Placement of Live Rock in Sump

[dyzio]

Hi,
I was wondering where should live rock fragments be placed in the sump? Should they be submerged all the time, or should they be placed where bio balls were before I took them out ( water would flow over them, but they would not be submerged all the time, just wet )? Thanks in advance for all your advice!

Chris

 

[matts125]

Welcome to Reef Frontiers!
First off good job for taking out the Bio balls. and the live rock should be under water all the time. this way there is no die off..

Matt

 

[dyzio]

Thanks Matt for the super fast answer!

Chris

 

[dragoneggs]

Go ahead and stick them anywhere in your sump... they don't need light but definitely need circulating saltwater.

 

[class clown]

Go ahead and stick them anywhere in your sump... they don't need light but definitely need circulating saltwater.

Typically though you don't have that much flow in a sump right? I thought one of the purposes of a sump was so that it could be a pretty much low flow area where all of the junk settles.

So, is there value in having LR in the sump or is it more value to put it in the display?

if you want to put it in in the sump because say you don't have enough room in the main or you just prefer to grow sponges under no light or something like that, would it be valuable to add a couple powerheads down there to keep water circulating in, out, and all around the LR?

 

[dragoneggs]

Typically though you don't have that much flow in a sump right? I thought one of the purposes of a sump was so that it could be a pretty much low flow area where all of the junk settles.

So, is there value in having LR in the sump or is it more value to put it in the display?

if you want to put it in in the sump because say you don't have enough room in the main or you just prefer to grow sponges under no light or something like that, would it be valuable to add a couple powerheads down there to keep water circulating in, out, and all around the LR?

Agreed... I think it it of the sump as a temporary storage place... I really don't see much if any advantage vs. puttin the LR in your display.

 

[Krish]

Typically people tend to leave live rock for just their display unless they are prepared for the extra maintenance or they have good flow down there to accomodate them as live rock sheds . The rock you have in your main display should be more than enough for filtration purposes. I had live rock in my sump one time ago...Just 3 pieces and ended up removing them because they caused more harm than good because of how much they shed even with 800 gph running through a 24 inch sump. Here's a pic of what I vaccumed out of a bare bottom sump with only 3 rocks in it. In any event, going back on the question, if you use rock in the sump, it needs to be submerged. Putting it in the same spot in the sump where ther bio-balls were (wet/dry environment) will make them pretty much act the same way as the bio-balls did. Also, remember to vaccum out the sump regularily if detritus settles in there