Raising Live Rock

[shawnhardy]

I have read a few articles suggesting that you place PVC pipe under your live rock and then use your substrate to cover it. They list several benefits but I was thinking of one negative that was never mentioned...I have read that aquariums that use plenums to trap nitrogen under a DSB must change them out every few years because the pockets get filled up. If they are disturbed, they can release toxins into the tank.
Would putting live rock on top of hollow PVC pipe possibly create similar pockets? Is raising live rock a risk?

 

[myrtle beach]

I would just put LR in the sand, you might lose a bit of surface area, but it will introduce bacteria to sand, so you don't have to spend $ on live sand which I have heard isn't all it's cracked up to be.

 

[1journeyman]

I use a deep sand bed. I used base rock in the sand, and placed live rock on top of the sand on the base rock.
I'm not real comfortable burying live rock as you're burying nutrients as well.