How much is too much?

[jcolon2]

Hello. This is a subjective question, but what amount of liverock in a 55 gallon tank qualifies as too much live rock. I have 60-70 pounds of liverock in my tank as of right now. I just order 50 pounds of eco rock from reefcleaners. Now I am expecting another 25 pounds of liverock from another mr member. Is that too much? I love the cave effect and I want pods to proliferate in my tank. And I have tiny fish, and very few fish. But I don't want to crowd the tank.

 

[afernandez]

60-70+50+25=135-145 thats too too much rocks specially to scape in a 55g ..IMHO cancel the 50#'s of brs rocks if its not too late

 

[michael Jack]

if you have extra put it in your sump as for your tank you can never have to much only to little if you like the caves and creveses thats fine

 

[jcolon2]

I already ordered the 50 pounds. I guess I could speak to the other MR member and not take the 25 pounds of rocks (I was going to trade an item).

 

[Jzhou]

That is actually one of the greater debates in the hobby. But you can't really judge how much live rock a tank needs by weight since different types of live rocks have different weights. Some rocks that are the size of a softball might weigh less than 2 pounds, but depending on how dense it is, it can weight more than 5. I prefer the 1/3 rule when it comes to live rock. As long as you have enough rock to fill 1/3 of your tank, you should be ok. But I also like using as much rock as possible.

 

[jcolon2]

I love the cave effect with the rocks. And right now the 60-70 pounds that I have in the tank barely fills half the tank and even that side of the tank has a lot of open space. My sump is small. Should I cancel the 25 pounds of liverock, and out of the 50 pounds simply trade any extra rock that I don't need (although I believe I'll probably use it all).

 

[Jzhou]

The only issue with having too much rock in a tank is that you are risking dead spots. But as of now, it really depends on you and if you like the way it looks or not.

 

[albano]

sounds like TOO MUCH...a 55 is less than 12" front to back, so you are very limited with aquascaping!

 

[jcolon2]

Aquascaping is VERY difficult in a 55. It took me 10 hours just to aquascape my last structure. I have OCD lol

 

[jcolon2]

Jzhou,

20 pounds of my current rock is premium fiji and is extremely porous. The other 50 pounds (give or take) of rock are extremely, extremely dense. The florida reef rock from reefcleaners should be porous.

 

[KathyC]

Justin - can you possibly post a FTS now of what the current aquascape looks like? It would be much easier to judge that way

 

[albano]

The florida reef rock from reefcleaners should be porous.

Do you plan on curing it first?

 

[jcolon2]

Kathy,

I am lying my warm bed right now- but I promise I will post a fts by tomorrow evening. I should actually make a video to show the improvements I've made with the tank.

Albano,

I am not sure if the rock needs to be cured. I ordered it from John Maloney. What do you think?

Best,

Justin

 

[anthony27]

Dude,

I had 65 pounds of rock in my 40 and I took out 25 pounds and left all the shelf. Mike Ny told me since we have amazing skimmers and run gfo and carbon so we have advanced filtration so we realy do not need a whole lot of rock in the main tank.

 

[jcolon2]

Anthony,

It is not a matter of needing rock. I merely want to add the rock for aesthetic, although I do like the fact that the added surface area will provide more refuge for pods.

 

[KathyC]

ALL rock needs to be cured if it is not shipped submerged in water there WILL be die off, so yes you will need to cure it before adding it.

 

[anthony27]

that is true, but you will not need more rock but still it is always good not bad. So either way you go will pay off in the long run


She is right you can not just stick the rock in the tank, best bet get a bin and let the rock sit in there with a power head and tank water when you do a water change take out some of the water from the bin and replace it with the tank water. the period for that is 2 weeks to be safe.

 

[jcolon2]

Cure the florida base rock from reefcleaners? ok.

It has said on the rock description: This rock is free of organics except the dust that may settle on it during transport. Because of this it can be added to an established tank without causing a cycle.

 

[anthony27]

I would just make sure. My opion.