Question about live sand and rock.

[as1720]

OK so i have a 29 gal tank.

I bought 50 lbs of live sand. What type of LR should i buy cured or uncured?

I planned on buying some cool looking lova type rock and some live rock with purple coraline on it. Would that work well?

 

[kitsapdan]

i would get cured rook

 

[as1720]

i would get cured rook

Can you tell me whay you think i sould get cured rock though?


I am so new to all this and im having a hard time keeping all the info in my head lol.

 

[mfinn]

You could buy uncured live rock and have to wait a extra 3-4 weeks till it completely cures.

Get cured live rock and skip the lava rock.

 

[as1720]

I like the way the lava rock looks.. is there anything bad about it?

So buying the rock with the coraline on it has no pluses, it will just die right?

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Agree with Finn
Plus when you get your cured live rock, get the largest piece of the lightest density. Look for porous and open. It is maximum surface area of real reef type rock you are primarily after. This is a bacteria and micro flora and fauna foundation that is the "bedrock" of your system. The lava rock could have unknown metals and minimally is other than pure old dead coral skeleton rock which is vastly best.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

So buying the rock with the coraline on it has no pluses, it will just die right?

No. When exposed to air for a while, the coralline may turn white, but you'll still have it on the rock to seed the rest of your tank. If you have no rocks in the tank with coralline on them, then you won't have coralline. It has to come from somewhere.

 

[as1720]

Well my planb was to go buy it from some one near by and transport it in buckets of water. Does that make sence? So it wouldnt be out of water for more then a couple seconds.

 

[mfinn]

You can even transport it covered with wet towels. But the less time it is exposed to air, the less of a cycle the tank will have. Sometimes the cycle is almost nothing.

 

[as1720]

Alright went and got the live rock it has tons of stuff on it! Serpent or bristle startfish i can tell are ALLL over it, along with some fire worms i think they are called and some grr i cant remember what they are called but they look kinda like clear shrimp and are itsy bitsy little things.

They have been in there the last 3 hours and everything is still alive.

I am going to take pictures as soon as i can borrow my moms camera. Ours SUCKS!!

So here is how i transported the rock.. wraped in a saoking wet towl, in a plastic bag in a bucket. lol Seems to have worked really well considering everything is still alive.

Now are all theze star fish bad? YThere are a TON of them. They are about the size of a .25 piece.lol But there has to be 100 of them.

There are also some feather duster type things that i cant seem to find pictures of to id i'll try to get pictures of them.

 

[gary shandling]

A small piece of lava rock might be fine but to much isnt good. You need a minimum of 1 lb per gallon and useing reef type rock is best to avoid any future unwanted problems. In this hobby most major problems take time to appear and this makes fixing much harder and dollar loses much higher.

You need control from water source to flow to rock to stock for long term success.

It is best to get a mix of 50% base LR and 50% LR. This reduces unwanted hitch hikers and seed the other rock with money savings.

 

[DonW]

You need a minimum of 1 lb per gallon and useing reef type rock is best to avoid any future unwanted problems. It is best to get a mix of 50% base LR and 50% LR. This reduces unwanted hitch hikers and seed the other rock with money savings.

The old pounds per gallon rule has been tossed out the window for quite some time. Using the live or dead rock of the right type is fine. Many now days are starting with rock like Marco Rocks only. Biodiversity is interesting but isnt always in your best interest.

Don

 

[gary shandling]

In a new setup then this is a good start amount. It gives enough rock for bio filtration as with lose enough for good water circulation around the rock. Then as you add frags your LR amount will rise anyway. LR being your best bio filter means you want its amount to match your load which would be little if any at first. SO maxing out your amount of LR upfront isnt needed and could cause some trouble later. Everything in your tank is relivent. Amount of stock to CUC to LR to flow to lighting to water changes will all need adjusting as your tank matures.

I know that going slow and easy never maxing out isnt old school and still the best way to go. 1 lb per gallon is a great starting point. As you add coral then more rock is better for water quality and coral placement. Believe me it will grow as your tank grows. Slow and easy.

The old pounds per gallon rule has been tossed out the window for quite some time. Using the live or dead rock of the right type is fine. Many now days are starting with rock like Marco Rocks only. Biodiversity is interesting but isnt always in your best interest.

Don

 

[busdriver]

Most starfish are good. some eat coral and other stuff, but for the most part you should be fine. For some good ideas about all kinds of stuff go to GARF.org and go to reefvideos.com and watch the vids that they have...
Welcome to the hobby!
also check out refugiums... they add water volume and help clean your water. (you don't really need one now, but the extra water volume will help keep your sg from changing fast...)
Stephen