less biofiltration than expected. help.

fishonlyman

Member
Alright, so here is the deal. I was originally was wanting to get 40 lbs of live rock for my 55 gallon for x-mas. But, I have to cut down in live rock since my relatives will not spend like $300 on live rock. So that means I will have only like, 25 lbs of Live rock, Meaning less filtering of wastes. I was originally going to have around 6 moderate size fish in my tank. So, how much more maintenance should I do to keep waste level in nice condition? If I halve the amount of livestock does that mean I would not have to do as much maintenance to cut down on ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates? Also, can I move the 12 lbs piece of live rock from my 15 gallon FOWLR into my 55 gallon?
 

small triggers

Active Member
yes you can move the rock from your already cycled tank to your new tank after you cycle it... and the maintnance is going to depend onthe bioload of the fish.... what else are you using for filtration,, rock doesnt actually do alot so you need different kinds of biological and mechanical ...
and frankly id just do 2x as many water changes, lol like 20% every other week rather than 10%
 

fishonlyman

Member
All right, so maybe I would cut out on a few fish and then add one that is compatible with the remaining fish but generally aren't with the fish I take out. So, maybe I will make this my current stock list:
1* Valentini puffer.(My LFS has a lot of valentini puffers)
1*Yellow wrasse
1* Damsel. ( I am thinking about the damsel being my ocellaris clown.)
1* hardy pygmy angel.
(I cut down on at least 3 fish to make this current stock list.
)
 

garick

Member
You can get base rock that will/should become live rock after a long while and its normally much cheaper around $3 a pound.
 

pete159

Member
i would add an emperor 400 HOB filter as well. They are very powerful ammonia eaters and don't believe the myth about them raising nitrates.
 

fishonlyman

Member
Well, i will look up the filter you recommended. Also, I do not think that my LFS has base rock. I think it only sells fully cured Fiji live rock that sells for around $6.00 a pound
 

mastertech

Member
just take your time and buy what you can when you can. i would not recommend adding all kinds of fish to the tank if its not ready to handle the bio load.
do you have a sump. bio-balls are a cheap intermediary.
 

fishonlyman

Member
All right, what about this I buy 20-25 pounds of live rock, cycle my tank, then I add my ocellaris clown from my 15 gallon and add my live rock from my 15 gallon to my cycled tank. I won't include the angel in the tank. I will also get one of the filters you guys recommended. So I could have a tank with 32-37 lbs of live rock and a few good filters, with only 3 small 3-5 inch fish, which are a yellow wrasse, a valentini puffer, and my clown, stocked in my tank, plus my attention on water quality is very slightly increased. Does this sound like good plan?
 

mastertech

Member
good plan. and you could potentally convert the 15 gallon into a cheap little sump/refuge
with a pump and some plumbing.
ps. what is up with the wrasse wr---e
 

spanko

Active Member
No matter what you call the rock, uncured, cured, cycled etc. you want to ensure that before putting it into a cycled and functioning tank that it will not cause an ammonia spike. The best way to ensure this is to put the rock in a separate container of saltwater, at temperature, with some type of flow and test the water for two weeks. If you don't see any ammonia or nitrite reading in that time you can be confidant that it is okay to put into your tank. If you do see reading the rock has to be cycled (cured) first.
If you purchase a base rock such as Tufa rock you can add it directly to your tank after rinsing it in saltwater to get the dust off of it.
 
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