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Base Rock or Fully Live Rock

ShaggyRS6

ShaggyRS6

As I think more and more about returning to reef keeping little snippets of what I had done previously when I last undertook the hobby.

What are folks doing these days in terms of live rock and aquascaping? I know when I had my Percular 120 I stoked it all with Liverock, not sure that was the ideal thing to do because pretty much all the base rock died off over time.

So what's the recommend way forward these days? The tanks I have in mind are either the Reefer 350 or 450. I am assuming some kind of base rock would be the way to go with the correct ration of live rock on top?
 
Tyler

Tyler

My tank is 36x12x18 (weird dimensions, I know lol) and I used about 45 pounds of base/dry rock and 8 lbs of live rock that I carefully inspected to make sure it was free of pests like aiptasia. The live rocks purpose in my tank was to help it mature faster, and I think it did a good job. It’s about 8 months later and everything is going smoothly and I’m mostly stocked with SPS.


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9supratt4

9supratt4

I personally used all dry/base rock. Did not want to take any chances with pests. No matter how closely you inspect the rock...something always comes in.
 
falconut

falconut

NJRC Member
When I set up my 90 gallon years ago, I used dry base rock and added some live rock here and there to build up the diversity. Over time it all became live. I recently shifted this setup over to a new 180 gallon. I got some more dry base rock and added my live rock from the 90 gallon. The dry rock will get seeded y the live rock over time, plus this helps to eliminate the bad critters.
 
Tyler

Tyler

ShaggyRS6 said:
This is interesting. First time around for me it was all about cramming in as much live rock as you could.
Click to expand...

Yeah, a lot of people go by that but now we have things like MarinePure for surface area so the need for rock is less. A lot of people are actually going for minimalist designs and the scape comes out beautiful once their corals start to grow in.


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ShaggyRS6

ShaggyRS6

Will certainly save on the money! The plan for my tank right now for the long term is something that is flow if that's a word. So things that will sway in the flow, I love that look, of course there will be SPS and I have to have an Anemone.

Some nice clowns, Wreck Fish,Green Chromis for schooling, you standard sand movers, goby etc. and Golden Angel (love them) and a lot further down the line an Achilles tang.

Im really starting to plan what I want now so I avoid having fish species that will upset the tang.
 
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Mark Shelly

Mark Shelly

In my observations, often what is sold as base rock is very dense and may not be as porous as dry live rock. It may be mined from the land, but at least it doesn't hurt the reef. As such, it may not function as well to remove ammonia, nitrite or nitrate in a sparse aquarium. If you byy dry live rock, you have to put the live in the live rock though by creating a cycle. You can also buy wet live rock. If it is shipped moist, you need to cure it to remove dead material that was alive when they shipped it. It may have pests in it as well. Some though is man made and theoretically contains better organisms. The old fashion way is to take rock directly from the ocean or another tank. SPS lovers will probably tell you to start with dry live rock. Another option is to buy cured live rock from a local fish store. Bring buckets with lids to keep it wet or you vehicle may git wet or you may have some die off. Lastly, you can use a combination. Get dry rock, a few pieces of live rock, seed your container with bacteria and start a cycle.
 
ShaggyRS6

ShaggyRS6

I'll probably go the a mixture gong heavy on dry rock from the ocean, something with a large surface area. I'll the hand pick live rock and take the risk. I think that will now be my plan!
 
diana a

diana a

Staff member
NJRC Member
Moderator
ShaggyRS6 said:
.......

Some nice clowns, Wreck Fish,Green Chromis for schooling, you standard sand movers, goby etc. and Golden Angel (love them) and a lot further down the line an Achilles tang......
Click to expand...

Fish that would normally school in the big ocean will just kill each other off in our tanks. When you see a large school in the ocean the fish are typically a foot or so apart put seem closer because of the mass.(At least I think so).

The best I have found are Pjama Cardinals, I have four. The don't really school but there are no territorial fights. You could buy a bonded pair of cardinals, but just buying two can be risky.
 
ShaggyRS6

ShaggyRS6

Used to run Green Chromis and Wreck Fish in my other tanks. Was never an issue. The only issues I ever had was putting the wrong tangs together. I wish I had pics but of my old tanks, cant find anything.
 
jkapit

jkapit

I just rebooted my system and went with all dead rock. When I first started my tank 12 years ago and spent a ton of money on lots of live rock. That was the theory back then.

I’ve had my rebooted tank up since February and have tons of pods and now getting my coralline algae to start to cover the rocks. I am very satisfied with the dry rock approach.

You could always go with mostly dry rock and add a few live rock pieces if you want biodiversity.
 
Trio91

Trio91

Administrator
Moderator
I never liked LR as I'm not cofortable with all the unknowns involved

I just used dry rock and cured it for a few weeks and tossed it in.
 
Haus

Haus

I used dry rock with live sand. Pukani from bulk reef supply is very porous and easily cut. Had fun planning out the scape out of the tank and shaping the rock prior to setup day. Used a cardboard cutout the same size as the tank, put a line two inches in on all sides so I wouldn't have rock too close to the wall, and played with that for a while.
 
Haus

Haus

The live sand has the beneficial bacteria without the risk of live rock. Still takes time to cycle the dry rock but at least it gets that started. It's worth considering unless you're set on having some live rock in there
 
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