Live rock requirements for a new tank

[tHeHEYzeus]

I'm new to the world of marine aquariums and am putting together a 45 gallon show tank with a 20 gallon sump. I'm currently purchasing rock and realizing that it is pretty expensive. I was wondering how much regular rock I could get away with using combined with live rock to begin cycling my tank. I've already purchased 30 pounds of really porous non live rock which I'm pretty excited about.

I'm also planning on putting most of my live rock in as smaller pieces the middle compartment of my sump. This way it will filter all the water through the live rock.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

- Ryan

[randy123]

The rule I was told was 1-1.5 pounds of live rock per gallon of water. You don't have to buy premium for everything, those are show pieces. There are also "base" live rock pieces (a little cheaper) to go on the bottom levels when you are building it up. They do come with some interesting critters too. The dry (unpopulated rock) likely wont be as atrractive and can just be kept in your sump in a utilitarian role. Just be aware that it takes some time for the live rock to populate the dead rock with the bacteria and all that good stuff.

[tHeHEYzeus]

Thanks, using the cheaper rock for pieces that aren't being showcased makes a lot of sense. Do you have any idea how much live rock would be required to populated regular rock?

[Bloodasp]

Even if you put just one live rock in there and the rest being base rock the rest will become live eventually. It's is just a matter of how long you want to be able to fully stock your tank.

[Canadian]

Just use as much rock as you want to form the aquascape you prefer. There is no good hard and fast rule about pounds per gallon. If anything, those unsubstantiated old rules tend to lead to newer hobbyists filling their tanks with too much LR causing pockets of really poor water flow which is far more detrimental than "not enough" LR. Different types of LR vary in density so, again, pounds per gallon is a bad starting point. Simply plan out the basic shape you want your reef to take and then get whatever pieces of rock you need to make it look the way you want.

But be mindful of enabling flow around and through the rock work.

And by the way, Welcome to Canreef!

[plutoniumJoe]

Another alternative is to make your own rock from CaribSea sand and portland cement. I made about 30% of my original rock and for the most part you can't tell unless you look hard. It is all purple just like the real stuff and I was able tom make the shapes I wanted.

http://www.garf.org/_2008/Show2/index.htm

Joe.

[tHeHEYzeus]

Thanks so much guys you've been really helpful