Rock Requirements

[Jguido1987]

Just a quick question about rock requirements. It seems as if the standard idea of rock requirements is a 1:1 pound to gallon. Why is this? Obviously rock is made from all different elements and minerals each with a specific density and associated weight. As in a piece of pumas stone vs a piece of granite. Does the weight of the stone hold significant importance to the overall goal a reefer is attempting to achieve or is it most important to attempt to attain stone/rock work that is light but could covers much more surface area? Overall is it better to have smaller heavy rock or larger lighter rock? Sorry if this question was asked in earlier threads.

 

[mtraylor]

There is no rock rule....but me personally...I like light porous rock for better filtration and flow. just plan your aquascape and you should be ok. I have seen good reefs with allot of rock and some with little. The more rock you have, the more biological filtration you will have, etc etc.

 

[AcroNem]

The lb per gallon rule isn't something that needs to be followed. It was a "rule of thumb" in the old days. You should avoid using dense rock and the point of having porous rock (and having rock in the first place) is for biological filtration. So a calcium based aragonite rock is what should be used. Using dense rock will serve pretty much no purpose other than a base to put corals on if there's no internal surface area for bacteria and microfauna to colonize. So, you can use as much or as little rock as you'd like when planning your system, but keep in mind that will play a big role in the stability of your system so you should choose a good live (or dry, but I prefer live) rock. To answer your last question, definitely better to use lighter, more porous rock.