Minamalistic Rock or get a lot of rock

[aaronlp]

Which option is better and will help benefit down the road, having lots of live rock or having a minimalistic rock scape in a tank.The tank is a 75 gallon. Also would having a deep sand bed benefit anything or a shallow sand bed be better?

Thanks!

 

[jroovers]

I guess the rockwork is up to you and what "look" you prefer. Some people will tell you that you need xx lbs. of live rock per xx gallons of water in the system, but I don't buy that argument for SPS systems. You do need to worry about nutrients though and biological/mechanical filtration. If you plan on running a ULNS SPS system, you could have minimalist rock work but would likely benefit from some form of carbon dosing to help keep nutrients in check (i.e. biopellets or vodka dosing), as well as a good skimmer.

As for the sand bed, do your research there. I would not recommend a deep sand bed in your display - connect it remotely or put it in a fuge in your sump - that way, if it goes south you have it compartmentalized and can deal with it without having to tear down the system. If you have a SSB in your display, plan on vacuuming it periodically with water changes, otherwise it will collect detrius.

 

[dixiedog]

Which option is better and will help benefit down the road, having lots of live rock or having a minimalistic rock scape in a tank.The tank is a 75 gallon. Also would having a deep sand bed benefit anything or a shallow sand bed be better?

Thanks!

I'm a huge fan of the minimalist look.

But not a big fan of DSB's. There are better methods of nutrient control, methods that can't result in catastrophe.

 

[Red_Blenny]

I love minamalistic rock work. I'd let the sps grow out to fill up the gap. If you have a sump, throw some LR in there.

For sand bed, I have a 1" sand bed in my DT but if I do it all over again, I would go sandless.

 

[acrolux]

personally I like minimum rock work and shallow sand bed. Love to see the fishes roaming around freely. I do add more rock in the sump to increase bio filtration.

 

[Mangodude]

Minimum rock for me! i've got more rock in my sump than in my DT

i'd say shallow.. i used to have a dsb and everytime it got sturred up it was nasty. theres less that can occasionally go wrong with a ssb

 

[CharlieBB]

Shallow nicely placed rock with a good scape for the corals to grow out from. Don't pack it full of rock, it fills it up. And I wouldn't use a DSB just have liverock in your sump

 

[on the spot]

Better is in the eye of the beholder. Which look do you prefer, then plan from there.

If you want less rock with just a bit of sand then plan for the rest of your biological needs elsewhere. That may mean carbon dosing and a mean skimmer, maybe an ATS will do, or a remote DSB.
Other people like large rock formations, sometimes running right out of the tank. I've seen some stunning examples of both.

Decide what you want. This is your tank. Then ask how to get there.

 

[dan-in-gr]

Hi, I have a ton of live rock (175 lbs in 120 gal) with several pieces of shelf rock for fish to go into caves, with about 30 plus SPS in the 120 tank, I have room for about 6 more SPS - tank has no softies and LPS. Then again, I see many minimal rock tanks and they do look great. My sand bed is 1 to 1 1/5 inches under the rock and about 3/4 inch in front, and that may be removed soon, and going to semi bare bottom.

In the sump, just a large skimmer along with bio-pellet reactor and reactors for carbon and GFO. No room for anything else.

 

[strout]

I like more rock, more rock = more places to put corals

 

[DNA]

What happened to the Berlin method?
Now it's down to Klein-Dorf for many.

 

[Flashlin]

I like the minimalistic look. But only if you can have big sump/fuge.

 

[64Ivy]

Berlin fan here. Minimalistic rock + Barebottom: Looks sparse in the beginning, breathtaking when mature. Your fish will love you too.

 

[Reefer1225]

I just reasquacaped and took out ALOT of rock. I still wouldn't call it minimalistic, but noticeably less rock. I basically did it to improve flow. I pulled all rocks that were touching the glass and moved the remaining rocks foward to create a more open scape, front and back. It took a day long and corals seemed a little stressed b/c I had to cut some from the rock and remount them. Worth it though... Wouldn't do barebottom. It looks clean and modern, but sand to me looks more natural.

 

[reefgeezer]

Add another for minimal rock & bare bottom. For me it is maintenance reduction issue. Less crevices and sand to trap detritus.