How much do I really need

[Jeremey’s reef]

Good afternoon fellow reefers, I am wondering about the whole one pound pound per gallon ratio when it comes to stocking your tank with your rock of choice. My Waterbox peninsula 5526 is 130g in the DT and 40.1 in the sump. When shopping for dry rock should I be accounting for the sump as well? Do I have to get 130lbs of it for the DT or is 100lbs sufficient?

 

[ichthyoid]

Just the display, unless you want your sump to act as a refugium too.

Thé 1 lb/gal think is a rule of thumb. The actual amount is only dictated by your individual aesthetic preference.

While rock has a number of advantages in a reef aquarium, it is not absolutely required. In addition to the look, it provides habitat for specimens, substrate for organisms from corals down to viruses, has some chemical buffering properties, etc.

Based on the DT volume, I’d shoot for around 120-130 as a target. Especially if ordering for delivery. You can always buy more or sell the leftovers.

 

[Jeremey’s reef]

Just the display, unless you want your sump to act as a refugium too.

Thé 1 lb/gal think is a rule of thumb. The actual amount is only dictated by your individual aesthetic preference.

While rock has a number of advantages in a reef aquarium, it is not absolutely required. In addition to the look, it provides habitat for specimens, substrate for organisms from corals down to viruses, has some chemical buffering properties, etc.

Based on the DT volume, I’d shoot for around 120-130 as a target. Especially if ordering for delivery. You can always buy more or sell the leftovers.

Thanks for the quick and informative response

 

[NanCrab]

Hi Jeremy, I'm new so take this for what it's worth. I purchased 125 lbs of dry rock for my 125 with a 44 g sump and it was about 25 pounds too much. I have a large 25 or so pound rock left. It is large but could be sawed or broken into smaller pieces if you're interested in it.

 

[dball711]

Hi Jeremy, you only need as much rock as pleasing to your eyes. What I mean by this is get an idea of how you want to take the look look at different rock scapes and decide where you wanna be. Then buy a bunch make it look the way you like and sell the rest. Personally for me I like less rock and a lot more coral with plenty of free space for swimming fish.



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[Jeremey’s reef]

Hi Jeremy, I'm new so take this for what it's worth. I purchased 125 lbs of dry rock for my 125 with a 44 g sump and it was about 25 pounds too much. I have a large 25 or so pound rock left. It is large but could be sawed or broken into smaller pieces if you're interested in it.

How much and what type of rock is it?

 

[Jeremey’s reef]

Hi Jeremy, you only need as much rock as pleasing to your eyes. What I mean by this is get an idea of how you want to take the look look at different rock scapes and decide where you wanna be. Then buy a bunch make it look the way you like and sell the rest. Personally for me I like less rock and a lot more coral with plenty of free space for swimming fish.

This definitely the way I would like to go and I have already decided on my scape i think everyone will enjoy it when walking past the tank

 

[popsbjd]

Biomedia in the sump is capable of doing as good or better than rock in the display for biological filtration. Less is more imo for the display tank. The bonsai type scapes above are incredible. This is the scape in my 120.

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[NanCrab]

How much and what type of rock is it?

Half price5 $1.50/lb, it is the piece circled. That was our original rockscape but the experts here thought it was a bit too much so we took away that large piece. Still don't have water in the tank so it is unused

 

[ActiveAngel]

Yeah, I also would suggest the minimalist side. Empty space is the best way to make your tank look huge. 100 lbs is fine, but even if you wanted to do 80 lbs in the display, I think it would be fine.

As mentioned, you also have a sump where you can put even more rock... like rubble and your reject pieces that aren’t selected for your main aquascape.

 

[NanCrab]

Biomedia in the sump is capable of doing as good or better than rock in the display for biological filtration. Less is more imo for the display tank. The bonsai type scapes above are incredible. This is the scape in my 120.

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Absolutely could no convince my husband that less is more. He is still upset about removing the large one I'm selling lol. He likes his arches amd caves.

 

[civics14]

Less in the display and throw some ceramic media in the sump - my 2 cents

 

[popsbjd]

Absolutely could no convince my husband that less is more. He is still upset about removing the large one I'm selling lol. He likes his arches amd caves.

It's hard to tell from that picture but the structure on the right is really just pieces and creates a giant cave. The left is strategically stacked to create caves and arches.

I think your rock work looks great btw!

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[popsbjd]

Especially if you are doing SPS, you want room for your colonies to grow up and plenty of open area for tang(s) to swim.

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[Jeremey’s reef]

So I’m going with Marco’s rocks from BRS, I like the open look and is definitely what I will be shooting for. @ActiveAngel i like you ideal of storing my less than perfect pieces in the sump

 

[Jeremey’s reef]

Especially if you are doing SPS, you want room for your colonies to grow up and plenty of open area for tang(s) to swim.

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The main reason for my upgrade is that I absolutely must have a purple tang so this is why I want to go this route

 

[Jeremey’s reef]

Less in the display and throw some ceramic media in the sump - my 2 cents

Ceramic media?

 

[popsbjd]

Unless you're dead set on buying "new" dry rock, you should keep an eye out around here. Pukani rock is IMO the best reef rock ever but you can't order it anymore. You will see people selling it here for cheaper than Marcos. I got 2-3 5 gal buckets of mixed rock from Jin for like $40 I think. Several large pieces of pukani in there.

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[popsbjd]

Ceramic media?

Biorings, seachem matrix, rubble rock, marine pure in its many forms, etc.

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[Jeremey’s reef]

Unless you're dead set on buying "new" dry rock, you should keep an eye out around here. Pukani rock is IMO the best reef rock ever but you can't order it anymore. You will see people selling it here for cheaper than Marcos. I got 2-3 5 gal buckets of mixed rock from Jin for like $40 I think. Several large pieces of pukani in there.

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That’s an insane deal, I don’t think I would get that lucky but I will begin my search