How much dry rock?

[JonCherba]

Do you use the total water volume or the display tank volume to figure out how much dry rock? I know that the more surface area the better for bacteria to colonize. I'm building a dual 40 breeder system and i currently have about 60-70lbs of marco rock. I'm thinking of purchasing another 80-100lbs to use to get my aquascape done and use whats left for my sons nano reef tank. Some of this weight is the foundation rocks, small and medium sizes, I didn't think the large would fit very nice in the 40 breeder.

I plan on making the center island 50% of the tank height to use as the sps / acro garden, then the outside islands as euphillia garden and an lps garden, this may change later but those are my ideas so far.

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

170lbs sounds like too much to me for 2 40s if you want room in there for fish to swim.

i have 400- 500lbs in a 300 gallon and about 100lbs in another 300 gallon. Both tanks do just fine. One has much more room for fish.

I would recommend live rock vs dry rock and quality over quantity.

 

[Spare time]

Pound per gallon is a very unhelpful term. Sand and rocks provide enough room for bacteria and I'd only get concerned if it was a barebottom absolutely packed with fish and very little rock. It is better to think of rock in terms of the fish and coral much of what we keep are fish that swim and dart in and out of rocks and corals, unlike larger fish who are able to swim further out without getting eaten.


I recommend setting it up so that the fish can all find a separate cavern or crevice to hide, corals can be placed in the right light and flow paths, and detritus cant pile up at one spot. It is VERY important to consider how things will change overtime as corals grow.



In mixed reefs, I like to use sps as wavebreakers so that the very high flow they are adapted to get cut down by the time it reaches my lps and softies

 

[Reeferjunkie]

I would say for a 40g breeder like 30pounds of rock and breaking it down and building it how you want with plenty of room for flow

 

[JonCherba]

I plan on breaking it down and building it up the way I want. So the 60 lbs I have currently should be plenty, I may get a bit more but much less then I previously mentioned. I just want room to build it how I want and I'd rather have extra leftover then not have enough. I'll probably get a few more foundation pieces and 20lbs of rock to have extra. I'm going with dry rock because I want to control what goes into the tank as much as I can.

I just acquired a 10 gallon tank with a few pieces of rock just sitting on the sand. It came with a good mess of green hair algae and I've been slowly working on getting rid of it. This tank will be my son's clown tank, it came with a pair of percula clowns.

 

[ninjamyst]

I used 50lbs in my 200g tank. Here's a photo. It's not about the weight. It's how you put the scape together. I have 8 bio-lux biomedia in my sump and will also move biospheres from my other tank.

 

[JonCherba]

I used 50lbs in my 200g tank. Here's a photo. It's not about the weight. It's how you put the scape together. I have 8 bio-lux biomedia in my sump and will also move biospheres from my other tank.

I love it! Very well done