Feelers Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 I'd imagine 4 weeks would be long enough - truth is its not a precise art. More hit n miss. If you do put it in the sea make sure it sets in the mould for at least three days (salt water will screw it up if it hasnt set properly). Remember people arent likely to take the rock . I suppose they could smash it - if you put in in a deep pool that could probably be avoided. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 Why not use a paddling pool? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted May 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 I would use ours but the kids put a split up the sides and unfortunatly it can't be fixed because of the type of pool it is. :evil: Just a passing thought....... what would I need if I was to go tropical marine apart from heater, skimmer. Also instead of the hight lights that you guys use is there a form of fluro that I could use instead? As I have seen special fluros at our LFS. What kelvin rating do they require? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feelers Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 Well if you wanna go full out tropical marine like anemones ect you need good lighting - metal halides. In saying that it is possible to go with high output flourescent tubes (t5's) but you need a heap of them and the tank cant be too deep. You'll want a good skimmer = $$$ . You'll need good water flow - $$, and you'd probably want a sump (does this have a sump?) Your best bet is to work out what you want to keep. LPS and softies are probably what most people would recommend - they are happy with tubes and arent as picky as SPS corals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted May 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2006 ok I don't know if this will work or not but at our LFS (well last time I looked) she had a washing basket type thing full of this real rough looking dried rock. Would this be coral rock or what ever for marine tanks? Would I be able to use any of this in my cold water marine? Each piece has a seperate price and not by the kg so I would only be able to get a couple of the small ones if they are at all usable. I thought if I was to get some small pieces (eventually build up) and get them going in my current marine tank then when I upgrade I can switch them over to help the new tank as well. If this is not usable for me please let me know. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted May 8, 2006 Report Share Posted May 8, 2006 if it was white/light gray is probaly is coral rock, the LFS should know, cause you wouldnt want to put it into a fresh water tank it would screw with the PH and other things. you can cure "dead" live rock in your tank but it takes time most of which will be spent with ugly algae problems. The price difference between "live" live rock and "dead" live rock isn't that great, it's getting your hands on it that is the problem. Some people buy a mix of dead and cured live rock which helps with the costs, the down side is you have to stock your tank very slowly while the dead rock cures. The cost comes from shipping it into the country not leaving it still in water for a couple of months while it cures. Regards curing in the sea, one of the best things about marine is that when you look in the tank you never know what your going to see. curing in the sea will seed your rock with all sorts of interesting critters. A couple of weeks ago I was up late and had a look in my tank with a torch, to my surprise there was a crab about the size of a 20cent sitting on top of a rock, never seen it before, and haven't seen it since Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted May 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2006 yeah the rock that is at the LFS is a white/grey colour and is all dry sitting in this basket. From memory (been a while) it wasn't that heavy to pick up a piece either. Would this be ok in cold salt marine? It will just be a small piece to start with. The marine tank I have at the moment has little critters crawling all over the glass (looks like moving grains of sand) as well as little worm type things that live in the sand and stick out two long little tenticals(sp) even moving the rocks about today I noticed more little things that I didn't notice I had before. I have to say for the very limited knowledge that I have of this stuff I think I have done pretty well and all I have used is rocks from the beach (covered in things of course) and sand from low tide. Went to the rock pools again today and got another triplefin, starfish, small crab, anemones and having a go at a couple of pieces of seaweed. I will post a pic later as the water is still settling from the stuir up lol so once that has settled I will take a pic and show you how things are for me at the moment Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feelers Posted May 8, 2006 Report Share Posted May 8, 2006 PJ from the sounds of it your LFS isnt very good - the fact that they charge per piece instead of per kilo is probably an indicator(I've never heard of charging per piece before!) How big is your tank exaclty in Litres? (is it ~200 from memory?) The amount of rock needed is worked out in a ratio - you want between ~1pound per Gallon and ~1.5pounds per Gallon of rock. (sorry its in US terms) So in a 200L tank (52G) you'd need between 22 and 33 kg or rock. When you look at the price per kg - $15 to $20 for real "live rock" thats = between $330 and $660. For base(dead) rock its between $10 and $15, so = $220, $330. If you make it your self - using normal cement and beach sand $20 could make over 200kg. It is FAR cheaper, although obviously not as convenient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted May 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2006 at the moment my current marine tank is in a 2.5ft tank which is about 75ltrs. Sorry I don't know what that would be in gallons. I just thought that if I was to have a couple of pieces that are going good then when I do upgrade then I would have something to help seed the rest of the rock (wether man made or brought). If this won't work then all good. I just thought that it might help me along if I was to get a couple of pieces now for later down the track Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted May 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2006 http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y116/p ... G_0013.jpg Nothing flash but thats my budget marine tank lol. Its still hazey because as mentioned earlier I have moved the rocks about. The picture had to be tanken on an angel to remove the reflection of the flash from the camera but you get the general idea. The tank is 2.5ftx1x1. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted May 8, 2006 Report Share Posted May 8, 2006 sound like your LFS has the right stuff. just putting it in the tank is fine and just add it as you can afford it. The aim for marine is to have zero nitrates doing large water changes often will remove some of the nitrates but the live rock converts it to nitigen gas the rule about how much to have is about having an average skimmer, average bio load, to acheive low/zero nitrate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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