How much live/dry rock do I need?

[James_O]

I have read/heard tons of conflicting information on this subject. How much live and dry rock do I need for my 29g tank?

My budget is around $60 for all of it. I know that’s really not that much, so I was thinking this:

-15lb of dry rock ($2/lb)
-4lb of live rock ($6/lb)

Does that sound good?

 

[Azedenkae]

I have read/heard tons of conflicting information on this subject. How much live and dry rock do I need for my 29g tank?

My budget is around $60 for all of it. I know that’s really not that much, so I was thinking this:

-15lb of dry rock ($2/lb)
-4lb of live rock ($6/lb)

Does that sound good?

You'd be better off getting as much dry rock as you can, and then a lb of live rock just to seed everything. So preferably like 28 lb dry rock and 1 lb live rock.

P.S. $2/lb dry rock sounds very cheap. Where are you getting your rock from?

 

[Reef.]

I have read/heard tons of conflicting information on this subject. How much live and dry rock do I need for my 29g tank?

My budget is around $60 for all of it. I know that’s really not that much, so I was thinking this:

-15lb of dry rock ($2/lb)
-4lb of live rock ($6/lb)

Does that sound good?

are you having any bio media in the chambers/sump?

I have only a little rock in my tank but have made up the difference with bio media, remember rock these days is not very porous, bio media has many times the surface area of the majority of rock we use in our tanks, I would add as much as you feel looks good, then if it looks on the low side as bio media.

 

[James_O]

You'd be better off getting as much dry rock as you can, and then a lb of live rock just to seed everything. So preferably like 28 lb dry rock and 1 lb live rock.

P.S. $2/lb dry rock sounds very cheap. Where are you getting your rock from?

Oh really? Ok!

My LFS, it’s a little place called “PETropilis”. Awesome little place.

I’m terrible at judging how big/how many pieces of rock “1lb” is.

 

[James_O]

are you having any bio media in the chambers/sump?

I have only a little rock in my tank but have made up the difference with bio media, remember rock these days is not very porous, bio media has many times the surface area of the majority of rock we use in our tanks, I would add as much as you feel looks good, then if it looks on the low side as bio media.

Sadly no, I just have a HOB filter. :/

 

[Azedenkae]

Oh really? Ok!

My LFS, it’s a little place called “PETropilis”. Awesome little place.

I’m terrible at judging how big/how many pieces of rock “1lb” is.

Me too! XD

Do they have a scale?

If it helps, a good way to start on a budget is to go as much dry rock as possible. You only need a very small piece of live rock to seed things tbh.

 

[Azedenkae]

Sadly no, I just have a HOB filter. :/

There's a lot of biomedia that can fit in a HOB filter. Seachem Matrix, MarinePure gems, etc.

 

[James_O]

So maybe 20lb of dry rock and 3lb of live rock? (I calculated, and that’s pretty much all I can afford right now)

 

[James_O]

Me too! XD

Do they have a scale?

If it helps, a good way to start on a budget is to go as much dry rock as possible. You only need a very small piece of live rock to seed things tbh.

Me too! XD

Do they have a scale?

If it helps, a good way to start on a budget is to go as much dry rock as possible. You only need a very small piece of live rock to seed things tbh.

Yes, they do have a scale.

That makes sense though!

There's a lot of biomedia that can fit in a HOB filter. Seachem Matrix, MarinePure gems, etc.

Oh, i do have Seachem Matrix in my HOB right now.

(I have a course sponge, active carbon/floss, and a fine sponge)

 

[Azedenkae]

So maybe 20lb of dry rock and 3lb of live rock? (I calculated, and that’s pretty much all I can afford right now)

Why not 27 lb of dry rock and 1 lb of live rock?

 

[Reef.]

So maybe 20lb of dry rock and 3lb of live rock? (I calculated, and that’s pretty much all I can afford right now)

that is loads, maybe too much, I personally wouldn't go with the live rock,it's really not needed, if it was all live and from a good source then yes, but if the source is not that great and you are only buying a little, it is not going to shorten your cycle, so not sure why bother.

I would either go for all dry and wait a full month for the cycle or add a bottle,of Fritz bacteria to shorten the cycle a little.

 

[Azedenkae]

that is loads, maybe too much, I personally wouldn't go with the live rock,it's really not needed, if it was all live and from a good source then yes, but if the source is not that great and you are only buying a little, it is not going to shorten your cycle, so not sure why bother.

I would either go for all dry and wait a full month for the cycle or add a bottle,of Fritz bacteria to shorten the cycle a little.

My only concern is op is on a budget, so might not have the money to buy Fritz. But yeah to be honest I am just trying to use up all the $60, 23 lb rocks total should do eh.

 

[Tamberav]

Just buy however much looks good in the tank for your scape. There are plenty of examples of different scapes, some minimalistic and they all work.

 

[James_O]

that is loads, maybe too much, I personally wouldn't go with the live rock,it's really not needed, if it was all live and from a good source then yes, but if the source is not that great and you are only buying a little, it is not going to shorten your cycle, so not sure why bother.

I would either go for all dry and wait a full month for the cycle or add a bottle,of Fritz bacteria to shorten the cycle a little.

I do have Instant Ocean Bio-Spira, and I plan to cycle with that.

Why not 27 lb of dry rock and 1 lb of live rock?

I will see the quality of the live rock before I get it, so I will get 2lb of live rock, max. I will get a lot of dry rock though!

Do you guys have any pictures of your tanks and the amount of rock you have in there, so I can get an idea of how much rock will “fill up” my tank?

 

[Reef.]

I do have Instant Ocean Bio-Spira, and I plan to cycle with that.



I will see the quality of the live rock before I get it, so I will get 2lb of live rock, max. I will get a lot of dry rock though!

Do you guys have any pictures of your tanks and the amount of rock you have in there, so I can get an idea of how much rock will “fill up” my tank?

good plan. The big piece of rock at the back has since been chopped in half so even less than this picture is showing

 

[Azedenkae]

I do have Instant Ocean Bio-Spira, and I plan to cycle with that.

Oh nice! Yeah okay you probably don't have to worry too much about seeding then. As for images, here's mine, 16 lb for 20 gallons. Though maybe about 2 lbs is in my back chamber, so maybe more like 14 lbs.

 

[schuby]

Putting even a small amount of Live Rock in your tank will save you a lot of frustration and money, in both the near-term and long-term. That's my 2 cents of advice.

 

[James_O]

Leaving now! I’ll update with pictures when I get back!

 

[ApoIsland]

Putting even a small amount of Live Rock in your tank will save you a lot of frustration and money, in both the near-term and long-term. That's my 2 cents of advice.

Absolutely right. Much better to spend your money on a few pieces of live rock instead of bottle bac.

Plus you can always join a local club and ask the group if anyone has some live rock rubble they wouldn't mind clearing out of their tank. The more variety of bacteria strains you can get the better in my opinion.

 

[MaxTremors]

that is loads, maybe too much, I personally wouldn't go with the live rock,it's really not needed, if it was all live and from a good source then yes, but if the source is not that great and you are only buying a little, it is not going to shorten your cycle, so not sure why bother.

I would either go for all dry and wait a full month for the cycle or add a bottle,of Fritz bacteria to shorten the cycle a little.

Why bother? For bacterial diversity and the microfauna. I say this all the time, but to me, a reef tank isn’t a reef tank without the microfauna.