liverock & sump questions

[comfort_racing]

i just sat up my first serious saltwater tank. it is a 75 gallon & will be a fish only with live rock, and so far am looking at around 80 or so pounds depending on the type of rock. i will have a cleaning crew in there and "maybe" an anenome one day, but no corals. i am buying liverock in a week and had a couple of questions.

#1. do you dose this type of tank like you do a coral reef tank?

#2 can you mix different live rock from different regions (like tonga & carriebean or fiji)?

#3 if you put non-living rock in there that is pourus will it get seeded and grow the same coraline algae?

#4 i know this is a heated debate on the forum, but i have a acrylic sump with bio-balls in it, filtered through a etss 600 pro with a beckett (huge skimmer for this tank), and fed back up with a scwd. i have tons of flow with two more owerheads in the tank as well. is this suffiecient to handle & support the live rock which is a bio-filter in itself?

 

[markzfishn1]

I'll try to help;

1) You shouldn't need to dose anything, but anything you decide to dose (maybe calcium to get coralline) make sure you test levels before you do.

2) Mixing types is usually a good thing to do. Give a different look and variety of life.

3) non living rock will get seeded by the other rock.

4) I would recommend taking out the bio balls and using more rock to handle the bio-filtering.

With the anemone, you need a lot of light and an established tank to keep them happy, so I'd wait a while and make sure you have strong lighting before you get one.

 

[comfort_racing]

great advice and to the point, thanks!

you said add more live rock. do you mean to the tank or too the sump? if to the sump, do i need lighting under my stand then?

 

[LarryW]

1. I am pretty sure no.
2. Sure, I have seen plenty with tonga, and fiji. I am adding fiji base from reefer rocks, and then adding kaelini LR.
3. yes it might take a few months though, check out reefer rocks, or marco rocks, they seem to have really nice base rock.
4. you should be fine. The bio balls should be ok for FOWLR where you don't need to have pristine water quality. The anemone will require that though when added, as well as adequate lighting. Keep that in mind, before you add it. you could add LR in place of the Bio Balls, especially if you decide to add the anemone. You could put a light over your sump for the LR, and macro alage if your putting cheato in your sump.

 

[markzfishn1]

You can put it in either place for bio filter. The "usual" recommendation is 1.5lbs. per gallon. You don't need a light in the sump unless you are growing macro alge.

 

[comfort_racing]

ok, thanks guys! i am going to take the bio-balls out. it seems to be the general consensus on the forum.