Replace rock with sand

[Danny N]

So, I've got a 125 gallon tank with approx. 130lbs of live rock. Personally, I am not in love with the look of all of that rock. If I were to remove 30 lbs of rock and replace it with 30lbs of sand, would I have the same amount of biological filtration, or is the rock that much more of a benefit? If I did remove 30 lbs of rock, how much sand would I need to add to make up filtration wise?

 

[robert]

I expect you could easily remove 30 pounds of rock and not have to replace it with anything.

I run a 480+ gallon system - with a fairly high stock of fish and corals - and have maybe 50-60 lbs of cycled dead rock in the system without any sand or substrate. This whole idea of "a pound of rock per gallon" is one of the biggest myths out there.