ooo cool new rock - enough?

velfamily

New member
we have a new 65 hex. still not sure what the stock or reef system will be....

just bought this 66 pound rock.

4141604507_1cd38a902e.jpg


i really love the look of it by itself. i want to go either bare bottom or fine sand for substrate, hubby wants to do crushed coral (the same we have in our 75)

you think this 66#s will be enough LR for the tank?
 
That rock is dry and not "Live Rock" right? If so you will need some live rock or sand to seed that rock before it will be "Live"
 
i believe that is texas holey rock, aka limestone prevalent to hill country in texas. not exactly "live rock", ocean based. some folks use it. like GK mentioned, would not hurt to have some real live rock to seed it.

c
 
i believe that is texas holey rock, aka limestone prevalent to hill country in texas. not exactly "live rock", ocean based. some folks use it. like GK mentioned, would not hurt to have some real live rock to seed it.

c

I agree totally

I would go 60 percent live vs 40 percent base rock. More small quality rock gives more surface area for the bacteria to grow on and work effectively
 
Yes, I realize this is dry and that we are going to have to seed & cycle & all that jazz. Yes it is holey rock from Texas hill country, Fredericksburg to be exact. I'm just wondering if, when ready, 66#s will be enough for the tank. Planning my aquascaping in advance...
 
that is a beautiful centerpiece of a rock.im sure youve heard the 1.5 -2#s live rock. if you use a sump you can put more rock there.get some live sand from a friend or clean lfs. i ? bagged live sand.and like capn said some small rock around the base wont take away from your centerpiece
 
meant to say 1.5-2#s/gallon saltwater your mechanical filtration and your bioload will make a differance in how much rock youll need
 
That one rock has probably less surface area then 20lbs of average sized liverock. Just a wild guess of course, could even be a whole lot lower. IMO all that one big rock is doing is reducing surface area, reducing water volume and adding a hell of a lot of time trying to seed it. Would look better if it was smaller, takes up the whole tank.
 
I love the look of the large solitary rock. It looks perfect in that tank. Having said that, if you run a sump, you can easily add as much live rock into it as you wish. If you don't use a sump, you can pick up some rubble rock and maybe a couple nicer pieces to dress out your aquascaping. Put the rubble rock around the base and behind the large piece. Use some more interesting pieces to cement on any flatter spots of the large rock. I would advise against crushed coral as it traps detritus easier. I personally don't care for the look of BB tanks, but if you like, you can go that way. I've always loved the look of the following two sands:

http://www.reefsand.com/

Black Beach Sand #1, and Australian Gold Sand #0

I am using 40lbs of Black Beach #1 and 30lbs of Samoa Pink Sand #0. I wish I would have mixed the Black and Gold instead, or used either by itself. I like things a little different than the usual, so these suggestions may not suit you.

Either way, it's your tank. If you like the look of the large rock alone, you should keep it that way. It will need some small pieces at the least to add surface area and provide seeding, but in my opinion the solitary rock looks so great in that tank! Good luck on your setup!
 
Wow great link reefscape15! I Like the picture behind the bag to show what the sand looks like. Funny with all the planning I have been doing I never looked at the different types of sand.
 
I didn't either on my first tank. My LFS had bagged Samoa Pink so that's what I used. When setting up my current tank, I have a plan to at one time obtain a Black and White Maxima Clam, and wanted black sand and a black background to house it. Then I saw the Aussie Gold! I am in love with both the black and gold sand. I would love to mix them and see the outcome!
 
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