# Live rock in new tank?



## milehighbri (Mar 25, 2012)

Strting tank Friday 90g wet dry filter, uv light. No skimmer yet, getting 54 light LEDs for reef ability hopefully suffiecient. Tank 48x18x30 i believe height may be off a lttle could be 31.

I have a lot of lace rock from when the tank was tropical and wondering if I should use it all. it is very nice rock. lots of pores. What are the benefits of using actual live rock instead of turning lace to live.  Will it be ok to use both? ANy particular kinds or all the same?

also going to use sand as the substrate but not sure how many pounds yet.

Will not having a skimmer for a while matter?

Thanks for any feedback

Brian


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## MetalArm3 (Jun 22, 2011)

*Hello MileHigh*

I have 1.2 lbs of rock per gallon and that seems to work great. One mistake I made was in not realizing that some corals come on live rock to begin with. I'm not to sure what kind of rock you have, but I bought real reef madness from liveaquaria. It's a man made live rock and its Eco friendly plus you don't get the annoying pests like aipstia. The added benefit of live rock is it take 2-3 weeks to cycle tank and not months, beneficial bacteria, coraline algae, and not to mention it plays a major role in natural filtration.

I strongly recommend a protein skimmer. No big rush on it now (while cycling) but when it's time for inhabitants,I would get one. 

I used 1.4 pounds of sand per gallon and that have me a nice 3-4" deep sand bed. You can buy sand a any Petsmart or LFS (ArgAlive). 

Takes this info with a grain of slat however. I'm a newbie thats only has is tank running for about 2 months (so far, so good)

MeralArm3


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

Sand Bed Calculator

You will be fine using the Rock that was in your FW tank. Be aware, that it will not help your tank cycle one bit, as the bacteria are different. But, no, you do not need all Live Rock or any if you don't wan it. But as Metal suggested, at least 1.5lbs per gallon. The skimmer is not a big deal now uring cycle, but in that size of a tank, it will be highly recommended that you do get one, unless you are planning on running an Algae Turf Scruuber (ATF). As for you lighting, you might have an issue there because of the depth of your tank. I would recommend getting LED's that are at least 3w each for depth penetration.


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## MetalArm3 (Jun 22, 2011)

Good Call on Lighting. Im running my BioCube 29 with 2 9W LED strips (blue and white) and the corals i have are thrieving.


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