How much live rock?

[saltwaterfamily]

We have a 50gal. that we are setting up. How much live rock to start with? We are making a fish and live rock tank.

[ACoS]

Welcome to AA! I think it's 1lb of LR per gal. So that's 50lb of LR your'll need.

[Biggen]

Welcome!

I like a little more LR than ACoS suggests. I went with 1.5lb per gallon. This is the typical "rule of thumb" for reef tanks and I think it should apply for FOWLR tanks as well.

[saltwaterfamily]

Should I put all 50lbs in at once? One more ? what the nitrate level should be after the tank is cycled.

[Overstocker]

All at once to be done with it, and try to keep Nitrates as low as possible <20 once critters are in it.

[Atari]

How much you need really depends on the density of the rock itself.. you might find you need anywhere from 1 to 2 lbs/gal to get the type of aquascape you want. I'd probably go with 60-75 lbs and then add more if needed.

Once your cycle is complete (amm+trites=0) it doesn't really matter what the nitrate level is at. Do a big water change and then you should be ready to add a cleanup crew. If the nitrate level is still high after the water change then do another one before you add the critters.