A few questions from a SW rookie

For my 55g setup, I bought 40# of live aragonite sand. After reading various threads, I understand there are varying opinions on the use of "live" sand.

In regard to "live" rock, I admit I'm a little confused over that term. I was under the impression that live rock was potentially any rock in the tank over time, as useful organisms grew on them. But I also read where live rocks were porous and all the tiny holes in the rock acted like a filter, as there was more surface area on these rocks, meaning more useful organisms. I think a more thorough understanding is in order.

So, for the record, I bought 1 "live" rock... from Petco!!! I now know, Petco is evil to some people, but I was ignorant at the time. In reality, I do have some organisms growing on the rock, helpful or harmful... we have yet to see. As I believe I stated before, this was a used tank and equipment to get me started, so most of what I have in it are cheesy decorations and rocks that came with it. This is nowhere near the beautiful creations I have seen people display on these forums... yet!!!

This discussion brought on another question. When you buy live rock, you have the chance to have many critters growing and living on it, including snails, etc. Can you also get similar things from bags of "live" sand?

So in the end, do I need more sand? Less? And is my Petco rock evil? How much live rock should I have, and could I get am explanation of true live rock?

 

your probubly gunna wannna have like 2-3 inches of sand ( i have 2) and yes things like corals which are cool come in but other things like mantis shrimps, not reef safe crabs can also come in on live rock. thats why alot of ppl quarentine there live rock. the place where you get the most hitchhikers is when you get rock from florida

 

Live Sand first.... Sand in your display tank is a matter of preference. Some folks run one inch.... some folks run 3-4 inches. There are pro's and con's and opinions. I ran 2-3 inches in my 55 gallons and did well with it.

Live rock. For this purpose I am referring to pourous rock that came from a reef... whether it is live or dead. I'd recommended you have around 50lbs for a 55 gallon tank. More is better. I'd advise contacting John at reefcleaners.org and buy 50lbs from him. He sells "dead" live rock that is very good.

M

 

When you add "dead" live rock to a tank, is there anything you need to do to get the process flowing? I'm referring to the process of the rock doing what it is supposed to do, and the natural organisms starting to grow on it.

 

what most people do is put a piece of live rock along with dead rock or base rock (same thing) then during the cycle the bacteria and other stuff will grow and multiply onto the other rocks you can speed this up by adding a small fish like a damsel or puting a small piece of table shrimp in and let it rot and decay so the bacteria and other stuff has things to feed on

 

Well said. Do you use any mechanical filter? e.g. filter pad or sock?

 

do you want to meet up at That Fish Place sometime this week? ill be up that way on thursday and i can help you out a lot

 

I do not use any mechanical filtration at all. Things like filter socks also trap coepods and stuff that I want in the water column. Plus, you are always having to clean and change them.

The NASA engineer part of me converts this to how I do stuff at work. Instead of talk mechanical or electrical loads, we are talking bioload. For HIGH load systems, or systems with marginal performance, we have to put in all kinds of safe guards and extra complication. I see the same thing happening in aquariums. One of my many mistakes in aquariums was putting too much load on the system. Then things started getting more and more complicated trying to deal with that load. The systems we have to control the bioload just aren't that efficient. Thus, they don't have much margin. I am convinced my systems need be 1) stay simple and 2) require very little daily maintenance. Thus, a small bioload to maintain margins is critical.

Small Bioload = Simple system = Stable Water Chemisty = Low Maintenance = Successful tank.

 

@Nor_Cal_Guy, I have a Marineland Magnum 350 canister filter and a Hagan Aquaclear 300 power filter. These came with the used setup I bought. For the Magnum, the gentleman I bought it from said not to use the carbon, but use something else he included. It resembles the filter refills you get in the smaller power filters, without the carbon. He used it and wrapped it around where the carbon would go. I still have the packaging from it, just not handy. I have a bottle of carbon he gave me as well. For the Hagan, I just have the foam sponge that sits in the bottom of it.

@Dingo, unfortunately I have to work 12 hours days this week and can't join you. When I get the time to make a trip there I'll let you know, but I do appreciate the offer.