Building a reef

[N.Galvin]

Hi i am new to marine and i am just wondering what is the best way to build up my reef do i use live rock and stack them and add corals or is there kind of a fake rock wall you use

 

[tomtom14]

Live rock is the best to use. It's a biological filter.

 

[N.Galvin]

Do i just stack the live rock and add corals to that

 

[bribo12]

You aquascape the live rock in a way to allow for good flow and no dead spots. Then after the tank is cycled you attach corals and they grow onto the rocks. Look at some reef tanks online or on here and you will see. You also need strong lighting for corals

 

[Gregcoyote]

I actually prefer quarried rock and then allow it to go live in the aquarium using seeded bacteria. Live rock experiences a lot of die off initially that tends to pollute the aquarium. You also may get unfriendly hitchhikers as well as friendly ones.

I also think quarried rock is more environmentally friendly as a natural biological resource isn't used, such as harvesting rubble piles off the natural reef. With this approach you can also control the types of bacteria that seeds the rock. JIMO