Alternatives to ALL that Live Rock?

[Greg Depo]

So I'm planning on starting a new Reef tank. I'll be setting up a Sump with a Fuge and skimmer. My issue is the preferred method of equal amounts of Live Rock per gallon of water. What alternatives are there they won't cost hundreds of dollars? Is the sump and fuge (with chaeto) enough to balance the tanks chemistry? My current tank I purchased Base Rock and some "seed" live rock but I did have a wet/dry filter.

What do you guys think?

 

[jaxredsoxfan]

You'll be fine with some base rock and a few pieces of LR to seed. A cup of sand from an established tank will help as well. Some folks dont use LR or LS because of the possibility of introducing unwanted hitchhikers or other pathogens. I started my current tank with nothing but base-rock and a bottle of bacteria, it just takes a little longer to cycle.

 

[EmdeReef]

+ 1 no need to follow any amount per gallon. You do need some for bacteria to colonize

 

[PatW]

You can start with dry rock. Just cycle it so it has the bacteria to convert ammonia to nitrate. Dry rock costs far less than live rock. Some people even make their own dry rock out of cement, sand and other ingredients and that is even cheaper. But at about $3 per lb, dry rock is not that bad.

No macro algae like chaeto does not balance the system. As chaeto grows in the refugium, it sucks nitrates and phosphates out of the water. It is a means of exporting nitrates and phosphates that are added in the food fed to the fish. Left in the tank, nitrates and phosphates will build up and cause algae blooms in the display tank. There are a number of ways to export nutrients and often reefers use several at once.

 

[James77]

Any dry rock will turn into "live rock" on its own. When I redid my 120, I used 100% dry rock. It was maybe $250 and that loaded my tank with dry rock. Fast forward to now and I have all sorts of small life on it, that gets introduced through corals and whatnot.

Having a wall of rocks is much less appealing than some well placed attractive rock. Put some dry rock in and maybe a scoop of sand from an established tank.

Oh, coralline algae did take a while to establish for me, about 1 year. Now I hate the stuff it is everywhere...

 

[Blitheran]

Dry rock is much better! It will be easier to aquascape and create a less of the rock rubble look

 

[Bryson.bobby]

So I'm planning on starting a new Reef tank. I'll be setting up a Sump with a Fuge and skimmer. My issue is the preferred method of equal amounts of Live Rock per gallon of water. What alternatives are there they won't cost hundreds of dollars? Is the sump and fuge (with chaeto) enough to balance the tanks chemistry? My current tank I purchased Base Rock and some "seed" live rock but I did have a wet/dry filter.

What do you guys think?

You can buy some dry rock on amazon 45 bucks for 40 pounds