live rocks and live sand

[newsaltyman]

i just purchase 40 lbs of dead sand and 60 lbs of live sand....is that enough for a 72 g tank?...anyways...im expecting live rocks soon...so my question is....do live rocks and live sand need lighting to survive...because i havent purchase a light fixture yet and i dont think i will anytime soon..so please answer my question. thanks. plus what do live rocks live and live sand live off?

 

[porcupinepuffer]

yea, that's plenty. your Live Rock will live without any light for awhile but will need lightings sooner or later in order to thrive. They live off of waste materials/detrius produced by other things in ur tank

 

[joe's reefer]

lighting wouldnt hurt for the sand and live rock but not necessary.calcium,microvert and stronium feed live rock and sand

 

[steamboat1569]

Depending on the dimentions of your tank, and if you are trying to go the Deep Sand Bed (DSB) route, you do not have enough sand.
Sand does not need light, and Live rock does not need any significant light, unless you have coral polyps on the rock. Many people have live rock with normal output lights. the key to good live rock is circulation and calcium. Strontium and Iodate do not hurt either.

 

[saltyrich]

I don't think you've got enough sand either. Here's what you do. Go to http://www.garf.org
Go to the bulletproof calculator, you'll see it. You can enter your tank diminsions and it will tell you how much sand you need for a 4-5 inch dsb. It will also recommend how much rock you need for your tank. I always like to have more rock than the 1-1.5 pounds per gallon suggestion myself. The calculator will also give you suggestions on powerheads for circulation, etc.. It's agreat help for starters.