To much Live Rock?

[smokie]

Is it possible to have to much live rock in my tank?I have a 125 Gal with a 25 Gal sump.The Tank has about 210 LBs of Rock and the sump has about 15 LBs of rock.
Fiji rock,Mexican Rock,Florida Rock.
I purchased about 150 LBs from this guy who needed cash so i gave him a dollar a pound for it.
Since i only have the one tank i put all but about 25 pounds in my tank and sump.
I figured i would leave it all in my tank until it was all covered with coraline algae and then possibly sell some of it to get my money back.

 

[esmithiii]

As long as you have enough room cor corals and for your fish to swim comfortably...


Ernie

 

[smokie]

They all seem to be doing fine.I dont have any corrals yet all i have is 2 types of xenia,a sponge,an anenome,also a flower anenome who hitchhiked in on a rock,and some little tiny flower looking thingies that have tiny green centers dunno what they are.
None of my fish are over 3 inches long and theres 8 of them.

 

[Mrs Fudd]

i agree with the above post, but with a caveat. I have found when placing LR, you need to take into consideration the animals/corals you want to keep. If it is a wall of rock with no bridges and places to place corals or the fish to swim, then you have too much. If you have it aquascaped nicely and have room, then you are fine. Some of the nicest tanks I have seen have about the same amount of rock as gallons in the tank...125g tank 125 lbs of rock. Can really have space for swimming and coral placement. Also take into consideration the size your fish will grow to and not just what size they are now, same when purchasing corals. Good luck and have fun.

 

[smokie]

Well its pretty much a wall of rock but theres lots of room for the fish to swim still and they go into the caves and such.
But i wasnt going to keep it all in my tank forever,soon as it starts getting purple im going to sell off what i dont need.
About 100 pounds of it is premium fiji,mexican,and florida rock,im hoping it will seed the newer fiji rock.
Also does anyone here use an additive called "CYCLE" on a maintenance basis in their reef tank?
Also does anyone use a 2 part calcium - buffer additive?
And last what can i use to get the coraline algae to grow faster?
I use WM CALXMAX 2 part additive and i dose kalkwasser about a gallon every other day.
Right now i cant afford a calcium reactor and CO2 setup.

 

[smokie]

Oh and im running 2-175 10,000K halides and 1-250 watt 12,000 halide (the 250 is in the center of the tank)also there are 4-65 watt power compacts 2-actinic and 2 daylight.So thats 860 watts total of lighting.

 

[esmithiii]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

I dont have any corrals yet

FYI- Xenia is a type of soft coral.

One thing I did is I used a PVC frame to support the liverock. This makes the tank look like a huge piece of the reef with plenty of room under and behind the rock for the fish to swim. The fish love it and it looks great. I have to add some small pieces later to completely hide the PVC. This also keeps the liverock above the sand bed so burrowing creatures can't topple the liverock. Here are some pics:

[ March 07, 2002: Message edited by: esmithiii ]</p>

 

[Bobzarry]

I find that comparing the weight of rock to gallons is useless since rock can differ greatly in density. For example you have both florida and fiji (don't know how much of each) but if you weigh your rock you'll see that a piece of fiji and a piece of florida rock, if they are the same wight the fiji piece will be bigger because florida rock is denser. And even among rocks from the same region the density can vary.

IMO its best to go with what is aesthetically pleasing to you, keeping in mind the space needed for inhabitants and the filtering capabilities of the rock (lighter more porous rock makes for better filtering since it can accommodate more bacteria).

if any if this helps it is purely coincidental.


Bob

 

[Carpentersreef]

Ernie, your tank's looking great!

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by smokie:
<strong>
Also does anyone here use an additive called "CYCLE" on a maintenance basis in their reef tank?
Also does anyone use a 2 part calcium - buffer additive?
And last what can i use to get the coraline algae to grow faster?
I use WM CALXMAX 2 part additive and i dose kalkwasser about a gallon every other day.
Right now i cant afford a calcium reactor and CO2 setup.

</strong><hr></blockquote>

Smokie,
from what I remember about Cycle, it is mainly used for jumpstarting a new tank. LR will do the same thing, IMO. Using it on a regular basis may have some benefits, but I would want to know what Cycle's exact content are, first.
I used to use the same 2 part Calxmax additive that you are using, before I got my CA reactor, but for a larger tank like yours, you may find that you go through a fair amount of the stuff. Maybe a DIY CA reactor and CO2 from a welding supply store is within your budget.
The coralline will grow best under conditions with quality, stable water circulation parameters and lighting - are you using any books for reference? Check out the FAQ sticky at the top of the page here for recommended books.
Are you testing your water regularly? You should be and sooner or later will get to the point where you can look at the condition of your corals and recognize potential problems.

As far as having too much LR, I do think that there is a limit. You MUST have good water circulation within your rock structure, or else you will get a buildup of detritus within that structure, and as a result have water quality and nuisance algae issues down the road. Blasting your rock pile weekly, with either a turkey baster or power head is a very good practice to get into.

Mitch

 

[smokie]

Well heres what i have for circulation on a 125 gallon tank with a 25 gallon sump.
Each end of the tank has a 2&1/2" bulkhead for outflow reduced down to 1&1/2" PVC pipe,at each end is a 1&1/2" bulkhead for return reduced down to 3/4" pvc pipe.I run a MAG 1800 in the sump as a Return pump,and a MAG 1800 on the skimmer as well.
In the tank i have 2 big GAP pumps i used to use both as return pumps in the sump but i changed the setup and took out my 5 small powerheads and put in the 2 big GAP pumps im guessing each one is rated at 600 GPH, plus the 2 return lines have black flexible ball pipe which returns water from the sump via the MAG 1800.
Should that be sufficient?
Im going to look into a DIY calcium reactor,but i have heard nightmare stories about how they affect the PH and Alkalinity so im not sure i wanna go that route.

 

[Carpentersreef]

It will only be sufficient if you can determine whether or not there is actually circulation getting into the rock structure. You can have all the circulation in the world, but if you've got a tight, almost solid rock wall, you're going to have dead spots.
Think of it to the extreme. Fill the tank COMPLETELY with LR. How can you possibly get circulation everywhere, no matter what pump you use? You can't. I'm just saying that you need to determine, with your setup,whether or not you can achieve at least some circulation within the rock pile itself.

Mitch