Yeah, I use zero mechanical filtration. No canisters, just a lot of live rock and 2 powerheads. Breaking up LR and putting it in cansiters is really only reccomended if you dont want to see the LR and you allready have canister filters available from an old freshwater setup
The 1lb per gallon rule is firm, but there are alternatives to buying it all in one go from your LFS. First off, is to look on classifieds of boards such as this one or other places and find local reefers selling LR. They'll usually sell it at 40-50% less than the price of an LFS. For example, around here, most LFS' sell LR for $6/lb but most reefers sell it for $3/lb when they're breaking down tanks.
The second alternative is to buy say 30% of the LR weight you need and buy some dead base rock for the LR to "seed" over time. This is the method I used cause my budget when I started was very low. I can tell you from personal experience that you'll deal with some very heavy algae blooms and you have to stock very slowly to not overload the bio capacity of your LR as its growing, but it does work. I'm almoast 5 months into my tank and the base rock is starting to look more and more like the live rock. Its nowhere near as covered with beneficial algaes, bacteria, and other life as the LR was, but its no longer the algae factory that it was
The final alternative uses the same premise as the previos only with making your own base rock. Basically using a 5 parts aragonite sand or crushed coral to 1 part cement, molding it into shapes you want, then curing it up for a month to leech out all the basic chemicals from it. Again, same downfalls as using true base rock (algae blooms, slow stocking), but it also has an added downfall of taking an extra month for the rock to cure. However the benefits are that you can design your reef structure however you want, and its prolly the cheapest way. IMO, downfalls outweigh benefits, but thats just me.
Edit: Flakes can fuel your cycle, but the dieoff from the LR when you buy it and bring it home to your tank will add enough ammonia to jumpstart it. Basically, you should decide if you're gonna spend the money and go with the convenient route, or go with the baserock portion. Then, place your baserock in your tank with proper temp saltwater, and add the LR. Wait till ammonia/nitrite are zero, do a water change if nitrates creep up too high, and add fish. One tip I will give you, dont build your rock structure on sand. It WILL settle over time and collapse. And the collapse will always kill your newest or rarest corals/fish
. Build your rock structure stable off the glass (supported with a pad uner the tank if you have non-tempered glass), and superglue bits together if you need to.
Edit2: Depending on which side of the "pond" you're on, online suppliers are also usually cheaper than LFS' and do sell quality LR.
