Live Rock lbs.?

[SurfnFish]

Does Tonga Branch count as far as how many lbs. I have for biological filtration? In other words, I had 35 lbs. LR, and just got 10 lbs. Tonga Branch. Does this mean that for my 55 gallon, I've almost filled my quota for LR-gallons? I know I need 55 lbs. for my tank. If any of this makes sense, I'd love some advice. Thanks guys!

 

[rbursek]

I have about 30lbs of it, mine is not open/porious like my Fiji, so I do not know, mine does have colaline algae on it thou. I know that does not give you a positive answer, sorry.
Bob

 

[Davidb6]

Not familuar with Tunga branch so I can't comment but, 1lb per gal is consider the min. "Most" (not all!!) would say 1.0 to 1.5 lbs per gal with 1.3+/- being ideal.

 

[gummi]

The lb/gallon rule is not very accurate anymore. If you have a 55 gallon, you could have 50 lbs of amazing porous rock and you'll be fine as apposed to having 100lbs of heavy, dense, non porous rock. It really depends on the type or rock that you have and how porus it is.

An example is this bali rock I got. The piece is probably 8"X6"X6" but is so porous it probably only weighs 1 pound. This allows for further surface area for bacteria to colonize on and filter your tank.

 

[kevin2000]

Yes your tonga branch live rock will count towards your "quota" .. you should note however that the 1 lb per gallon is used as simple benchmark and many would say that you should use more. Kinda depends on whats in your tank and your personal taste.

Lighter/more porous rock is better (and usually more expensive) than denser rock. As I recall Tonga Branch is considered a semi dense rock.

 

[phenom5]

Does Tonga Branch count as far as how many lbs. I have for biological filtration? In other words, I had 35 lbs. LR, and just got 10 lbs. Tonga Branch. Does this mean that for my 55 gallon, I've almost filled my quota for LR-gallons?

yes.

i would also add, like gummi said, there is no hard fast rule for #lbs of LR/ gal. in my tank i have a mix of fiji & marshall island rock of roughly equal weights, but i havealmost twice as much MI rock then fiji. also, don't get too caught up in the i have to have thought process. IMO shoot for ~1lb/ gal and go from there. see how the tank looks, and add more if needed. in general i think people stuff too much rock into tanks a lot of the time, but too much rock restricts the water flow over the surface of the LR and makes it less effective as a filter.

HTH :thumbsup:

 

[SurfnFish]

Thanks for all the replies. I plan on adding more. I guess I worded it wrong. I was just wondering if the Branch helped fill my quota, which you guys answered. So thanks again!