Big Al's Reef Rock

Liz · Post by **Liz** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 4:13 pm

I just ordered this. I have a 40 gallon tank I am wanting to put it in. Anyone have a guess as to exactly how much 50 lbs will be? Will it be sufficient to do some stacking, etc in a 40 gallon, 36" tank?

lisalisa · Post by **lisalisa** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 7:50 pm

I just bought the same amount a few weeks ago. It will be perfect for your tank size!

Liz · Post by **Liz** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 8:04 pm

How big is your tank?

I would love a stacked-to-the-roof layout but I doubt that will be possible with 50lbs of "reef rock"...

lisalisa · Post by **lisalisa** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 1:22 pm

I have it in a 72 gal bow tank...

Not great pics, I'm not done aquascaping, but you can see the room 50lbs takes up.

monsterpuffer · Post by **monsterpuffer** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 5:16 pm

hmmmm...I'll probably be ordering that soon. What did shipping run you?

Liz · Post by **Liz** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 6:01 pm

I think it was like $25? I think all together it cost me a little over $1/lb.

Liz · Post by **Liz** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 2:51 pm

I was thinking about liverock but I only have 1.5 WPG/fluorescent... I like the stacked to the lid liverock look (reef look?)....

Liz · Post by **Liz** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 7:04 pm

The dust is settling, woo.

lisalisa · Post by **lisalisa** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 9:18 pm

That's all you got?! Mine looks like more, no?

Liz · Post by **Liz** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 9:27 pm

Well I think I got smaller pieces, which I prefer. It's more proportional to my tank, I guess. I think I just got more pieces they're just small, and they're not propped up, they're like, lying flat of sorts.

Just a more "broken up" 50 lbs of rock.

I'll probably redo them some tommorow, set them up so they go higher.

tekknoschtev · Post by **tekknoschtev** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 11:57 pm

THAT kind of "packed to the top" look? Hahahaha. Too bad that was just a holding tank - 90lbs of rock in a 35gal tank

As for the big als rock - you dont need light for live rock. Live rock is rock with the bacteria colonizing it. Lights are necessary for corals, and some macro algaes, but not for live rock, which would be a good idea to purchase for your tank in addition to what you have - 20 or so lbs to seed this rock to make it live would be a good idea in my mind. Looks like a decent deal for some base rock, though it appears a little dense.

Post some pics once the water clears, you can still create a stunning aquascape without having a rockwall - and sometimes - the rock wall gets old. Lookin good so far.

Liz · Post by **Liz** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 12:10 am

"dense"?

tekknoschtev · Post by **tekknoschtev** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 12:28 am

Hmm, I ugess without liverock its hard to compare. We bought base rock, and it was much heavier for its volume than live rock. If that makes sense. From what it looks like, it appears fairly dense (ie, less volume of rock)

Liz · Post by **Liz** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 1:29 am

Probably. Again, my pieces are smaller I think, and I didn't "stand them up", I basically laid them down, and the width of the tank is like 18" so they've got more area to spread out over.

I would like to get some liverock, yeah. And this rock I have in there will become liverock, also? All the junk from it will move in and all?

tekknoschtev · Post by **tekknoschtev** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 9:53 am

Well, "live rock" is technically defined by the colonies of bacteria colonizing it. Theres a good chance if you purchase live rock that it will have some amount of coraline algae on it (good), pods growing within it (good) bristle worms (good) and maybe some macro algaes. The rock you have wont become live without being seeded by other live rock, and even then, the length of time that it takes for the base rock to become live is dependant upon multiple factors including flow, and the proportion of live rock to base rock. Obviously, more live rock will seed the base rock faster. Some people claim within a few months if using a 50/50 ratio of base to live rock, and others claim that you can NEVER achieve live rock from base rock because the base rock wont have the bio diversity that live rock harvested from the ocean will. While I see the second point, base rock seeded with live rock will have the filtration capablities of live rock assuming it is not too dense and has pleny of areas for bacteria to colonize.

I didnt realize your tank was 18" deep - so maybe its not as dense as it appears. :p

The Puffer Forum

The Puffer Store

Big Al's Reef Rock

Big Al's Reef Rock

It came.