Live Rock, Big or Small?

laxplaya

laxplaya

Member
I just got my 3 foot 58 gallon tank, and i have 50 lbs of live sand in it already. Now i need to put in live rock. SWF.com gives rather small pieces when you buy, and at some local stores i have seen some huge pieces, 40 lbs. The dude with the 40 pounder said having big live rock is good because it provides more filtration, caves, and it is stable. He said little rocks have less filtration power and collapse a lot. I was wondering if he was right or if he was completely bluffing me!!! I need to know if big or small live rock is better for my reef tank.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
get a good mix of both. I have maybe 2 BIG pieces and 4 larger sized pieces to make a nice cave system, plus a bunch of smaller rocks to build it up some. the bigger the pieces the more stable they will be, but won't look as nice IMO.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
Originally Posted by Kevin34
I have read that the LR on this site is as good as it gets.

after seeing what earlybird got, i'd totally disagree.
 
adroitmind

adroitmind

Member
Hand picking your rock at the LFS will cost you more per pound but its worth it IMO. You never get a piece you don't want.
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
small rocks provide good aerobic filtration while only the larger rocks really provide much anaerobic, (any thing over fist size is going to have some anaerobic capability even if its not much) so a mix of both can provide anaerobic de nitrification, aws well as allow you to have a stable aquascape with the smaller rocks fleshing out the tank and used as building blocks amongst and on the larger bottom rocks.
this all depends on the porosity of the rock if a rock is super porous it may contain NO anaerobic capacity at all because the structure is just too open, no matter how big it is.
 
maxalmon

maxalmon

Active Member
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
small rocks provide good aerobic filtration while only the larger rocks really provide much anaerobic, (any thing over fist size is going to have some anaerobic capability even if its not much) so a mix of both can provide anaerobic de nitrification, aws well as allow you to have a stable aquascape with the smaller rocks fleshing out the tank and used as building blocks amongst and on the larger bottom rocks.
this all depends on the porosity of the rock if a rock is super porous it may contain NO anaerobic capacity at all because the structure is just too open, no matter how big it is.
Perfect explanation!..I usually like to have 1 or 2 huge boulders in my tanks and then a mix of plate and smaller sized pieces. FYI you can always take a hammer and chisel to a piece of LR to make it into a more interesting shape or to create holes for coral placement.
 
laxplaya

laxplaya

Member
when i get my live rock, is it okay to have no light on it??? my MH light is coming in the mail but until then i have no light i need to know if it is ok.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
Originally Posted by LAXplaya
renogaw, what do you consider to be BIG?
i have one piece that is about 12" long, 9" tall, and about 4" wide. I have another piece that is about 10" diameter, 3" tall. and another that is about 13" long, 4" tall 5" wide sorta arched. I'll take a pic of some of my rock later tonight.
btw, here's a pic of my lfs's rock advertisement (minus their information) and all the rock that came in looked close enough to it.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
Originally Posted by LAXplaya
when i get my live rock, is it okay to have no light on it??? my MH light is coming in the mail but until then i have no light i need to know if it is ok.
i had mine in my garage curing for a week before going into my tank without lights on.
 
adroitmind

adroitmind

Member
Originally Posted by LAXplaya
How many pounds is a "huge boulder"??? and when you say "small" is that the size SWF.com gives you???

I have two pieces that i would consider "huge" they are both fiji rock pieces and are a little bigger than a pro sized football. one is 18-20 lbs, the other is 15lbs. I'm not sure what swf.com rocks look like.
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
I would say any rock 20+ lbs is considered huge, 10-20 large or very large 5-10 medium under 5 small. any thing less than 1/2 lb I call rubble. there is a lot of perspective to go with that. if you have a nano a 5 pound rock can be huge in it. in a 500g a 25lb rock isnt really huge. know what I mean?
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
I would say any rock 20+ lbs is considered huge, 10-20 large or very large 5-10 medium under 5 small. any thing less than 1/2 lb I call rubble. there is a lot of perspective to go with that. if you have a nano a 5 pound rock can be huge in it. in a 500g a 25lb rock isnt really huge. know what I mean?
only problem with that sizing though is there's different weights of rock. fiji's going to be heavier than tonga, but a piece of tonga could be huge size wise and weigh next to nothing.
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
very true. it was just an approximation and definatly not a guidline thats set in stone.... set in stone get it?
 
maxalmon

maxalmon

Active Member
I don't think you can have too much LR in a tank, my 125 has about 400lbs. Some of the chunks are in 14"+ size range and weigh upwards of 30-40lbs. It's all realative, but I would consider nice shaped pieces in the 5-15lb range as acceptable.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
very true. it was just an approximation and definatly not a guidline thats set in stone.... set in stone get it?


erm. im not good at jokes...
 
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