LR vs. Water Volume

[flyingarmy]

A question for the peanut gallery....:jester:


When does the amount of LR in a volume of water become saturation (i.e. too much for the remaining volume of water)?

The reason I ask this is that in my 30 Finnex I already have a good amount of LR. I picked up an awesome piece of LR from jwil27, old coral colony, that I am considering adding. It seems that the amount of water volume that it will displace would outweigh the benefits of the LR itself. Am I totally off here or would the additional LR add more benefit? Thanks for the help and insight in advance!:up:

 

[FutureInterest]

What are your nitrate levels at in the finnex?

 

[flyingarmy]

Last time I tested they were close to 0PPM. But I haven't tested since I added a Bangii, Emerald, and Star. Still need to add the Clown Goby.

 

[FutureInterest]

The benefit of additional LR would be to help if you had excess nitrates. If your nitrates are currently at or close to 0 I would imagine that adding more LR would be pointless. As such, you would prolly be better served maximizing your water volume and using the rock for another project.

 

[fish scales2]

I started my 120 with 350 lbs uncured liverock. I figured that with that amount of live rock curing in my system that my tank would be close to bulletproof once I began introducing livestock. It worked for me as I have not seen any spikes whatsoever as I have added my livestock. I have 5200 gph flow in the tank but quickly started noticing that even with that amount of flow I have, I could not get proper flow to keep the detrius and debris moving. I have since removed 100lbs and changed up my flow and am now very pleased with my look and function of the system. That being said I have set up several tanks with only 1lb per gallon with no issues though I have been very cautious as to how quickly I have stocked the tanks.

IMO it is really all about personal preference on looks but does affect how long it takes for your system to establish.

 

[skriz]

I would take water volume over rock in your situation.

Even though I have a lil bit of rock in my tank, I seem to think it's the water volume that has helped me more than anything else (dilution is the solution!)

You really can't gauge it by weight since better rock is lighter.

 

[mvm]

FutureInterest;260492 wrote: The benefit of additional LR would be to help if you had excess nitrates. If your nitrates are currently at or close to 0 I would imagine that adding more LR would be pointless. As such, you would prolly be better served maximizing your water volume and using the rock for another project.

jin,
how does LR help with nitrates? I thought the benefit of LR was more surface area for bacteria to grow and consume ammonia and nitrite. I would think that, if anything, the pourous rock would hold phosphates and nitrates. Am I missing something (i'm sure I am!!)

 

[ralph atl]

ares;260659 wrote: inside the rock should be an oxygen free enviroment which would be host to anaerobic nitrate consuming bacteria.

Exactly!


I have an excessive amount of live rock to:

Have a higher bioload (remove trates)
Look like a "natural cutaway" reef
I have animals that depend on it, i.e., pipefish, leopard wrasse, gobi, gramma, large snails, urchin, etc.
I don't have fish that swim that much. 2 false percs, yasha hase gobi, pinkbar gobi, gramma, & the leopard wrasse.

This is in a 55. I also utilize 2 fuges though, one HOB, and one in sump. Plus I can keep my clams uptop like a shallow reef. Acro's are all over.