More rocks?

[joejenn06]

I got about 30 lb of rocks in the tank, should I get more? It's a 40gl.

 

[jacob.morgan78]

I think it's more about surface area of the rock rather than weight. If you like the look of the display, then you could add a few more in the sump somewhere. If they are dense rock and not very porous, it may be a good idea to get some more just for the increased surface area for he bacteria to populate. If they are real porous (light comparatively) then you should be ok IMO. By the looks of it though, there's not much in there to be 30# so my guess is they're on the dense side. How's that for a round about answer!

short version: I'd add some more rock to get more surface area somewhere in the system.

 

[mcgyvr]

yes.. more..
I'd do another 30 lbs

 

[joejenn06]

ok, thanks ill pick up some more this weekend I hope.

 

[kfisc]

I'll go the other direction: It's just right as is. More rock, more hard to reach places for water flow, more detritus, more algae you can't reach with the mag float. Tank chemistry tends to balance out with little or lots of rock, depending on how attentive you are to conditions and upkeep.

Plus, I like the look of it- your rockscape has a nice "composition," giving an appearance of more space, which is hard to achieve.

 

[reef thief]

IMO. Leave it. If you like the rock work you have leave it. As time goes you can add more with increased bioload but It looks great and allows flow. A cluttered tank gives your inhabitants less room to be free and naked. IMO

 

[billdogg]

I think it looks pretty good as is also. The only thing I would change would be to move the rocks on the left in the picture away from the glass just a bit more - if you don't allow for room to get in there and clean algae off it (the side glass) will get dirty quickly.

As for more? If you have a sump you can always put some there, and in any case, as you add corals you will, in effect, be adding more rock anyway.

 

[Smo1]

You might also consider adding MarinePure where you can fit it, e.g., sump or external filter.


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[joejenn06]

So adding more live rock down the road will not make my tank cycle again?

 

[NeilFox]

I would leave the rocks like that if you like the look (I do and it will fill up with corals). If you want more filtration, get some Pond Matrix or something along those lines and put it in baskets in the sump. You will have plenty of biological filtration that way and it is cheaper than rock. It also keeps nitrates down.

 

[jacob.morgan78]

So adding more live rock down the road will not make my tank cycle again?

A lot of people cycle the new rock in a separate container before adding it to their setup. That's reserved for large additions of rock at a time though. As long as you add a little at a time though, you should be fine just rinsing it and throwing it in. Except, of course, if there's a lot of "recently" dead stuff covering it, then other things may need to be done.

 

[billdogg]

Once your tank is cycled I would just use dry rock if you are going to add more. Not only will it not cause any sort of cycle (there's nothing to die off), it is considerable cheaper as well.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Listen to billdogg (both posts), his advise is spot on!