how long until my live rock grows somthing??

[becka]

ok more questions for you pros.. how long until something grows on my live rock and what generally will grow? can i go buy coral and just put it on the rock and what is most hardy?? thanks Becka

 

[JamesR]

You should have (some)coraline grow on your rocks rather quickly (at least most do). You will start to see purple coraline grow most likely and then spread. I've had 2 tanks (have not done anything special) and had it grow pretty rapidly. You may also have small feather dusters and perhaps some sponges. It will certainly vary, where did you get your LR?

Jim

 

[lando]

You will not really see any "coral" grow on your LR. Coraline algea willeventually cover it. What really makes LR "live" is all of the benefical bacteria that you can not see that help with biological filtration. You certainly can buy corals and start a reef. What type of lighting do you have?

 

[Jason]

whatever was on it to begin with might grow....

get some encrusting corals and put them on the rock if you want stuff to cover your rock fast.

 

[becka]

well i have a really good light it has three settings and is a coralite, i have a 20 gallon and 4lbs of lr is that enough? i also have been given horrible direction from my lfs and now have things in my tank that i have to get rid of and start over i am very frustrated at this point because i am new at this and have a million q's! I got my lr from a big tub filled with water at the same lfs, i dont have a clue as to what fish i can put in it or which fish and coral are hardy enough for me to not lose any thoughts??

 

[boardsurfer]

i have a 20 gallon and 4lbs of lr is that enough?

I would bet that anywhere between 20 to 40 lbs of LR would be just fine. I would personally put in 35-40 lbs of LR. But wait 'till some of the pro's answer...

 

[beefcake]

sounds like a rough start, 4lbs is not really going to help at all, I would consider at least 1lb to 1 gal.

I would ditch the LFS I would wait to put some fish in while your tank is cycling do as much reading as you can get familiar with terms learn how to test your water and read about what you can expect to run into maintaining a SW tank.

Hope this helps a bit

 

[seaham358]

You still did not tell us what type of light.... VHO, PC, MH or is it a NO strip light that comes with most tanks.
1 lb per gal is a good start.... You want a fish tank not a rock tank right? 40 lbs in a 20 is a lot IMO. If its very dense rock you may want to go for 30.
What do you have in there now that you want out??
What type of water are you using......

 

[becka]

the light is............

Sorry i thought i said what light.. its a power compact 200 bucks for it, it has three settings, day, night, and moonlight. its a real great light, in my tank i now have two flamed sea scallpos two cleaner shrimp, 5 turbo snails and a sifting star, i was told to get rid of the star and the scallops and now i am really confused about what direction to go! Becka

 

[Thumper]

Just get you some good live rock,at least 20 pounds but closer to 40 would be better due to the fact it will help keep the water more stable in a smaller tank like this, IMO I would take the scallops back if you can due to their fatality rate, the sifting star if small enough could actually help if you have a dps but will be too big for the tank after it grows up. Let the water stabalize and slowly add the fish you want but with a 20 it's not going to be much.
How many watts if the light fixture on the daylight setting?
Dont get discouraged, we all go through this stage of not knowing which way to go and you will find a lot of lfs will lead you in the wrong direction, just try and find a good one and keep on trucking.
Research each thing before adding it to the tank to avoid this problem in the future and all will be ok,

 

[malkore]

yeah, in a 20g, you're looking at 2 small fish as your max load...a pair of percula clowns is a popular route to take, and relatively easy, undemanding fish.