So, I've got a 34g Solana on the way.....

[goldenboy]

that should arrive next week. I've now turned my focus to live rock and planning what type of aquascape I should make. I've seen a lot of awesome ones on this board. I would like to have plenty of room for corals and I plan to add up to 4-5 fish depending on size.

Are there pros and cons to each of the different types of live rock? Also, while I understand there is some creative liberty, I wanted to see if there any general guidelines I should follow when creating the aquascape?

thanks for the insight.

SG

[apt220]

Oh man, not to discourage you, but I went looking for live rock in Richmond and it was a pain. The store with the best live rock sold it at 12.99 a pound, while the cheapest store had the crappiest pieces at 7.99.

I prefer rock with a lot of holes or "braches" in it (very little solid pieces). This rock gives you the best filtration (i.e. most surface area) and serves as little places to hide for critters. Also is cheaper because less heavy. The catch is that Fiji rock tends to be the cheapest, but is usually the most solid. Given the expense of live rock, get maybe 15 pounds of rock with good coraline and tube worms, etc and you could fill the rest of the tank with base rock or "dead" rock. If you have good live rock those dead pieces will be inhabited in no time. I personally like marshall island rock and maybe tonga (now discontinued in Richmond).

But you may want to browse or ask around the Richmond reef club to see if anyone wants to sell some pieces. My search last week in the LFS here in Richmond was a pain.

I miss southern California...

Good luck. Show us some pics when it's running.

[Ding2daDong]

I will try my best to help you with general guidelines for aquascaping.

You want to pick out your own liverock. I prefer to get a peice of cardboard the exact size of my aquaium and most all LFS will let you play around in the LR bins for the exact peices you want. I did my LR with bulky peices of tonga rock at $5 a lb.

Make sure to give youself room in the front and sides so that a algae scrapper can get through without hitting your rocks or potential corals in the future. I never lean any rocks on glass unless it is the back glass. Get a bigger peice or 2 for the base so it is sturdy and just kind of puzzle peice them together. If one way doesn't fit right then turn it around or change the rock or use a different bottom rock etc.

I also like to have a hole or something fish can swim through and it looks neat. It drives me crazy when you look at peoples aquascapes that looks as if they just threw the rock in the tank, touching the back and sides, with no holes or crevices.

Here is a picture of my solana

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v521/DingDong02si/IMG_1776.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v521/DingDong02si/IMG_1777.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v521/DingDong02si/IMG_1863.jpg

hth

-Matthew

[s2k]

I just got a solana as well. Great tank. I switched the stock pump with a maxijet 900 to reduce the overflow so I can put the mp20 on full power without any splashing.

[goldenboy]

thanks for the advice.

Quick noob question: If I purchase "cured" live rock from my LFS to start my tank, does that mean I need to cure it again/or more in another container at home? Or, can I put it in the tank I am starting and let it cure there for 3-4 weeks before I consider putting anything else in the new tank.

thanks