Substrate and rock confusion :(

[Lovge]

Hi all been reading and getting more and more confused lol. Looking for some direction on type of substrate and rock usage. Do i go with live sand or reef sand and do i use all live rock or just some??? Wanting to do a reef setup and have a few fish plus cuc. Any input is better than what limbo im stuck in. Plus does color matter?

Thanks

 

[uall8up]

If your tank is already up and running it does not matter on the type of sand you use, just make sure the sand is rinsed if you go with just regular reef sand. As for the rock, I would suggest live rock.

 

[uall8up]

BTW........Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[Yubo]

Welcome!! To R2R

You can use dry rock to keep cost down and add a couple pieces of live rock to seed it

 

[Lovge]

Yeah tank isnt running yet so im starting from scratch

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

You can do live rock, dry rock, and even no rock (this can get tricky). All live rock can be expensive especially for a larger tank. Live rock brings lots of life into the aquarium in the form of hitchhikers. These hitchhikers can be good and they can be bad. Sometimes the bad cause many headaches, so you want to be sure to check the rock real good. The hitchhikers have caused some hobbyists to rip apart their tanks just to get them out. Dry rock is very economical but lacks the hitchhikers and diversity. Typically, it will cause a tank to cycle longer since there is no life on the rocks. Now, some people don't use rock. I personally don't like the looks of these. It works OK for fish only, but IMO makes a reef look gaudy.

I recommend using dry sand. The bagged "live" sand that you see on store shelves is really just wet sand. You just want to make sure the sand is recommended for aquarium use. You can seed the sand with a cup of sand from another hobbyist's tank to add some diversity in the microfauna.

In the end, the sand and rock will become live.

 

[Newb73]

I used base rock (like $66.00 per 50lb box) from my local fish store and the argonite live sand (not because i beleive its very alive but because it is very fine particle sand).

Current trend is not to have a sand bed deeper than 2-3 inches...some dont do it at all.

The guys with hurricaines in their tanks like not to have any sand that can be blown around, but im turning my tank volve over 60 times an hour with a 3inch sand bed and its not a dust storm.

For me i like as much of a substrate surface as possible for the bacterial population it allows to filter the tank naturally so i would suggest 2-4lbs of live rock per gallon and a 2-3 inch bed of sand. (some do beach sand even).

I want to echo what the above poster said. Brining in lots of already live rock is both expensive and will likely bring things you dont want into your tank. It only takes a month or so for a healthy bacteria population to seed base/dead rock, its worth it to wait it out. (in my opinion). I did use the bag sand and probaly spent an extra 50-75 bucs to do it that way but i am a fan of the super fine particle sand (personal preference i guess).