Too much live rock?

[Snailbuddy]

Is there such a thing as too much LR? I've ended up with 70 lbs plus all the rock corals come on . . . so about 80 lbs all together in a 50 gal tank. It's pretty packed. Am thinking about removing 20 lbs or so, setting up maybe a 20 gal tank with it. Any opinions? Or am I about to just create more work for myself :icon_conf Thanks, always appreciate you guys!

[Invigor]

Ask brian smyth about too much live rock :)

I go for the aesthetics. If it's my tank, it has to look good to me. If you think it looks like too much, take some out. There shouldn't be anything "wrong" about it unless it restricts flow to certain areas causing anarobic bacteria.

[Snailbuddy]

Excellent! I just thought there was some "rule of thumb" that I didn't know about . . . so, what did Brian do?

[Invigor]

he's got more rock than water :D

[scary gary]

I agree with John. Whatever looks good to you. Rule of thumb is 1 lb. per gal.

[MrCrab]

It sure depends on how much live rock you like - I have noticed that a number of Reef Central's sites of the month have more like 2 to 3 pounds of live rock per gallon.

It's great to have a variety of types of rock or textures of rock when aquascaping a tank - if you have this, I think you can have more live rock in a tank and not have it look crowded.

What kind of layout do you want to have in your tank - a lagoon type will allow you to aquascape the back of your tank and to have rock coming from the back of your tank - on the ends- up to the front of your aquarium - you'd need more rock for this. Also, if you have a number of fish in your tank, more rock will give you the crevices, caves and arches for your fish to hide in etc. and from which they can escape more aggressive fish.

I guess the coraline algae on the rocks and some of the other things that grow on them can be beneficial in filtering in the tank, too.

Live rock - I like lots - but for some ... less is more!

[MrCrab]

Also, I have purchased a fair amount of my live rock from Brian - so maybe he is downsizing on his aquascaping of liverock. But his tank still looks pretty good with all the live rock he has.

[briansmyth]

I have about 180 pounds in a 90 gallon tank - so I've downsized some rock - I do have another 15 pounds in my sump just in case I get the desire to suddently add some more rock to the tank!

As others have indicated - there is no right or wrong way to aquascape ... it's a matter of personal preference. And it's an `evolving' thing in your tank - right now I have a finger leather coral which has really grown, so I need to place the coral lower in my tank by moving or removing rock. I personally am a fan of lagoon styles and some other biotopes.

Here is an interesting aquascaping quote from WetWebMedia:

Every marine aquarium benefits from aquascaping; esthetically and functionally. Yes, it sure looks good when done right; but a well decorated system does more than please the eye. Like a room with or without furnishings, aquascaping makes the overall environment better for your livestock. Enhanced biological cycling from increased surface area and added buffering capacity are just the beginning. Breaking up the physical space solves many social and psychological problems, providing hiding spaces from bullies (including you), and granting your fishes and invertebrates a sense of place.

[Snailbuddy]

Yes, I do have the lagoon type setup, horse-shoe shape around the sides and back - cool cave on right hand side. What I was concerned about is the huge pile of rock on the left side, it fills up almost 1/3 of the tank - lots of swimming space through there, I can see that there is floor space back there so it's not solid. You guys are right . . . the fish are very healthy and happy and growing . . . the corals are extending and growing too. So, why fix it if it aint broken?
It is beautiful - I was concerned that the fish didn't have enough free space. I was also concerned that maybe it was harmful in some "balance" way . . . I love the part in that quote about enemies . . . hahaha! Never thought of that, but (aside from feeding time!) I'm sure that they probably do think of me that way! Thanks again - this is the best forum! :beerchug:

[Invigor]

you should also give reef_raf a PM on canreef.com and ask him, he recently (well, almost a year ago) downsized all his LR due to pollutant saturation issues..

[muck]

lbs per gallon means squat IMO.

Say you want to shoot for 50lbs or rock in a 50 gallon tank. (ie. 1 lb per gal)
If you have denser rock your tank might be only have enough tock to barely cover the bottom. Where as if you have really pourus rock the tank could be almost full.

[Snailbuddy]

Yeah, that's what I must have heard about . . . I knew there was something. I'll search for that thread - thanks! It's always good to know it's not total insanity!

[Snailbuddy]

True enough Ryan . . . the type of rock would make a huge difference

[scary gary]

Yes the density of the rock will make a difference, So will the shape of the rock. That's why it's up to the person to decide on what is best for his tanks. The lb. per gal. is a rough estimate.

[briansmyth]

It might be an idea for some of us to post photos of our tanks, so others can see how much liverock is in the tank and how your tank has been aquascaped.

[Invigor]

good idea brian :D

I've got about 100lbs of rock in my 105gallon tank.

[THEKID]

Here an older photo of my tank. 33gal tank and around 40lbs of Fiji rock, plus lots of other stuff. When I bought rock for my tank I bought more then I know I would use. That way you for sure have enough and you also have more pieces to pick from. Then just sell the reset, there is always someone looking for rock.


Jeret

[Snailbuddy]

Nice tanks, guys! I love how open they are, lots of caves and arches for fish and critters . . . no bordom there!

I removed about 30 lbs . . . looks great now. Wish I could post a picture, but I mess it up every time I try:icon_redf

I contacted Reef_Raff at Canreef - here's what he said:

"I found that my 155g tank ended up having about 280 pounds of rock, and after a while, stuff started dying, I had algae problems, etc. While tearing the tank down, it appeared that lack of flow through the rock work allowed far too much detritus to accumulate and decay. I mean it was like raw sewage in between the rocks.
My new tank is a 75g with about 70 pounds of rock. I have about 6000gph flowing through the tank and I'm now running bare bottom (the tank!! ). I set the rocks up to allow the fish to swim between almost every crack, and minimal touching of the bottom glass.
The result of the new tank setup is no algae (I wipe the front glass once a week), polyp extension on every single coral 24/7, almost no skimmate collected in my euroreef that used to be emptied daily.

So yes, I think you can have too much rock and it will cause problems at some point."

[stinga]

That is all very interesting and helpful,And yea nice pic's:Clapping: !