once you have a sump---create your own live rock

Sk8r · 01/18/2021, 07:11 PM

Really simple. Get a piece of 'conditioned' limestone from your lfs, and if you have no room for it in your tank as it stands, just use it as the foundation of a rubble heap in your sump---nothing dense that will trap crud, but an anchor place for bits of life that may be useful in some redesign of your tank. Put any dead coral skeleton, old shells, etc, into this pile, and you've always got pieces you can use to shim a larger rock, or if tiny, just a lump you can glue a frag to, to enable you to secure it in your dt reef. The older it is, the better it gets, and it also provides a place where pods and other life can breed and multiply. Just keep it open as lacework to assure you don't get crud accumulating. Water should move in it.

Zpmada · 01/20/2021, 10:02 AM

Can you share a photo of what you mean by lacework? High (near return pump) or low flow (refugium) area preferred?

Thanks!

Sk8r · 01/20/2021, 01:18 PM

Just a lot of gaps so crud doesn't get trapped in the rockwork: Prop flat rock up, alternate with round bits, keep it open so flow goes through it. It will also increase the processing power of your tank.

aquaruki · 01/26/2021, 12:07 AM

What do you mean by "conditioned limestone"? I see a lot of stores selling fake live rock with fake purple coralline algae on it, but I don't want any of that. Where is a good source for this limestone you mention? Thanks!

Sk8r · 01/26/2021, 10:11 AM

Your local reef store should have a big vat full of limestone that's been soaking in salt water for months. It is ready to go into a tank. It is not 'live rock' that comes in with critters all over it, but is soaked all the way through and has shed some minerals you don't want (phosphate, etc) and is made of calcium, which your tank needs. Using dry unconditioned rock can set you up with troubles that will persist for many months (and cost you money for remedies) even if you know how to fix them. So while conditioned rock costs more than live rock, it costs less than live rock, and it will become live rock over time. It is a good idea to add one small lump of live rock once you are set up and reefing (the store may have one it will sell or a friend might give you a piece from his tank) to bring in some microlife, but it tends to get there sooner or later. [Of course you quarantine your fish once you get them and do not let one DROP of store water hit your tank once you are set up and running. Procedures for that are also something we can help you with. And there are the permanent posts up at the top of this forum.]

01/18/2021, 07:11 PM	#1
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	once you have a sump---create your own live rock Really simple. Get a piece of 'conditioned' limestone from your lfs, and if you have no room for it in your tank as it stands, just use it as the foundation of a rubble heap in your sump---nothing dense that will trap crud, but an anchor place for bits of life that may be useful in some redesign of your tank. Put any dead coral skeleton, old shells, etc, into this pile, and you've always got pieces you can use to shim a larger rock, or if tiny, just a lump you can glue a frag to, to enable you to secure it in your dt reef. The older it is, the better it gets, and it also provides a place where pods and other life can breed and multiply. Just keep it open as lacework to assure you don't get crud accumulating. Water should move in it. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

01/20/2021, 01:18 PM	#3
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Just a lot of gaps so crud doesn't get trapped in the rockwork: Prop flat rock up, alternate with round bits, keep it open so flow goes through it. It will also increase the processing power of your tank. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

01/26/2021, 10:11 AM	#5
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Your local reef store should have a big vat full of limestone that's been soaking in salt water for months. It is ready to go into a tank. It is not 'live rock' that comes in with critters all over it, but is soaked all the way through and has shed some minerals you don't want (phosphate, etc) and is made of calcium, which your tank needs. Using dry unconditioned rock can set you up with troubles that will persist for many months (and cost you money for remedies) even if you know how to fix them. So while conditioned rock costs more than live rock, it costs less than live rock, and it will become live rock over time. It is a good idea to add one small lump of live rock once you are set up and reefing (the store may have one it will sell or a friend might give you a piece from his tank) to bring in some microlife, but it tends to get there sooner or later. [Of course you quarantine your fish once you get them and do not let one DROP of store water hit your tank once you are set up and running. Procedures for that are also something we can help you with. And there are the permanent posts up at the top of this forum.] __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

01/20/2021, 10:02 AM	#2
Zpmada Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Phillipsburg, NJ Posts: 95	Can you share a photo of what you mean by lacework? High (near return pump) or low flow (refugium) area preferred? Thanks!

01/26/2021, 12:07 AM	#4
aquaruki Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Burien, WA Posts: 77	What do you mean by "conditioned limestone"? I see a lot of stores selling fake live rock with fake purple coralline algae on it, but I don't want any of that. Where is a good source for this limestone you mention? Thanks!