Taking The Plunge

[TammyLiz]

I have been lurking around here for a while now and decided to take the plunge and do a nano reef. I want to go "low tech" with it, if you can call it that, and filter using just live rock and a power head. I thought maybe I could add a sump with fuge later on if needed/wanted. I have done a lot of reading online for it, hopefully enough to get a start on things now.

My idea of a good sized tank is between 10 and 20 gallons. I have a 10 gallon already, and a 20 high that has scratches in the glass. Maybe I could get something else or just go with the 10...I'm not sure. I might have to move within the next couple of years so I might want to stick with just the 10 and upgrade when I move.

There is an add on craigslist for live sand and live rock. Live sand for .99 cents a pound and live rock for $3.50 a pound or all 50 pounds for $150. Its about an hours drive from my house.

Anyways, I was wondering if I went up there with a bucket and got about 20 pounds of that live rock for a 10 gallon tank, would that be jumping the gun? How long would I have before needing to get it out of the bucket? And what types of questions should I ask the seller about how they've been keeping it? It just seems like such a good deal but if its bad rock I don't want it. How would I tell if it isn't good?

Thanks.

Tammy

 

[JakeKM]

If the rock just looks sea worn with no signs of invertibrate life or coraline algae do not get it !
It will last for an hour.

 

[Danno]

The live rock that you were looking at was probably ocean rock. Unless you want to wait 6 months before doing anything with your tank I would go with live rock. I would check out another store.

A 10 gallon tank would be fine for a nano. I would go with that instead of the 20 gallon high that you have because of light penetration; but, then again you would lose 1/2 of your water.

You could always get 20 pounds for a 10 gallon. You could even leave your tank bare bottom and smash from of the live rock and cobble some rock up to make it look like a reef flat.

 

[TammyLiz]

Thanks for the replies. I have actually decided to go with 2.5 gallons with just some crabs and snails and see what happens...just to get my feet wet so to speak. I bought some live rock from the LFS yesterday instead of going with the guy from craigslist. Maybe I'll post it up here to log my progress.