Newbie Alert : Live Rock

[JinxTowers]

Hello!

We've just been scouring your forum for info on how you're supposed to know how much live rock and ocean rock to put into a tank.

Our latest purchase (and first in the world of Marines) is a 5 foot long 500 litre tank which I think is around 110gallons.

What should the ratio be when putting both Live and Ocean Rock into a new aquarium?

Thanks
Laura & Jason

 

[boshank23]

if i remember right, its roughly 1 Kg of live rock per 2-3 gallons of water. its just a guide though, as most people use just liverock as a filter its better to stick to the 1Kg per 2 gals side.

hope that helps.

 

[callell]

I have read that Ocean Rock is not a good idea to add to an aquarium

I remember someone posted a link to what he called Reefbones

1kg per 2gallons is the ratio I have read on mst forums & what I have used for years

 

[boshank23]

i thought it was called ocean rock for a reason....it came from the ocean.

why would it not be good to put it in an aquarium?

 

[Mr Miagi]

Ocean Rock or Base Rock is fine to add to your marine aquarium if its actual dried LR, and not another substitute (can add harmfuls to your water over time). It just wont contribute to your filtration capacity of course, but considering its 110g and you will have to add alot of LR, and base rock will seed, id say a ration of 1:1, thats what id do. Most organisms youll find on your LR surface are photosynthetic, so those will die when you place them beneath a ton of LR, so Id get my structure ready with base rock, then cover that with a layer of LR, and wait it out and let things seed, especially in such a large tank. Just IMO though.

Welcome to TFF JinxTowers!

 

[JinxTowers]

Thank you very much for the info guys. I like the sound of building a base with normal rock and putting the LR on top of it. We've been off looking at fish again today just to get an idea of what we'd like. It looks like LR is around £10 a kilo...is that fairly normal or is it available cheaper?

 

[BigIan]

10 quid a K is cheap, its normaly about 12-15 per kg.

Just have a good look at ther LR first, idealy it wants lots of marine alge on it, and dosent want to be too dence, (you get more for your money plus it houses more areas for bacteria and other critters to live

 

[Matthew5664]

For the ammout of LR you'll need might be worth getting in Mail-order and have it delivered. Won't need to worrie about die-off because it going take about the same time for the reef bones to seed. Also buying in bulk you should get a good price.