Reef Rock Choices

[FriscoTX]

Hello all,

I am interested in what LR to select. According to the lfs the Tonga is "branch rock," and they also have a good amount of fiji rock, any advice on which to go with, or do both?

Also they have a bucket of live sand from one of the customers they service, would this be a better choice over just purchasing a 10 lb bag of live sand? They said his tank was very healthy, he just upgraded.

 

[roka64]

I would go with a mixture of base rock and LR, to save on costs.
I am ordering from marcorocks.comhttp://marcorocks.com/for base rock. I will select LR from my LFS.
As for which kind, it is really preference. I pick the stuff that I like. One thing to take into account is surface area. The more the better. If you shoot for 1.5-2Lbs per gallon, you will hace awesome biofiltration and skip out on a filter, buy a skimmer instead.

 

[mazilla]

**warning dumb question ahead**


is it good to vacuum out the debris from the nooks and crannies of lr? i figured since porusness is obviously beneficial, it would be a good idea to clean them out every once in a while. i just dont want to hurt any biological process by doing so. thanks

 

[roka64]

I clean mine, from time to time.

 

[melosu58]

I dont clean mine. Been in the tank for nine yrs. Just afraid of some poor critter getting messed up or disturbing the biological bacteria bed. They dont get cleaned in the ocean but that is my take only on it.
But back to the original question, you can have both. I have three types of LR in mine. I have Marshall Island, Fiji and Tonga. It does not have to be just one type. Good Luck

 

[loyalrogue]

I clean mine, from time to time.

They dont get cleaned in the ocean but that is my take only on it.

I don't vacuum mine, but about once a week I'll take the turkey baster and "blow off" the rocks and around the corals... especially when my new sleeper goby starts dumping too much sand on them.
I'd have to think that due to the irregular/random wave/current/storm conditions on a natural reef that the rocks get a pretty good washing machine treatment from time to time.
I know when I've been diving I've gotten my fair share of getting knocked around.