Aquascape Questions from Noob

[DaFlava]

So few questions I have before I start my first aquascape! Open for any feedback or advise!

1) Is the 1 pound per gallon a requirement or using less or more okay? I'm guessing this is debatable depending on corals/fish in tank.
2) I'm most likely going with Caribsea Liferock, how long can these not be in water? I believe since they are man made but with special coating they can be out practically forever. I'd like to take my time doing my aquascape and possibly store pieces for future projects.
3) Using Caribsea Liferock can these be broken up? I've seen mixed things that if you break them up you'll see white on them as they have special coding so not sure you can actually break them up without issues.
4) I had an idea of doing something like this image and was curious how one does this with a large ach?

 

[Quietman]

Welcome!

The pounds per gallon really isn't used much anymore as it's more about appearance, but 1 pound per gallon is a good place to start when ordering online.

I left my Liferock out of water for days...did it hurt anything? It was dry when I got it so I doubt it. Hard to tell if it effects anything long term. You only have to worry about rock drying out if it comes wet.

I used E-Marco 400 aquascaping mortar in the purple color. It's not an exact match but after a few months I blends in nicely. You can also take some dust and press into it as well before it dries I suppose. Very, very happy with the E-Marco.

If you get the Liferock shapes or arches, likely you'll have satisfactory arch building pieces in there without a lot of construction.

Here's a link to my build thread post on aquascaping with Liferock.

All that said if I were to build a tank today I would likely go with something like Reef Reef Solutions - Real Reef Rock or some wet rock from an LFS. At a minimum I would have some 'wet' rock to seed diversity. The exact shape of the arch and your design becomes less important (and less visible) as your corals grow in. Secondly and more importantly, starting a tank with 'live rock' as opposed to 'dry' is just easier to achieve success. I would even consider 'ocean' rock at the premium cost (although hard to get now with current shipping limitations) and take chances on the hitchhikers.

Lifereef is a good product and I'm satisfied with using it and it's appearance. But having gone through a lot of issues over the past couple years I just think the 'wet' is more important to successful reefing than the 'look'.

Good luck in your reefing!