45 lbs live rock too much for 26 bow?

[jrice0309]

Hi Guys! Was a member of the forum probably 4 years ago and I got out of the hobby b/c I didnt have the time and was living with my parents. Now that I have my own house and a family, I want to get back into the hobby and do it right this time.

I currently have a 26 gal. bow front tank holding FW right now, and am thinking about converting it to FOWLR tank. However, I just had one question. Is 45 lbs of live rock too much for my tank? The reason I ask is b/c the place Im ordering it from only sells it in 45 lb quantities.

Thanks for your help!

[Sisterlimonpot]

the rule of thumb is 1-2 lbs per gallon so your right in there.

[Sisterlimonpot]

BTW
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[thegrun]

It will depend on the type of fish and coral you want in the tank. There will not be much room left after adding that much rock. Flow may also be an issue, you may end up needing to add extra pumps to hit the dead areas. You don't have to use all the rock just because they ship it to you, sell off what you don't need.

[SaltyTX]

I think it will be too much rock unless maybe you can stack and wire it along the back wall and some flowing towards the front.

All depends on the density of the rock and the shape of the pieces.

[jrice0309]

Yeah, Im starting to think it may be too much as well. What do you think about starting off with 22 lbs of the fiji premium from liveaquaria.com?

[der_wille_zur_macht]

It's really gonna depend on the rock you get. Mailorder is sometimes cheaper, but it's a mixed bag as far as shapes and sizes. People talk about rules of thumb, but IME you are better off just putting in rock until it looks right to you and not worrying about how much it weighs. Different densities, shapes, sizes, etc can all make a rule of thumb ineffective.

Do you have any local places that would let you hand pick the rock you want?

If not, I'd say order the larger quantity (45 lbs) and then be picky about what you put in your tank. If it won't all fit (I really doubt it will) then keep the best pieces and either sell the rest or put it in your sump.

[jrice0309]

I just remembered, when I experimented with the hobby years back, i still have the dead live rock at my parents house. Maybe I will get the 22# and add the ~15 lbs of the dead as a base rock.

Any idea how long it would take for the base rock to start showing life?

[der_wille_zur_macht]

It'll have bacterial life on it in days or weeks. However, it won't look like "real" live rock for several months.

If you do use it, make sure it's really clean. Right now, it's likely encrusted in dead organic matter, and you don't want to introduce that in to your tank.

[boomer135]

once you stack it , youll see if its too much....give it a shot and see then sell off what you dont use...aquascape it first...

[rfosgategt]

to expand on this, i run mine during the day and never really thoughT about running it at night, do you guys normally just run a daylight bulb over them?