How much Dry Rock

[DerekJames]

Good Morning Everyone,

I am new to the saltwater hobby and I have been doing lots of research the past year and a half. I have all of my equipment already the only thing that I am having a hard time with is sand and Dry rock. I have a 90 gallon Reef ready tank with the Aqueon ProFlexâ„¢ Modular Sump Filtration Model 4 - 29.25 gallons Volume represents the maximum volume of water that the sump holds when set up in the Refugium configuration. How much dry rock would I need to put into my system. I plan on doing FOWLR for the first year or so to get the hang of the saltwater hobby before is spend the money on corals I want to make sure i have the hang of things. Now when it comes to sand i really like the look of the Florida Crushed Coral. I have it in my 40 gallon Cichlid tank and love the look and also has stabilized my PH and also love the extra surface area for beneficial Bacteria. I know for certain fish like Sand Sifting Gobies you cant go to big with the sand grains but i dont want anything small that will get blown around my tank. Any advise will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Derek Authement

 

[cdness]

Well I made the mistake in my 75G with the 1 - 1.5 pounds per gallon... I ordered 120 pounds of dry rock from BRS and it was WAY too much... It weighs less when dry, DUH!

So for a 90 gallon I would start with 50 - 60 pounds dry... Build the aquascape how you want it and have a few extra pieces. It's better to have enough to make what you want than run out and have to order more...

 

[sureal00]

I wasted way too much in live rock in the beginning.I would agree 50-60 in the beginning and build an aquascape you like and buy more rock if needed.

 

[kfoerster]

I agree, I am also new to the hobby and just over purchased 50 pounds of BRS Reef Saver dry rock for my 60G cube. After aquascaping I have 4 large pieces left over, probably about 15-20 pounds worth.

 

[DerekJames]

Thank yall for the advice i would hate to buy too much for sure. What is yall thoughts on the sand situation??

 

[cdness]

I went with the Caribsea Aragonite Live Sand... However I rinsed it before using to get all the dust out so it probably wasn't live anymore.

I am not a fan of crushed coral substrate as it can trap detritus and cause an increase in nitrates. The Aragonite allows for sand dwellers to help prevent that.

 

[DerekJames]

Cdness does this sand stay in place well i dont want a sand that blows around real easy i want a sand that can handle a moderate to high flow tank.

 

[ravenjred]

Check out the aragonite from marcorocks.com

 

[DerekJames]

Ravenjred what kind of tank are you running a low or high flow tank??

 

[PaulKreider]

When I first started out I thought crushed coral was a great idea too, turns out I was wrong. It accumulates a lot of detritus rather than helping to clean the water, and it just doesn't give that amazing "reef tank" look quite like sand does. As long as your powerheads aren't pointing directly at the sand anything besides a "fine" grain will work. Personally I use "Fiji pink" from caribsea. I think it looks great and always holds its nice crisp white color. As far as rock goes I think the above statements are correct, but there's no guideline you have to stick by. Minimalist aquascapes look great, and you can avoid the "rock pile" look that having too much rock seems to produce. In the end its all up to you and what look you want to have in YOUR tank.

 

[DerekJames]

Thanks Paulkreider I just want to prevent the "Sand Storm" situation ya know lol.

 

[Thunderfan]

So how do you figure sand coverage? I have a 75 and from the sound of it way overbought rock. That's OK because it will give me more options on scaping. I am leaning toward getting aragonite from Marco and was wandering if 40 pounds was enough.

 

[DerekJames]

It depends of how deep of a sand be you want. How deep of a sand bed do you wish to have??

 

[DerekJames]

I know this is a mixed review and im new to the saltwater hobby but ive had freshwater tanks all my life but too much isn't good and not enough isn't good neither.

 

[Thunderfan]

I know this is a mixed review and im new to the saltwater hobby but ive had freshwater tanks all my life but too much isn't good and not enough isn't good neither.

After taking to many people it seems that 2"or less is a good depth unless you go deep which I do not want to do.

 

[PaulKreider]

2 inches is a pretty good level, unless you want your sandline to be under your trim on the tank I wouldn't go below 2", anything above 4" is getting into the deepsand bed section.

 

[Thunderfan]

So, saying 2" on a standard 75g how many pounds do you think that will take?

 

[DerekJames]

2 inches is what I've always had in all my aquariums and always worked great and looked good as well your tanks is 48X18 correct?

 

[DerekJames]

If so you would need 100 lbs of dry sand and 130 lbs of wet sand to acheve a 2 inch sand debt give or take a few pounds.

 

[Thunderfan]

Yes 48x18. My plan is to do the scape then put sand so, I guess I would need a little less than that because the rock will take up some of the room. Is that correct?