New to SW Live rocks vs Dead Rock Help

[Huly]

My husband and I have a Red Sea Max 250250 (65and gallon) plug and play set up.
we are looking at rock and have questions. We want to have a full coral reef with fish invertabrets. A whole ecosystem.

1. How much rock for a 65 gallon?
2. Pros andand cons of live rock and dead rock?
3. Percentage of live rock vs dead rock if doing a combo

And anything else you can thank of

Thanks!

 

[Clay4AU]

1. 1-2 lbs per gallon is a good rule of thumb

2. Live rock- ridiculously expensive, can contain pest, a lot of weight makes for very high overnight shipping cost
Dry rock- cheap, standard shipping, dry aquascaping with mortor, becomes live with time but looks bare until it does

3. I'd do at least 10% live, check craigslist and local clubs for best deal.
For dry rock/sand check out The Reef Rock Store

 

[jikm2187]

I have used live rock on every build thus far. My next build which is a 125g will only have dry rock. I have already got it curing and should be ready to go in no time. It takes just as long for your tank to cycle for your rock to become live. You will need something to seed the coralline algae in your tank. But for that I have a turbo snail in my 40 breeder curing tank and dose calcium on a regular basis. In the end, the pests you get with live rock cost you more money, on top of the ridiculous price on live rock.@

 

[JSB]

I used dry rock on my last build, and I have no aiptasia, no mojano, no mantis, no other things I have spent time fighting in the past. Sure, it looked pale for 2 or three months, but I would not use live rock again.

I will say that the 1-2 pounds per gallons is not absolute. I used BRS pukani dry rock (very porous). I bought 75# for my 60 cube, and 25# of it are still in my garage. It simply would not fit in the tank. So, the answer is, "it all depends".

 

[jikm2187]

I used dry rock on my last build, and I have no aiptasia, no mojano, no mantis, no other things I have spent time fighting in the past. Sure, it looked pale for 2 or three months, but I would not use live rock again.

I will say that the 1-2 pounds per gallons is not absolute. I used BRS pukani dry rock (very porous). I bought 75# for my 60 cube, and 25# of it are still in my garage. It simply would not fit in the tank. So, the answer is, "it all depends".

+1 on it being dependent. Depending on who you buy your dry rock from, what kind of rock it is will depend on the poundage you need. When I bought my love rock, the lfs I bought it from said oh we will hook you up. Get it home and in the tank, the only thing they hooked me up with was aiptasia, flat worms, but got lucky with no mantis. I will never use live rock again. When I do a water change I take my waste water and put it in my curing tank and let thing happen. I am three weeks in and have coralline growing already. You buy dry rock and it's about $2 a # online, live rock is up to $10-11 a #. In an expensive hobby I like to be super cost effective.

 

[Huly]

Thank you!


We ended getting 30llb live Figi for $4.99 from LFS and 50lb dead for $2.90. Can we use a water hose to clean dead rock? Hopefully we wont have any issues with live rock as I my husband really wanted some live Gigi.

 

[Saltwatertaylor]

Yes, if you want to use a hose to clean out your rocks outside that is fine. However, do not add hose or tap water into your tank. You need RO/DI water for this.

 

[Huly]

Also why do LFS sell 5 gal jugs to get water for $20.00? What is safe to go get water in? Plastic buckets?

 

[jikm2187]

plastic buckets are fine, there is no reason to spend a high dollar amount on buckets.. most lfs that do maintenance will sell you buckets for $2-3 because they have so many on hand..

 

[Clay4AU]

Also why do LFS sell 5 gal jugs to get water for $20.00? What is safe to go get water in? Plastic buckets?

Academy has the 7 gal potable water containers in the camping section but they are about $18.
You can use a bucket but don't forget the lid.

 

[Huly]

Thanks all of our LFS sells them for $20 and I think they are nuts! I am not buying a $20 empty jug

 

[Saltwatertaylor]

Yeah, I wouldn't spend 20$ on a bucket unless it was made of gold

 

[att]

try walmart, most stores if not all have 6gallon water jugs that i bought for 8bucks, in the camping section.

 

[Huly]

Thank you! I got Home Depot 5 gallon buckets for $2.50 now my friend and prior salt water hobbyist is helping us finish putting the tank together. We are mechanically challenged and these directions suck! Good thing he is a general contractor lol. I can do anything with dogs cats football etc but following these directions is crazy!

 

[fyrfytr]

Pardon while a newbie as well chimes in on this as well....
I am assuming that live sand is in the same situation as the live rock? So you could put some live rock in with your non-live rock and have the non-live become live while it cycles??? Would live sand be that way as well?

 

[divewsharks]

Pardon while a newbie as well chimes in on this as well....
I am assuming that live sand is in the same situation as the live rock? So you could put some live rock in with your non-live rock and have the non-live become live while it cycles??? Would live sand be that way as well?

Yes you can seed dry sand, it will in relatively short order become 'live sand'.

 

[Huly]

We used the Carib Sea Ocean Direct live sand.

 

[Clay4AU]

Pardon while a newbie as well chimes in on this as well....
I am assuming that live sand is in the same situation as the live rock? So you could put some live rock in with your non-live rock and have the non-live become live while it cycles??? Would live sand be that way as well?

I think live sand is the biggest rip off in the hobby. How can it be alive in a sealed bag for extended periods of time? How can live sand be dry? How come nobody carries dry, washed and screened agronite sand anymore? You use to could buy 40lbs of carribean agronite sand at lowes or depot for about $3.50, now you can't hardly find it anywhere but a couple places online. Now the only thing pet stores carry are the supposedly live sand that run about $25 for 10lbs. Now raising the price from $.08 per lb to $2.50 per lb because you put "live" on the bag is some phenomenal marketing, but making it the only choice available to customers just seems greedy and underhanded to me. As I've said before The Reef Rock Store is hard to beat for rock and sand. Just get dry then seed it with a couple cups of sand from an established tank.

 

[fyrfytr]

@Clay
I agree with your logic when it comes to the pre-packed live sand. The only defence I have (and as a newbie to the hobby I have no affiliation to any compnay or any store) is that if what is the live part of the sand is anarobic (ie, does not need oxygen) then it could be packaged indefinatly so long as what it does need is put in there. Sort of how live rock will be live rock so long as it is wet. The expensive bags that you speak with I have seen at Jacks Aquarium as well as PetSmart and they look to be vacuum packed and well sealed so it could potentially last.

I have looked at the reef rock store before, and their prices are good. I was at another lfs and i think they had live sand there by the pound like they did for their rock, but I can't remember their price for it. My initial question stemmed from the thought of cost reduction, if I could lay a bed of standard sand and then mix in either a bag or by the lb from my lfs i could mantain the bed at depth without having to lay out a lot of cost...similar to having a few pieces of live rock to go with a mostly dry rock formation. I dont mind a longer cycle time so long as it isnt overly long

 

[Clay4AU]

@fyrfytr
First of all its not just standard sand, it must be "aragonite" (calcium based), you do not want silica sand.

I think the best way would be to use mostly dry then trade some locals or lfs a cup of dry for a cup of established.
If you could get a little from a few different tanks that would give you more variety of bacteria and micro-organisms.
Then spread the established sand thinly across the top of the new dry sand. The sand shouldn't take any longer to cycle than a new tanks normal cycle.