Quantity of live rock

[SueAndHerZoo]

The old rule of thumb was one pound per gallon of water, but I think we've learned since then that we don't necessarily need that much live rock. But that's for reef tanks - how about seahorse only tanks? I'm turning my 72 gallon into a seahorse tank, bare-bottom, and using live rock, but do I decide how much based on gallons of water or bioload/quantity of livestock in the tank?

I don't want as much rock as usual because I want to use a lot of macro algae and even some fake, colorful fake hitches but if I need lots for biological filtration, then I'll use lots. First concern is the horses and the quality of water - would love some thoughts and opinions. More is better?
Sue

 

[Rtaylor]

Will you have a sump? you could always load that up with rock, then you don’t need much/any in the DT. It really depends on how much biological filtration you have in the whole system.

 

[Pickle_soup]

The old rule of thumb was one pound per gallon of water, but I think we've learned since then that we don't necessarily need that much live rock. But that's for reef tanks - how about seahorse only tanks? I'm turning my 72 gallon into a seahorse tank, bare-bottom, and using live rock, but do I decide how much based on gallons of water or bioload/quantity of livestock in the tank?

I don't want as much rock as usual because I want to use a lot of macro algae and even some fake, colorful fake hitches but if I need lots for biological filtration, then I'll use lots. First concern is the horses and the quality of water - would love some thoughts and opinions. More is better?
Sue

Ok, why go bare bottom? Doesn't it mean that you will need a ton of flow to get that moving which isn't necessarily what you want with seahorses? I am asking cause I am curious.

 

[brandon429]

In working about five thousand tanks remotely in one way or another I’ve never seen a reef display use too little live rock to handle it’s bioload. that includes reefs that purposely used less live rock than normal and even if that same display used more fish than normal

as long as you use some in the display, where produced waste contacts it immediately, it’s enough for your complete filtration.

it’s surface area is so vastly powerful that even small amounts handle large bio loads. Sequestered off in a sump means the water takes a while to get down compared to actually in the display, quick contact elimination

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Ok, why go bare bottom? Doesn't it mean that you will need a ton of flow to get that moving which isn't necessarily what you want with seahorses? I am asking cause I am curious.

I've had seahorses before and always had a sand bed, but it was such a battle to keep the water quality pristine enough for them. They eat and poop a lot, and they also DON'T eat a lot of the food, so everything breaks down in the sand and decays, polluting the tank. I've read and heard that bare-bottom is best for seahorses so I am trying it this time. There is no sand to trap the "crap" and I can easily siphon off anything that lands on the bottom.

Regarding the flow, it's actually been found that they tolerate/like some areas of high flow, so I will have two powerheads in there, one at the top to keep the surface agitating for oxygen exchange, and one closer to the bottom to keep the stuff that settles circulating and getting filtered out.

If I find I hate a bare bottom I can always add it, but while the tank was empty it was a great opportunity to get the sand out of there. It's about 7 years old.... time for the sand to be replaced anyway.
Sue

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Will you have a sump? you could always load that up with rock, then you don’t need much/any in the DT. It really depends on how much biological filtration you have in the whole system.

Yes, the tank is drilled and there is a sump and it's full of biological media, including rubble, sand, chaeto, skimmer, reactor, etc. Don't really have any more room in the sump for much more rock, but maybe in that case I don't NEED so much in the display. Thanks for the thought.
Sue

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

In working about five thousand tanks remotely in one way or another I’ve never seen a reef display use too little live rock to handle it’s bioload. that includes reefs that purposely used less live rock than normal and even if that same display used more fish than normal

as long as you use some in the display, where produced waste contacts it immediately, it’s enough for your complete filtration.

it’s surface area is so vastly powerful that even small amounts handle large bio loads. Sequestered off in a sump means the water takes a while to get down compared to actually in the display, quick contact elimination

Thanks, Brandon.... great info. And your words of wisdom about not needing to cycle the temporary tank they are in is working beautifully. Bare bottom, live rock, aeration, AIO filtration. Now if I could just get the little buggers to eat frozen!
Sue