do you make a base for your live rock

[sdexcalibur]

I've seen a couple of different option about live rock placement in your tank, Do you make a base out of pvc then place the live rock on it then the sand, do you just place the rock on top of the sand, and when first starting your tank when do you add the rock, Thanks all

 

[Max]

making a base out of pvc pipe sound good to me i dont know why it wouldnt work? you can add the live rock after a day i added mine after about 5 hours... but i used Ro water...

 

[leanne]

Rock should go on the base of the tank never on top of the sand - sand sifting critter and crabs will dig the rocks out and possible cause a rockslide which can break your glass. It is best to have as much rock as possible but it is pointless putting expensive live rock as a base and then covering half of it with sand and the rest of it with more rock. It is good to build a base out of normal rock (which is far cheaper), add your sand/susbstrate and add your live rock on top. Your "dead" rock will eventually become live anyway.

I have seen a tank where they had a perpex shelf so the live rock was arranged in an arch - it looked pretty spectacular!

 

[Navarre]

My large reef tank operates a "reefrack" system.
ALl my live rock sits on top of "eggcrate" (a plastic mesh) and this eggcrate is on plastic stilts. Under this area are 2 upvc pipes with loads of 4mm ho;es drilled into them at different angles. These pipes are connected to powerheads so that a good flow of water is made under the live rock. The front of the rack is egded with perspex and then in fron of this is sand. TO the naked eye you do not know that the rock is not sitting on the base as the sand hides the rack. The benefit of this extra underflow means that you now get more flow across the liverock and thus give it even more abiality to cinvert waste nutrients (live rock under sand cant operate as well as liverock with waterlfow across it). Also, any waste food and detrius cannot fal into the bottom of the rock and thus rot because the water flow under the rock will keep any waste products moving and not give it chance to collect and cause toxins to grow.

My Juwel tank had 30kg of live rock directly on the base and is surrounded by sand. Never had any problems or concerns with the live rock touching the galss (juwel tanks even issue a warning not to place their tanks on polystyrene bases!.. their tanks base are suspended about .5" in the air). I have never experienced any aniumals burrowing under rocks and making them topple down (i guess this can happen) but the main culprit for this are Urchins, mine does this all the time in my tanks and no breakages yet. Still, its always wise to try and secure your rocks as best you can without comprimising the ability to catch any fish you might want in the future.

Hope this helps.

 

[Navarre]

This was the design i mad for my 130 gallon system. As you can see, there is a racking system in the design, this is where the live rock will be placed.

This is the finished design. The white eggcrate is where the live rock will go, there will be 2 down pipes going under the rack and the clear areas at the fron of the tank is where the sand will go.