55 gallon live rock/ live sand question

[San Raphael Catfish]

How many pounds of live rock and live sand do you need for a FOWLR tank that will eventually go reef?

I have 40 pounds of live sand and 55 pounds of DIY live rock that is still being leached out. I plan to start with two / three fish until I have a need for a CUC and then add corals when I can afford improved lighting.

SRC <><

 

[Beengirl]

How many pounds of live rock and live sand do you need for a FOWLR tank that will eventually go reef?

I have 40 pounds of live sand and 55 pounds of DIY live rock that is still being leached out. I plan to start with two / three fish until I have a need for a CUC and then add corals when I can afford improved lighting.

SRC <><

You can have as much or as little as you like the looks of. You might want more rock later to have more places to put corals, but that's up to you. Good luck!!

 

[ktomminello]

I would honestly suggest CUC before fish, but that's me. My logic being that your CUC come partially from your live rock and are an incredible indicator of when your parameters fluctuate. My rule of thumb is minimum 2-3 inches of live sand substrate and 1lb for every gallon in the live rock department. The leeching of your live rock will cause it to push out the detritus inside and start your clean up crew, but also cause an ammonia and nitrite spike, be prepared.... Reef tanks take a long time to start up, and the tried and hands down most reliable method of cycling a reef tank is using a dsb (doesn't have to be live, though it does help) and aquacultured live rock and a table shrimp in a nylon sack and can take up to 9 months to actually start propagating the proper environment for a reef, along with being a completely money draining hobby, lol.