock in sump

Rock in sump

well guys don't forget about the sump. Some guys hide a lot of rocks in their sumps. A friend of mine loves that trick. He has a lot of rocks in the sump whereas his rockwork is very minimalistic

True, but I don't have any room in my sump. I can't move rock there. Are people who are running less rock using carbon dosing, etc to keep nitrates, phosphates down?

 

[jda]

Depends how effective the rock is. Porous, well established rock will be significantly better as a filter than more solid or man-made rock.

 

[OnceTrueFalseBr]

I would go by looks rather than pounds.

10 pounds of porous rock will fill your tank better visually and bio filter wise, versus a 10lb boulder sitting there.

Density doesn't equal effectiveness.

 

[flounderfish]

Great Brs video about rocks recently. Youtube

 

[Tweaked]

Yep, much more info out now leading to less no porous rock is better long term. All surface areas in the tank hold the beneficial bacteria we need, and porous rock eventually clogs and becomes nitrate pockets. They reccomend tonga rock etc as it is typically non porous. I am also an advocate of bio balls over rock in your sump if that's what you feel you need. At least you can clean out the balls if that's the route you went.

 

[jda]

I don't know everything, but I would strongly caution anybody not believe that non-porous rock is better. In the healthy reef tank, the microfauna keep the rock very clean and doing it's job. They also push/move water in/out of the rock for filtration. Porous rock, even over years and years is a very effective filter... ask anybody who has been around and has Marshall Island rock, or even some from the Great Barrier Reef if they go back far enough. After 12 years, my tank still has undetectable nitrates and phosphates and the porous rock (and the sand) is the reason - I have never used any GFO or organic carbon and have .01 nitrate and 15 PPB phosphate (.005 PPM).

You can also ask the people who had nitrate issues after buying the AQ dense, mined Atlantic rock how little it did as an effective biofilter.

Read some of the 10 year old posts about cooking LR and you can see how the microfauna really can clean the rock out, even in a bucket and leave it very clean and ready to work.

I am more and more of a dogmatic doocher every day, but this type of advice screams of somebody just trying to sell something or serving their own purpose of creating concrete rock, or the like. It is totally possible that anything can get loaded up with gunk if you let your tank get really nasty, but this seems like a scare tactic that is not in play for the solid hobbyist and would preclude them from success. This seems very similar to the older advice that "dry rock" is the best and most turned out to have all kinds of bound organics, and the like, where people who knew better might have made a different choice.

 

[Tweaked]

A bit of the BB vs. sand argument here as well, even though a different subject. For me it comes down to an easier tank to keep clean. Just one mans thoughts.