what equipment is needed for a marine tank?

[taureandragon76]

No matter what you will not be able to get away with no LR. Live rock is the heart of a marine setup. As suggested you can just put it in your sump but you will need a cleaning crew in the sump also. The other problem I can see though with putting the LR in the sump is that the general rule of thumb is to have 1 pound per gallon of LR and doubt your sump would hold enough to maintain your system. Also as PP said a UGF is not a good idea, it would just end up being a nitrate factory.

[Pufferpunk]

That's not exactly true. I have seen countless tanks with fake SW decor in there & absolutely no LR. It's just that they have to do lots of large WC & stock very lightly. Or... they're always complaining about their fish being sickly & dying.

[xmikebrock]

thanks, i didnt even see the link before lol

ill be looking at that

so,
my gsp's are brackish
when i get them up to the SG 1.024 will i need the live rock?

i know i might sound like i keep going in circles, im just kinda confused with everything
thanks for putting up with it

[Pufferpunk]

I'll answer your Qs when you're done reading those links.

[marksrush]

Live rock does so much good that it's now understood to be almost a requirement for any marine setup, so you might as well resign yourself to getting some. I can't see how you would ever regret investing in several pounds of it, as it's almost a miracle what it does for your water quality. Yes, it's expensive, but then this whole darn hobby is expensive!

[puffertt77]

I'll answer your Qs when you're done reading those links.

Hmmm...I seem to remember seeing this statment

[xmikebrock]

k, just got home from school, ill be doing my research lol

and its not so much its expensive, im just not crazy on how it looks

[xmikebrock]

alright, so i read some of those articles
one said i could use live sand instead of the live rock, would that be alright?

[puffertt77]

Do you not have a sump to put the live rock in?

Are you fromthe US or UK?

I've just found someone selling 100kg of LR for £8 per kg (it's normally 15 per kg!)
http://www.gumtree.com/london/02/38616902.html

[Josh88]

Why not the display?
Hmm,I think the sand might now work,
doesn't seem stable enough like if you agitate it you could have problems.
I just wouldn't invest in sand as biological filtration.

You could always buy base(cheaper dead dry LR) and seed it with a pound of choice LR
You'd have to add something else for it to cycle(maybe a tiny bit of food) if you go with mostly base.

[Pufferpunk]

You need to go too a store with LR that's cured, in their display tank & look really close at the cool life living in there. It's not just plain rock.

[xmikebrock]

ok, ii guess i have to go with the LR then lol

thanks for all of your help

[marksrush]

...and its not so much its expensive, im just not crazy on how it looks

Wow that surprises me because I think it's gorgeous, and adds so much realism to a tank.

[Pufferpunk]

You can still add a bunch of fake stuff with it.

[xmikebrock]

so, what if i did this,
just for maximum filtration
live rock
protein skimmer.......



and a canister filter?