is live rock worth it?

[findgnemo]

considering the fact that it raises your nitrates, is it really worth it then having live rock? i want to do a fowlr i have the fish right now in with a decoration in there, but now i'm debating is it worth have the live rock will it make more work for me or beneficial for me?

 

[findgnemo]

i wasn't planning on putting snails or hermits either if that makes any difference?

 

[terryagi]

live rock DEcreases nitrates

 

[BillyJoeJimBob]

Whoever told you LR raises nitrates is an complete idiot. LR (Live rock) becomes the main biological nitrification base or biological filter in your aquarium. It also looks great and will provide shelter for fish and other inhabitants. I would really consider adding it.

Since your tank is already running, I would be very careful when adding LR. If you added uncured LR to your tank, you would probably loose all your fish as it is going to start a cycle. It would be best to either:

A.) Purchase uncured LR and 'cook' it in another aquarium for a month or so. Test the water, add it when the levels fall to zero.

B.) Purchase pre-cured LR or better yet, get LR out of a LFS tank that has been there a while.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[findgnemo]

cool thank you for clearing that up what would cause high nitrates or nitrites?

 

[BillyJoeJimBob]

Several things can add to high nitrites and nitrates-bio-load, a cycle, over feeding, lack of water changes, etc.

Can you please post your test results? How often are you doing water changes?

 

[findgnemo]

no yet i'm just preparing right now. everything so far is good. i'm getting live rock soon, just waiting for it to be cured.

 

[Kaiser Tang]

LR is the ultimate key in your tank. Want long lasting success, you have to have LOTS of LR.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7384342#post7384342 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kaiser Tang
LR is the ultimate key in your tank. Want long lasting success, you have to have LOTS of LR.

Well, maybe not HAVE to have. But is definitely one of the best options of denitrification. There are other methods, albeit close, but not as good as.

 

[salreus]

considering the fact that it raises your nitrates

It is possible you were confused about the curing process of LR. If you get uncured LR. Everything will spike. NO2,NO3 and ammonia. however, once established and cured. your LR will get rid of the above problems not cause them.

To answer you question. Buy live rock.

 

[six.line]

cool thank you for clearing that up what would cause high nitrates or nitrites?

Nitrites go up because of ammonia munching bacteria colonies conver it over to nitrite. Established reef aquariums don't have the same pressing need to check for ammonia and nitrite the way new ones do. They're a good idea to check for, just to make sure that any problems you might be having in the future cannot be attributed to ammonia/nitrite.

What causes nitrate is often an influx of nutrients. This can be excess food, or the last dregs of the ammonia-nitrite-nitrate process from any source of broken down protein (like fish poop. )

The best way to fight nitrates is to control how much goes in (careful feeding), growing macro algae purposefully in a place away from the display tank-- i.e. the refugium, and good quality protein skimming.