Live Rock

[Teelie]

And unlike other filtration systems, this one can expand and become even more efficient without paying for upgrades.

 

[spanair]

And live rock really is beautiful and full of life, I just seat and love watching it and I also love to watch how it develops and theres more life each week.

 

[Sorrell]

Live rock here is $2 a pound Too bad I don't have a reef tank

 

[leanne]

Oh my god! That's $5 a kilo - compared to my £14 a kilo = $22. Aggggghhhhh I'm living in the qrong country! Why do us in the UK always get ripped off for everything!!??!!

 

[spanair]

Yep, I payed 15 quid for the fiji and 18 quid for the tonga live rock

 

[HManOne]

yeah i dont know why it cost so much here!! Well, i guess we'll add a little at a time. I just worry that since this is my first tank, all the undesired little creatures and being able to take care of any problems....hyrookin says he had no problems without the live coral. So let me ask, if we go with some live rock, is it best to
start the cycle of a new tank with the live rock? Or can we safely add it after we add our first livestock?
Thanks for all the good suggestions!!

So with regards to my question...

Can the live rock be added after I add livestock??

Does the tank need to cycled with the live rock? or add it after cycling?

Thanks

 

[Teelie]

I would say add it before anything else so it will fully cycle the tank. You can always add more live rock later after you've put in fish, inverts, etc but I've heard it stated many times you can't fully cycle a tank without live rock. Whether it's true or not, I would rather do the rock first before anything else.

 

[Navarre]

It takes longer to cycle a tank without ive rock.. and of course for the tank to cycle you need some other form of filtration or it wont cycle at all.

Ideally it would be great to add as much liverock as you can afford to begin with. You can add more later of course but the larger the amount at the beginning the greater the bioload it can handle.

Consider this...

Lets say you have 20kg live rock and no fish in the tank.
The bioload in the love rock will begin to die off pretty fast (nothing for the organisms to feed off in great numbers if no fish are present) and thus rendering the live rock innefficeient for filtration.

The moment you add a fish there will should be a significant spike in the cycle as the bacteria plays catchup with the waste products given off. (unless the live rock is froma well matured system and teaming with life and then it will handle it easily)
So by adding a single fish you will get a spike that will drop off fast. The next fish you add will make another spike but this time it will be about half as much and then a fast drop off. This continues for the life of the tank.. each fish you add will create a spike but the more fish you have over a period of time, the smaller the spike.

20 fish in a system will hadrly feel the spike if a single fish is added to the tank.. 1 fish added to the tank when only a single fish is there will double the bioload (i hope that i have explained it clearly).


So...
If possible, add as much live rock as you can.. then add a little at a time as and when you can afford it.

 

[APG78]

It takes longer to cycle a tank without ive rock.. and of course for the tank to cycle you need some other form of filtration or it wont cycle at all.

Ideally it would be great to add as much liverock as you can afford to begin with. You can add more later of course but the larger the amount at the beginning the greater the bioload it can handle.

Consider this...

Lets say you have 20kg live rock and no fish in the tank.
The bioload in the love rock will begin to die off pretty fast (nothing for the organisms to feed off in great numbers if no fish are present) and thus rendering the live rock innefficeient for filtration.

The moment you add a fish there will should be a significant spike in the cycle as the bacteria plays catchup with the waste products given off. (unless the live rock is froma well matured system and teaming with life and then it will handle it easily)
So by adding a single fish you will get a spike that will drop off fast. The next fish you add will make another spike but this time it will be about half as much and then a fast drop off. This continues for the life of the tank.. each fish you add will create a spike but the more fish you have over a period of time, the smaller the spike.

20 fish in a system will hadrly feel the spike if a single fish is added to the tank.. 1 fish added to the tank when only a single fish is there will double the bioload (i hope that i have explained it clearly).


So...
If possible, add as much live rock as you can.. then add a little at a time as and when you can afford it.

Cheers for this - great help. I've just taken delivery of my 25Kg for a 425L setup (Plus 80L in the sump). Sump has about 1 inch of Miracle Mud, clump of Choto weeds. Have put a hitch hiker crab and snail in there. Also got one thin bit of foam in the 1st chamber for the sump, while I'm adding all this to the tank - kicks up a lot of crud.

The amount seems a little think, one layer it seems. Can build it up in the corners, so maybe another box of 25Kg?

Maybe too much?

(Photos to be added to my journal tonight)

Cheers, Al.

 

[simonas]

Did you know that petrol here is about 85p a litre?!?!?! That works out about $1.28 a litre (US)! And there's uproar in Canada about the high prices... My auntie complained because it cost her the equvalent of £40 to fill up her 8l people carrier - I have a 1.9l diesel that costs £45 to fill up here! It's getting that bad that I have moved towns so I now live where I work (leaving all my firends - apart from weekends) so I can actually afford to buy a house. It sounds stupid but I couldn't afford a mortgage and a car because of the petrol costs...

I wish it was 85p a litre now!!! how times change!!!