live rock

[mnash]

I am considering starting an 80 gal fowlr tank. I want to use a lot of live rock, because I like the looks of it, but have limited funds. I was woundering if I could use base rock (marco rocks) and then just seed it with a few good pices of live rock. Will the base rock have the same biological filtration benifits as live rock? Besides the time it takes to get the pretty coraline algae to grow are there any dissadvantages of using base rock? About how much base rock will I need to get a good coverage in this sized tank. Does the 1-1.75 lb per gal apply to dry base rock. Any help will greatly be appreciated.

[Avi]

Well, you're all right with you're plan...the live rock you put in the tank will seed the base rock and eventually it, too, will be "live rock." The thing boils down to this...the time you will need to get the system to a point where you will be able to support the kind of water quality that you need for a reef. The more base rock...the less live rock...you start out with, the longer it would take. Oh, and that assumes that you'd have a good protein skimmer going on the system all the while.

[Shagsbeard]

It's called "culturing" and it works fine. It can take a while. I typically have a few pieces of base rock culturing in my sump. I use these pieces when I start a Quarentine Tank to jump start the QT's cycle.