Pounds per gallon?

[Rozeen]

I know Tampa Bay Saltwater recommends two pounds of live rock per gallon, and that seems a bit high to me, but what would that translate into if we were talking about dry rock? I'm assuming live rock weighs more than dry rock for the same volume? For this initial order, I'll be putting it into a 20 long. Is 40 pounds of nano sized live rock too much? Does anyone have any photos of TBS rock in their tank? Also, I'll be moving into a bigger tank soon, so if there's a bit more than I need now, that's probably OK. Thanks in advance!

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I know Tampa Bay Saltwater recommends two pounds of live rock per gallon, and that seems a bit high to me, but what would that translate into if we were talking about dry rock? I'm assuming live rock weighs more than dry rock for the same volume? For this initial order, I'll be putting it into a 20 long. Is 40 pounds of nano sized live rock too much? Does anyone have any photos of TBS rock in their tank? Also, I'll be moving into a bigger tank soon, so if there's a bit more than I need now, that's probably OK. Thanks in advance!

Good question, I never even thought about it. Following

 

[bushdoc]

I have mixture of TBS rock, Marco Rock and Aussie Live Rock, overall not more then 1lb/gal.
After initial faze of maturity, I have problems now with low nutrients ( Nitrate 3-6) and have to run skimmer less than 24/7.
In modern reef keeping nutrients are suppose to be higher then decade ago or so.
On the other side, TBS rock is quite dense, denser than Aussie or Marco Rock.
If you plan to expand, order more, you can always keep some rock in brute container until you upgrade.

 

[mfinn]

Back in the early days of the hobby it was thought that you really needed to load up a tank with live rock and it stayed that way for a long time.
But in the past 10-15 years or so people have been using less and less rock to create swimming space and coral growth space.
In my 240 I have about 120 lbs and in my 66, there is about 35 lbs.
So if I were you I would look at adding much less than the recommended 40 lbs.
Not sure what nano sized pieces are, but I would look for rock in the 7" to 9" range. It's easier to break too large of pieces down than to try and make small pieces bigger.

 

[thedon986]

I just ordered 80lbs for my 100g setup. Will find out how the first 40lbs looks Monday!

 

[CallMeChris]

I have 20lbs of TBS rock in a 10g. Half base rock and half premium rock. I think 15lbs would have been plenty. Love the rock and life. You can check out my build thread for more details and lots of pics.

Here’s a pic for reference.

 

[Randy’s reef]

I have 20lbs of TBS rock in a 10g. Half base rock and half premium rock. I think 15lbs would have been plenty. Love the rock and life. You can check out my build thread for more details and lots of pics.

Here’s a pic for reference.

Beautiful tank look like you literally stuck your head in the ocean and opened your eyes lol

 

[thedon986]

Here is 40lbs of base in my 48x24x20. I have 40lbs more coming next week and may add a bit more but I am not really looking for a tank packed with rock.

 

[Rozeen]

Thanks for all the responses! I'm going to start with 20 pounds, and I can always order more later.

 

[CallMeChris]

Beautiful tank look like you literally stuck your head in the ocean and opened your eyes lol

Thanks! I love watching it

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Thanks for all the responses! I'm going to start with 20 pounds, and I can always order more later.

How did your order go?

 

[Enderg60]

1-2 lbs per gallon is what Ive always recommended. 1lb for low stocked tanks, 2lbs for high stocked tanks.

Ive always said more rock is better in all cases. If you get your aquascape how you like it and feel its under on poundage you can compensate with bio media blocks or similar or a fuge with more rock.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

With more choices for biological filtration you can definitely go minimal with rock.

You can substitute with centered glass like siporax or porous media like pond matrix etc that has lots more surface area than rock for its footprint. You can tuck that stuff away in your sump or overflow and be confident that you're biological needs are being met.

 

[flashsmith]

I agree with the above. With all the filtration options and equipment improvements rock isn't so important now. I would use dedicated frag systems as my point. Not only that, rock takes up a lot of water volume space by weight displacement. Now if I were selling rock then heck yea you need 2 pounds per gallon minimum... An example would be if you put all that rock in a 100 gallon tank you would likely end up with 60 gallons or less in actual water volume. When I do a scape I prefer flat pieces and some of the newer lightweight porous man made rocks out there. Not big chunky boulders.

 

[Rozeen]

How did your order go?

I picked it up this morning. For reference, this is what 20 pounds looks like in a 20 gallon long (my QT). I'm very pleased with the quality.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I picked it up this morning. For reference, this is what 20 pounds looks like in a 20 gallon long (my QT). I'm very pleased with the quality.

Wow! Nice macro algae. This was Tampa Bay correct?

 

[Rozeen]

Wow! Nice macro algae. This was Tampa Bay correct?

Yes, I did my research, and I had a great experience with Tampa Bay.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Yes, I did my research, and I had a great experience with Tampa Bay.

I did the same. So very happy

 

[CallMeChris]

Yes, I did my research, and I had a great experience with Tampa Bay.

Getting some more rock from @LiverockRocks Tampa Bay Saltwater this Saturday for my new tank!

 

[Liam's tank]

I ordered 40 lbs for my IM 25 gal, not the 50 recommended. I was not able to fit it all in so I would say go with a little less. Fantastic product though!