Aquatopia Posted April 23, 2005 Report Share Posted April 23, 2005 Hi again - another question. The tank i am planning will be 1000 L x 500 H x 600 D Thats what, 66 gals (UK) or 300litres - without displacement and full to the brim. i will have a sump too though. Just wondered what amount of live rock you would recommend. I want to have a sloping rock-cliff on the left wall (about 2/3 of the wall) and running along along the back wall to about half way, with a peninsular jutting out from the corner towards the middle of the tank. This will create caves etc and swim-thru's. Then i want to have a rock pile (the aussies call this a bongie i believe) on the right with different sizes stacked up (by drilling holes in the rock and slotting it over piping. So really Im not looking to put too much in the tank. Can i make up the remainder by putting rock into the sump in its own chamber? And would i be ok just using dead rock for this rather than cured (ex-live) rock? After all its just being used as a filter medium down in this part of the tank and looks wont be so important? What total kgs would you recommend? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted April 23, 2005 Report Share Posted April 23, 2005 Im running 300 litres and have 50 kilos Dry rock, which is probably 80kilos Wet. The more you can get in the better. LR is the key to crap reduction IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquatopia Posted April 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2005 Cheers Cracker - and what about the idea about getting decent rock for the display area and just dead marine rock for the sump to act as a filter - does that make sense? Its $5 a kg cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted April 24, 2005 Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 I have about 300 not including sump and I only have around 20Kilos total. Need more though. IMO, I'd go more with putting the nicely shaped and sized pieces in the main tank and the bad ones in the sump. After awhile you won't be able to tell the difference anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted April 24, 2005 Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 Yeah, place all the newer rock at the base and at the rear and place the mature nice stuff in full view! Good call! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted April 24, 2005 Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 I dont believe in reef racks for the reason that it takes up precious space for the LR. The more LR the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petplanet Posted April 24, 2005 Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 Reef racks are great if you want a nice clear space behind the rocks for good water flow. No point wating rock just piling them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted April 24, 2005 Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 You can still run tight spaces for pumps behind the rock to create water movement. I still beleive in more rock the better. empty spaces within the reef are useless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquatopia Posted April 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 Hi guys Thanks for all these replies. Some new thoughts are coming through and my initial thoughts are also being confirmed. Ultimately what i am probably going to do is have a reasonable but not too large amount of decent live rock in the tank. on the left side i want to create a sloping reef cliff with a protruding peninsular which has a few aarches in it leading to caves behind. In order to achieve this i will use a combination of reefracking and saddling rocks to get the desired effect. On the right side of the tank separate from the rock cliff will be a "bongie" - ie rock stack - which will be secured using 15mm pipe with holes drilled in the rock and the rock "slid" over the pipework. I will then keep a large amount of marine rock as a filter medium within the sump. I intend to put in a closed loop to create my water flow within the tank. Ultimately this is a relatively cost effective way of doing things and it keeps unsightly powerheads out of the aquarium. Less risk to fish and wandering inverts. Less heat produced in the tank. Good route to take all round. Cheers for the postings - still keen to hear from MORE of you guys n gals out there. Seems to be just a handful using the forum at the moment. But there are heaps more members. Are we "salties" just a small little group in reality? Lol. Oh, and i hope your weather is better than ours here in Chch - its been vile today ! :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted April 26, 2005 Report Share Posted April 26, 2005 FYI most 'live' rock in NZ starts out as dead rock anyway, its not possible (or all that practical really, given fright costs) to import 'proper' live rock into NZ because of MAF. Dead rock is put into tanks with 'live' rock and left for a few months to cure. There is no problem with you mixing them in your tank to save some $ but be warned it will increase the cycle time significantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquatopia Posted April 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2005 FYI most 'live' rock in NZ starts out as dead rock anyway, its not possible (or all that practical really, given fright costs) to import 'proper' live rock into NZ because of MAF. Dead rock is put into tanks with 'live' rock and left for a few months to cure. There is no problem with you mixing them in your tank to save some $ but be warned it will increase the cycle time significantly. Hi - are you saying the rock that comes in is not "live rock" in the first place? I thought it was just the case that it comes in like it is shipped to any other country, but then it has to be washed off and then left to dry for 3 weeks. Does it actually arrive dry in the country then? I have been looking at the price of live rock in the UK, and it IS EXPENSIVE. Here for "rock" you pay what $10-12/kg (And some places charge more for "cured rock" - fair enough). In the UK, to buy "live rock" (ie cured and with lots of coralline growth and plenty of inhabitants) it is the equivalent of (hang on while i do the math) $25/kg. So, double. It seems its just a bit more of a waiting game here for the rock to get to a nice stage so ultimately its not a bad thing. Out of interest, is Coralline algae porous? IE, once it has encrusted a piece of rock, does that restrict that piece of rock's ability to perform dentitrification ?? Just a thought - probably totally wrong. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted April 26, 2005 Report Share Posted April 26, 2005 Sorry I'm not sure, it doesn't make sense to me to ship heavy wet rock, to then have to dry it out making it half the weight. Also if it did come in properly live I think we would see alot more hitch hikers magically appear in peoples tanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted April 27, 2005 Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 I have been looking at the price of live rock in the UK, and it IS EXPENSIVE. Here for "rock" you pay what $10-12/kg (And some places charge more for "cured rock" - fair enough). In the UK, to buy "live rock" (ie cured and with lots of coralline growth and plenty of inhabitants) it is the equivalent of (hang on while i do the math) $25/kg. So, double You live and earn NZL dollars or you live and earn UK pounds. You cant convert to NZL dollars and you cant convert to UK pounds. If we pay NZL$1.50 here for a coke, does that mean it should be 60 pence in England? I dont think so. You pay $10/kg here for live (cured) rock - that's the norm - although it's 2nd hand :lol: Just wait for others to break down their tanks and buy it that way. Otherwise, pay the same price from LFS for dead rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquatopia Posted April 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 Chimera LOL - its funny that you should have used a coke analogy - because you are dead right - it IS 60p in England for the same size bottle you buy here for $1.50 ! :lol: As far as my comment regarding the cost of live rock here as opposed to the UK, what i was TRYING to say was that you pay more for for LR in the UK compared to here, but that it follows that you would because it is not the same thing. But lets not get drawn into an economics debate, thats not the purpose of my thread. All i am trying to do at the end of the day is work out the best way so sort out rock for my tank dude. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquatopia Posted April 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 Extra Note to Chimera (well it gets my posts up) You are, of course, right though - i should get out of the habit of comparing $/£ :oops: Its a hard habit to break. :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RnB Posted April 28, 2005 Report Share Posted April 28, 2005 pome next time you go home, go online on www.loot.com and travel up to manchester..... buy heaps of kit and pack it up in a tea chest, much cheaper 2nd hand there then here...... Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquatopia Posted April 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2005 Peter - next trip is Christmas - Im taking orders....... lol :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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