54 Gallon Corner Unit Sump HELP!?
- Thread starter jmsandy
- Start date
yes, i sort of agree with SnoManSnow- there's nothing wrong with purchasing dead rock and putting it in your tank, but if you don't know what that rock has been through....i mean, the guy who had it might have blasted it with copper based meds....and then you'll have a real problem.
live rock will be a big part of the filtration in your reef. no one really knows exactly how long it takes for dead rock to become live. i mean, it's one thing to get covered with coralline, but when does it actually get beneficial bacteria?
i don't know the answer to that either, so i say to you again- IF YOU CAN AFFORD THE CASH OUT OF POCKET, leave the dead rock alone. if you can't afford to fill your tank with live rock, then you might consider the dead stuff as a supplement.
one more thing- with a 54 gallon tank, you're not going to have mega amounts of space to put rock, so you might pick and choose your pieces of rock very carefully, to make your best aquascaping. :wink:
live rock will be a big part of the filtration in your reef. no one really knows exactly how long it takes for dead rock to become live. i mean, it's one thing to get covered with coralline, but when does it actually get beneficial bacteria?
i don't know the answer to that either, so i say to you again- IF YOU CAN AFFORD THE CASH OUT OF POCKET, leave the dead rock alone. if you can't afford to fill your tank with live rock, then you might consider the dead stuff as a supplement.
one more thing- with a 54 gallon tank, you're not going to have mega amounts of space to put rock, so you might pick and choose your pieces of rock very carefully, to make your best aquascaping. :wink:
what i meant is, pick and choose the pieces of live rock you really like. don't just add boulder shaped hunks for the heck of it. you will have to stare at this tank for years to come. make sure it's as close to a work of art as you can make it. :wink:
also I saw that X and Shavo you guys drilled a peg to put Shavo's live rock on. How did you od that? Could you email me instructions X?
[email protected]
I want to aquascape right and am buying all liverock not dried out **** and I want to make sure that the tank is absolutely stunning. I figured I would have two pegs on each side of the tank and then have it slope down in the middle....Get back to me
[email protected]
I want to aquascape right and am buying all liverock not dried out **** and I want to make sure that the tank is absolutely stunning. I figured I would have two pegs on each side of the tank and then have it slope down in the middle....Get back to me
na..it will only kill things in the water column. it won't kill parasites on fish, such as ich, because they stay on a host. i also can't see how it would do anything to the coloration of a fish either, other than maybe killing some algae in the water and making the water appear clearer, which made the fish look brighter.
as far as making the tank "pop", i'd use carbon for that purpose.
as for putting money into fish and having them all die, that would not happen if you used a quarantine tank. it might still happen with a UV sterilizer.
as far as making the tank "pop", i'd use carbon for that purpose.
as for putting money into fish and having them all die, that would not happen if you used a quarantine tank. it might still happen with a UV sterilizer.
"What can be eliminated with a UV sterilizer?
-UV sterilizers will eliminate protozoan parasites such as ich during the new born, free swimming life cycle stage of the parasites. NOTE: They do not eliminate the ich parasites once attached to the fish. UV sterilizers can be used with other methods to treat ich.
-UV sterilizers will eliminate free floating algae. It will not eliminate algae that is stuck to your glass or imbedded in your live rock. It needs to go through the UV sterilizer to be eliminated.
Can UV Sterilizers have negative effects?
Yes. UV can alter the structure of some dissolved chemical compounds. When using any drug or chemical medication check the directions for the drug or chemical to see if you should turn off your UV when using the drug or medication.
Many aquarists only use the UV at night. There are many free floating beneficial planktonic animals in the water that come out at night that can be killed by a uv sterilizer. Because of this many aquarists only run their uv during the day. You can put it on the same timer as your lighting system. "
-UV sterilizers will eliminate protozoan parasites such as ich during the new born, free swimming life cycle stage of the parasites. NOTE: They do not eliminate the ich parasites once attached to the fish. UV sterilizers can be used with other methods to treat ich.
-UV sterilizers will eliminate free floating algae. It will not eliminate algae that is stuck to your glass or imbedded in your live rock. It needs to go through the UV sterilizer to be eliminated.
Can UV Sterilizers have negative effects?
Yes. UV can alter the structure of some dissolved chemical compounds. When using any drug or chemical medication check the directions for the drug or chemical to see if you should turn off your UV when using the drug or medication.
Many aquarists only use the UV at night. There are many free floating beneficial planktonic animals in the water that come out at night that can be killed by a uv sterilizer. Because of this many aquarists only run their uv during the day. You can put it on the same timer as your lighting system. "
ok guys, here is a deal I got,
60 lbs of Tonga cured live rock (in another tank about a year), it hasnt been treated by anything bogus,
3 bags of live sand
135 bucks
I am thinking about doing it, anydrawbacks?
p.s. I have no live rock/water in my tank currently, this will be my first rock and sand, and then I plan on buying top shelf stuff for the top of my rocks...
60 lbs of Tonga cured live rock (in another tank about a year), it hasnt been treated by anything bogus,
3 bags of live sand
135 bucks
I am thinking about doing it, anydrawbacks?
p.s. I have no live rock/water in my tank currently, this will be my first rock and sand, and then I plan on buying top shelf stuff for the top of my rocks...
only suggestion is to try to add all the LR at once. It will be much easier to get a bunch of rock now then add some now and some more later. But I do think that 60lbs is pretty good for a 54 gallon tank. also even though the rock should be cured still treat it as if it wasn't. Keep water moving the more the better, can't really over do it 
. And of course make sure you cycle fully before you start adding anything.
. And of course make sure you cycle fully before you start adding anything.jmsandy":1l6ayvti said:
well it varies on the type of rock and what not, but the more porous rock is better and it requires less rock since surface area is grater. I'd shoot for about 1 to 1.25lbs per gallon. So your 60lbs fits right in there. I have a 55 gallon and I have about 65lbs in mine. What you can do if you want more rock is just get some base rock to put on the bottom and stack LR on top. This will give you more rock to rockscape and it will fully utilize the LR since it won't be buried in the sand where it does nothing and dies rapidly.
you definitely want to put the sand down first and then put some thing on top of the sand like a piece of glass, large plate or whatever to keep the sand from washing away as you put in the water. Yeah try to keep LR away from water for at least as possible so keep it in a bucket of water and then just transfer to a half filed tank and fill the rest of the tank up.
As far as how much sand go here:
http://www.reefs.org/library/downloads/
and download that sand calculator. It all depends on how long and wide your tank is and how deep you want your sand to be. 2"-3" should be fine, but you can go more if you'd like as well. Less than that there isn't a whole lot of benefit so might as well go bare bottom. Also you could find a local reefer and get a cup or two of sand from their tank and mix it with your sand or you could buy like 60lbs of regular sand and 20lbs of live sand and mix it up. This is all just to speed up your cycling process and get some good bacteria in there.
As far as how much sand go here:
http://www.reefs.org/library/downloads/
and download that sand calculator. It all depends on how long and wide your tank is and how deep you want your sand to be. 2"-3" should be fine, but you can go more if you'd like as well. Less than that there isn't a whole lot of benefit so might as well go bare bottom
. Also you could find a local reefer and get a cup or two of sand from their tank and mix it with your sand or you could buy like 60lbs of regular sand and 20lbs of live sand and mix it up. This is all just to speed up your cycling process and get some good bacteria in there.Sponsor Reefs
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