TBS live rock

[phish1627]

Building my first reef tank, 40 gallon breeder display with sump. I am aquascaping with dry Marco rock. I will be adding bottled bacteria for the nitrogen cycle but want to add additional beneficial bacteria/overall diversity to my system. I am in the Tampa area and thinking of getting live wet rock from Tampa bay saltwater. Will adding 4lbs of TBS rock to the sump make much of a difference? Thinking of also putting about 2lbs of TBS live sand into the display and adding some of their “sludge” as well. Would 8lbs of live rock be significantly better?

 

[Uncle99]

Live rock makes a difference.
8 pounds versus 4 pounds not significantly different.
Live sand is good.

The caution will always be the introduction of pests.

I got 2 mantis shrimp which took out 3 fish, some palys that grew at an alarming rate and rendered the rock unusable and one or two Aptasia that took years to eradicate.

So a trade off.

These days I use just dry and build diversity each time I add corals.

 

[whalewhalewhale]

You won't get the full effect but it definitely will add more diversity than whatever is in the bottle.

 

[BriDroid]

I added some gulf live rock rubble to my sump on my 40 breeder, and the only pest I got was 1 aiptasia. I just removed that rock and tossed it. I also added a package of their grunge. The combo of them caused a small cyano outbreak that lasted about 4 days and it was gone. The rest of the tank was 50lbs Marco rock and 40lbs of Ocean Direct “Live” sand.

 

[kevgib67]

I upgraded in January and other than the rock I transferred over from my over 4 year old tank I did all TBS live rock and sand and don’t regret it .

 

[Abominable Snow Crab]

The more live rock the better IMO

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I’m not sure I’d use bacteria in a bottle at all if you are adding a reasonable amount of live sand or rock.

More is not always better, especially of the unusual species that sometimes are in such bottles.

 

[Fish Fan]

I think that even a small amount of TBS live rock and/or sand can go a long way towards building a diverse biome of micro-critters. I would add as much as is affordable, especially if you can pick it up in person and avoid the shipping cost. If you can, go with 50% to even 100% TBS rock and sand.

Yes, you can get hitchhiker pests with TBS rock and sand, but in my experience the benefits far outweigh the risk of getting pest hitchhikers, most of which are fairly easy to deal with.

Another idea is to add the TBS rock and/or sand to your sump, then use dry rock in your display. This way, you get the benefit of having the TBS live rock/sand, but any potential hitchhikers will be contained in the sump.

I hope this helps; good luck!