I have always used 1 pound per gallon and if it ain't broke don't fix it.
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Oh my.... you broke the rule of having your scape to high and not enough room for growth. (myth)I like most Reef Aquariums but our little bit of Reef look less and less like real ocean reefs. Today a lot have more in common with postage stamp collections than the Great Barrier Reef. For me it’s not about quantity of live rock but about how it’s deployed. For me the best Aquascapes attempt to capture the spirit of the reef - they aren’t just about collecting as many Zoa varieties as possible OR as many Acropora types as possible. Attached is my last Aquascape; I’d be keen to hear your views.
I like most Reef Aquariums but our little bit of Reef look less and less like real ocean reefs. Today a lot have more in common with postage stamp collections than the Great Barrier Reef. For me it’s not about quantity of live rock but about how it’s deployed. For me the best Aquascapes attempt to capture the spirit of the reef - they aren’t just about collecting as many Zoa varieties as possible OR as many Acropora types as possible. Attached is my last Aquascape; I’d be keen to hear your views.
I've seen very little evidence at this point that live rock surface area is a limiting factor for bioload in most tanks.
We've all seen those big barebottom tanks with 9 million fish and very little rock who still need to dose phosphates and nitrates to keep corals colored up. I think in mature tanks, coral processes more nitrate and phosphate than rock does.
This is amazing! Will you marry me? Lol!I like most Reef Aquariums but our little bit of Reef look less and less like real ocean reefs. Today a lot have more in common with postage stamp collections than the Great Barrier Reef. For me it’s not about quantity of live rock but about how it’s deployed. For me the best Aquascapes attempt to capture the spirit of the reef - they aren’t just about collecting as many Zoa varieties as possible OR as many Acropora types as possible. Attached is my last Aquascape; I’d be keen to hear your views.
totally agree, also I think it was wwc that was experimenting with growing corals on live rock instad of racks. they were seeing better growth. we may underestimate the amount of bacteria etc that our corals feed on.My opinion is that you only need enough rock for every fish to be able to hide or have a sleeping spot if not enough you will have stress.
There are several different types of tanks. Some people want a tank that mimics a natural looking reef others like the picture posted with this initial thread are a work of art. What I desired with my tank is a tank full of bright and neon colored corals fish and inverts. This is what I like and put in my tank. There is no right or wrong way for how a reef should look considering there is nothing particularly natural about water in a glass box in our homeI like most Reef Aquariums but our little bit of Reef look less and less like real ocean reefs. Today a lot have more in common with postage stamp collections than the Great Barrier Reef. For me it’s not about quantity of live rock but about how it’s deployed. For me the best Aquascapes attempt to capture the spirit of the reef - they aren’t just about collecting as many Zoa varieties as possible OR as many Acropora types as possible. Attached is my last Aquascape; I’d be keen to hear your views.
I see a lot of local animals I see diving here in South Florida. How long has that flame scallop lasted?There are several different types of tanks. Some people want a tank that mimics a natural looking reef others like the picture posted with this initial thread are a work of art. What I desired with my tank is a tank full of bright and neon colored corals fish and inverts. This is what I like and put in my tank. There is no right or wrong way for how a reef should look considering there is nothing particularly natural about water in a glass box in our home
I have had the flamingo snail and the flame scallop since I set up my tank at the start of this year so about 7 months now. I also have two pair of harlequin shrimp. One pair is old enough now to breed and larvae are released monthly. Yes the flamingo snail will only eat sea fans and gorgonians so that is what I feed it the same thing they eat in the wild. The harlequin shrimp will only eat live star fish which I keep several on hand at a time. I also have a few species of sponges some bought some that came on various rock. I spend about $100.00 a month just on live food for the flamingo snail and harlequin shrimp but the are definitely one of my favorites. Some of my tank inhabitants I would only recommend to a select few. Below is a picture of some of my live foods I have to culture to keep some of the animals I haveI see a lot of local animals I see diving here in South Florida. How long has that flame scallop lasted?
Do you have to keep certain corals replenished for that flamingo snail? I usually see them on sea fans and certain gorgonians.
Very good point. The density/pore structure plays a major role in its denitrification abilityThere are two purposes for live rock in an aquarium.
1. It provides the necessary microbes (Bacteria & Archaea) to maintain water quality and the health of your livestock. The amount of rock needed to accomplish this goal is surely pretty low, so low that "pounds of rock per gallon" seems like the wrong unit. Perhaps "ounces of rock per tank".
2. It provides the necessary internal surface area for those microbes to live. Weight is irrelevant for this criteria -- the densest materials actually have the least internal surface area... in other words, the heavier, the worse. A tank piled full of 100 pounds of crappy mined base rock (which has effectively zero internal porosity) probably has less internal surface area than a tank with a couple pieces of real live rock (i.e., dead coral skeletons).
So yeah, I think the rules should be changed to ignore weight altogether, and yeah, I think most newer tanks these days are not using enough live rock.
IMO the rule should be: a small amount of high quality (=from the ocean) live rock, plus a moderate amount of very high porosity rocks (=dead coral skeletons). Any artificial or mined rock in the tank should probably be completely ignored from the functional perspective, and only used for decorative purposes.