Live rock in sumps

[Shane and John]

.So how much live rock is usually kept in a sump ?Obviously it depends on the size,but there a guideline that people try to follow?They say to try to keep live rock in the display at about a pound,pound in a half per gallon.I have a 30 gallon sump,with a octipus ps150 taking up alot of space....How much rock would you recomend me to put in there????
thanks ...Shane

 

[salmonslayer]

I put as much as I can fit. I fill if anything its not going to hurt. Good luck

 

[kgross]

To be honest. I don't put live rock in my sumps. I think it is a waste of rock. Unless you want it for a bubble trap, you should have enough rock/sand in the main tank to provide the bio filtration, and I would rather use the extra space in the sump for a fuge with lots of room for chaeto to grow.

Kim

 

[returnofsid]

I believe you're better off having a deep sand bed in the refugium area of your sump with maybe some rubble rock. I have about 6" of sand in my refugium and a few pieces of live rubble rock.

 

[jedimike]

I have some LR in the refugium area of my sump. I have just enough to give the critters places to hide and reproduce. Plus when I'm dumping water in my sump the LR breaks the water so it doesn't stir up all of my "miracle mud".

 

[Krish]

Usually what's in the display is usually sufficient enough to support the tank so some people tend not to put live rock in their sumps as sometimes it's not worth the extra efffort. What I mean by that is too small of a sump, it cannot hold much rock so not much benefit there and also, rocks shed and you'll have to keep up with sump maintenance a bit more with rock being in there to prevent any detritus from settling underneath the rocks and degrading water quality. Just a personal thought. I'll grab a link to show you what came off of just 2 or 3 rocks that was sitting in an old sump of mine. Give me a few

 

[Krish]

Take a look at this thread. Just a possibilty what you might encounter if adding live rock to your sump that you may or may not have to deal with. Every tank is different, but this is what accumilated in my sump from just about 3 small rocks.

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11686&highlight=sumps+cleaning

 

[Shane and John]

Thank you everyone for the input..maybe i should not use L/R and maybe just put macro in there..Is it ok for it to be in the same chamber as the skimmer?

 

[kgross]

You will need to put something around the skimmer pump so it does not suck up the macro, but other than that it will be fine in the same chamber. You can build a small eggcrate box to put around the skimmer pump to keep the macro out, if you have any eggcrate and some wire ties. Or possible a butter container with a bunch of holes poked in it to allow the water through.

Kim