Amount of live rock

[aquazen]

I hear different things about the amount of live rock per size aquarium. Would 25 lbs live rock be enough for a 29 gallon? I've never bough live rock and was wondering if this is enough to 'scape' with.

 

[ccCapt]

It depends on how porus the rock is. I have a football sized piece that weighs 3 lbs, and another the same size thats weighs over 5 lbs.

 

[canyon15]

From what i have read you want at least 1lb/1gal. You might want to add 5 more lbs butyou can go up to 1.5lbs/gal. The more LR the better the natural filtration.

 

[Brenden]

THe more thwe better. 1.5 -2 lbs per gallon is a good goal.

 

[pkremer]

Is there anywhere that sells it locally? My LFS let me look at it before I purchased it. The best way to get an idea of how much rock you get for a pound is to actually physically look at it!

Depending on wht type of rock it is and how much it weighs, I know liveaquaria.com recommends anywhere from 3/4 to 1-3/4 pounds. You might not need as much rock if it is a very porous lighter-weight rock.

Paul

 

[aquazen]

There's no place here that will let you pick out the rocks you want. I'm currently in RI doing training, and my GF talked me into starting a Marine tank after keeping a FW tank for over a year.

I'm planning on buying from Saltwaterfish.com. I've looked around on the web, and their prices seem very competitive considering they are already cured rocks. I'm going for the Fiji Premium. I don't want to order too much and have the tank too cluttered so I guess I'll just order the 25 lb package for now and just order more if it's not enough.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[melosu58]

You`ll probably need some more but it will be cheaper to buy online. I bought all mine at LFS at a price of 7.99 a lb. at 150 lbs you do the math.

 

[pkremer]

Sounds like a plan! You might need some more, but depending on the rock's size and shape, you may find that you can create a nice display with that much, and it might be fine for you!

Just a word of warning. The rock may already be "cured" but during shipment, there WILL be some dieoff! DON'T have any fish in your aquarium when you put live rock purchased online in it. There should be instructions on how to successfully acclimate the rock once you get it, how to speed the inevitable dieoff, and how to get it ready for your eventual fish!

Paul

 

[Feron]

And to note, with additional filtration, close to 1 lb a gallon is sufficient.
I'm an aesthetics guy, so I struck a balance with my lr, got it at 1lb a gallon (well...a little more, I got a nice deco piece for the top shelf).
It's all about places for the bacteria to call home, if you arn't going lr only, you can balance it out with other filtration.
As pkremer said, there's gonna be die off.. and when you add more in the future there is the potential for a mini/major cycle event.
Best to get it all at once if possible, or live with the wait associated with spacing it out.
(and trust me, I spread it out, there will still be interesting things here and there popping up, if you are patient and observent)