New marine tank: live rock questions

[KPH]

Hi all,

move had a bio cube running for a few months now and I’m looking at converting my 55 gallon freshwater to saltwater. My question is if any of you guys have recommendations For live rock. Are there any online places that you guys trust to get live rock from?

My LFS has live rock but sells non algae for 5 dollars a lb and the live rock with purple algae on it for closer to 10 dollars a lb. I know live rock isn’t cheap but that seems pretty steep and scaping a 55 gallon tank with that would get pretty expensive very quickly.

thoughts?

 

[X-37B]

Hi all,

move had a bio cube running for a few months now and I’m looking at converting my 55 gallon freshwater to saltwater. My question is if any of you guys have recommendations For live rock. Are there any online places that you guys trust to get live rock from?

My LFS has live rock but sells non algae for 5 dollars a lb and the live rock with purple algae on it for closer to 10 dollars a lb. I know live rock isn’t cheap but that seems pretty steep and scaping a 55 gallon tank with that would get pretty expensive very quickly.

thoughts?

Expensive! Not this hobby.
I used 50% live rock and 50% caribsea. It all looks like live rock now.
I did a minimalist scape and only used 35lbs of each in my 120.
It was worth every penny, imo.

 

[Nathan Milender]

You don't need all live rock. There are lots of places online to get it. Some worry about parasites on live rock. In the old days live rock was it. There were no cultures. I took a 20 year break and started with the newer cured rock method. I think the live rock method was easier and more stable to get established then the issues I have had with cured rock. If I were to restart I would use the cheaper and sometimes easier to make into cool shapes dead rock and seed it with some live to get it going. Eventually, it all turns into live rock.

 

[Cell]

I'd say KP Aquatics and Tampa Bay Saltwater are probably the most popular on R2R.

 

[Oldcoder]

Two years in with dead rock. Dino’s cyno, low nutrients and on and on. Tank I had before done TBS live rock no problems. To this day I can not keep lps or sps coral alive more than two weeks. I spent way more in treatment and dead corals than I would have with live rock. Never again. Much rather do battle with gorilla crabs.

 

[KPH]

Expensive! Not this hobby.
I used 50% live rock and 50% caribsea. It all looks like live rock now.
I did a minimalist scape and only used 35lbs of each in my 120.
It was worth every penny, imo.

You have any pictures? I’m interested in seeing different types of setups and I’m pretty big into minimalist scapes within aquariums so I’m definitely intrigued.

 

[X-37B]

You have any pictures? I’m interested in seeing different types of setups and I’m pretty big into minimalist scapes within aquariums so I’m definitely intrigued.

Check my build thread.
Here is one.

 

[KPH]

Check my build thread.
Here is one.

Very nice! I don’t think I’ll ever keep corals. And the tank I have is glass I believe. Not too keen on drilling so I’ll probably go without a sump and use some canister filters. Don’t know if that’s a sin around here or not. Lol

 

[KPH]

Two years in with dead rock. Dino’s cyno, low nutrients and on and on. Tank I had before done TBS live rock no problems. To this day I can not keep lps or sps coral alive more than two weeks. I spent way more in treatment and dead corals than I would have with live rock. Never again. Much rather do battle with gorilla crabs.

What’s the difference in dead rock and live rock? I’m sure that’s a dumb question. I imagine the dead rock is just porous marine rock that isn’t currently seeded with algae and bacteria?

 

[Oldcoder]

Live rock has been in the ocean for awhile and contains many strains of algae and bacteria dead rock is dead. My experience is the tank starts much easier with live rock. There are many threads here that say the same also many people who are successful with dry. I am not one of them. I would suggest that you research live vs dry rock and figure out what you want to try. It is a much debated topic. My suggestion would be if you go dry cycle for 4 to six months with only fish and no lights do not add corals until you get coralline algae growing then add some test corals. Just my opinion. You will find many different ones. Read all you can.

 

[X-37B]

Yes quite the de

Live rock has been in the ocean for awhile and contains many strains of algae and bacteria dead rock is dead. My experience is the tank starts much easier with live rock. There are many threads here that say the same also many people who are successful with dry. I am not one of them. I would suggest that you research live vs dry rock and figure out what you want to try. It is a much debated topic. My suggestion would be if you go dry cycle for 4 to six months with only fish and no lights do not add corals until you get coralline algae growing then add some test corals. Just my opinion. You will find many different ones. Read all you can.

I never saw a cycle when I used 50/50 live and caribsea.
Also I started stocking my tank with corals at 10 weeks with no issues at all.
I dont think I would ever setup a tank without a 50% blend of live and caribsea.
Unless of course live rock becomes unavailable in the future.

 

[Biokabe]

Very nice! I don’t think I’ll ever keep corals. And the tank I have is glass I believe. Not too keen on drilling so I’ll probably go without a sump and use some canister filters. Don’t know if that’s a sin around here or not. Lol

If you're not planning on keeping corals, you can get by with seeded "dead rock". That is, some kind of man-made artificial rock (I like Marco Rocks myself), dosed with any of the "bacteria in a bottle" blends. Let it cure for a little bit, and you're good to go. Live rock is great and carries a lot of interesting life on it, but you get the biggest benefit from it if you are planning on keeping corals.

I'd recommend against a canister filter for saltwater, though not because it's any kind of a sin. You can keep a perfectly healthy tank with a canister filter. However, in saltwater they tend to be very high-maintenance to keep running well. I don't have them myself, I'm just drawing on what others who have used them have said. I'd recommend instead some variety of HOB power filter - a little easier to use with saltwater. You don't need a massive amount of filtration with a fish-only setup, especially if you have a healthy amount of rock - the rock actually does most of the 'filtration' for you.

 

[KPH]

If you're not planning on keeping corals, you can get by with seeded "dead rock". That is, some kind of man-made artificial rock (I like Marco Rocks myself), dosed with any of the "bacteria in a bottle" blends. Let it cure for a little bit, and you're good to go. Live rock is great and carries a lot of interesting life on it, but you get the biggest benefit from it if you are planning on keeping corals.

I'd recommend against a canister filter for saltwater, though not because it's any kind of a sin. You can keep a perfectly healthy tank with a canister filter. However, in saltwater they tend to be very high-maintenance to keep running well. I don't have them myself, I'm just drawing on what others who have used them have said. I'd recommend instead some variety of HOB power filter - a little easier to use with saltwater. You don't need a massive amount of filtration with a fish-only setup, especially if you have a healthy amount of rock - the rock actually does most of the 'filtration' for you.

I had HOB filters on this tank for the cichlids I had and just had terrible issues with noise and just not working right. Not had any issues since then using canister filters. So I’m not sure what I’ll do long term.

 

[Biokabe]

I had HOB filters on this tank for the cichlids I had and just had terrible issues with noise and just not working right. Not had any issues since then using canister filters. So I’m not sure what I’ll do long term.

Well, it's up to you. You're basically choosing which one bothers you more - the noise from HOB filters or the increased maintenance from canister filters. Both will work for what you want to do, it's just a matter of choosing the right one for how you approach maintenance. Best of all with saltwater is a sump, but that's added cost and complexity which, if I'm being honest, I'm not sure that you really need with a fish-only tank. Which HOB filters have you used?

 

[KPH]

Well, it's up to you. You're basically choosing which one bothers you more - the noise from HOB filters or the increased maintenance from canister filters. Both will work for what you want to do, it's just a matter of choosing the right one for how you approach maintenance. Best of all with saltwater is a sump, but that's added cost and complexity which, if I'm being honest, I'm not sure that you really need with a fish-only tank. Which HOB filters have you used?

Marineland. Can’t remember what they were called but they were the ones that were rated at like 90 gallons. Had two of them. I‘ve tried several others, aquaclear included, and had a lot of mixed results.

 

[Pistondog]

Hi all,

move had a bio cube running for a few months now and I’m looking at converting my 55 gallon freshwater to saltwater. My question is if any of you guys have recommendations For live rock. Are there any online places that you guys trust to get live rock from?

My LFS has live rock but sells non algae for 5 dollars a lb and the live rock with purple algae on it for closer to 10 dollars a lb. I know live rock isn’t cheap but that seems pretty steep and scaping a 55 gallon tank with that would get pretty expensive very quickly.

thoughts?

Gulfliverock.com
I got the nano pack, smaller rocks,, 17lbs for $85 shipped. Its wrapped in wet paper towels and the 3 day transit to nh, causes some die off, but clams, feather dusters, snails, coralline, sponges, limpets, halimedea all survived.
They'll do air freight, extra, which would preserve more life.
For 55g, much more rock I'd consider that.
There are others as good or better.

 

[KPH]

Alright. I got 20lbs of caribsea base rock. I’ve seen some saying I definitely need to cure and other say it’ll be fine to throw in the tank at the beginning of a cycle and let it go.

Thoughts? If I do need to cure, how do I go about doing that?

 

[jjalbers]

I used 50lbs of KPaquatics in a new 55 gallon build. Using a sump with no drilling HOB overflow. So far averything has been running smoothly and my cycle is almost complete. Ammonia is down to zero and Nitrites are almost gone, with Nitrates climbing. It has been 3.5 weeks. I cant be more happy with this rock, Im a fan of dealing with the hitchhikers and there were plenty on the rock, even a cool little pencil urchin.

 

[KPH]

I used 50lbs of KPaquatics in a new 55 gallon build. Using a sump with no drilling HOB overflow. So far averything has been running smoothly and my cycle is almost complete. Ammonia is down to zero and Nitrites are almost gone, with Nitrates climbing. It has been 3.5 weeks. I cant be more happy with this rock, Im a fan of dealing with the hitchhikers and there were plenty on the rock, even a cool little pencil urchin.

Lookin good!

I saw those HOB Overflows but the prospect of setting up a sump and dealing with all that is a little intimidating for me. Maybe in the future I’ll mess with that. Who knows.