Too much live rock?

[blaze98]

Is there such a thing as too much live rock? I have a 29 gallon display tank and I have about 30 lbs of live rock, but I have 50 more lbs in a tank all by itself with nothing in it but 3 huge hermits, I want to add about 30 more lbs to my display tank, is this overkill?

 

[bknow]

sell some to people haha...i guess it would be overkill if you cant even fit any corals in there

 

[mike22cha]

Ya just make sure that there is room for corals, but as long as you got space, fill 'er up!

 

[blaze98]

Yeah there is plenty of room for coral, I am trying to figure out where to put the pieces, they are mostly smaller peices 3-4 lbs each. What ever I have left over is going to be used to start a 10 gallon nano

 

[yerboy]

remember the more rock u have the more flow you need. to much rock will allow to many dead spots in your tank where stuff will accumulate and could cause problems.
just something to think about.

 

[mike22cha]

Yes if you do fill it put power heads on all four corners. But also, Yerboy, more live rock means a more stable tank.

 

[blaze98]

I have 2 MJ 1200's flowing right now, I was thinking of adding 2 more because I am adding twice the amount of rock.

 

[yerboy]

i dont know if i would consider it more stable, more rock means less total water volume meaning more flux in salinity and less dilution. however it does mean more bio filtration if the flow is correct.

 

[mike22cha]

Really? Most people recommend lots of lr, not filling the tank completely, but still a lot. Hey, blaze, can you post pics?

 

[blaze98]

I can't post pics until this evening when I get home from work. I will post them as soon as I get home to give you guys an idea of what I am trying to do.

 

[yerboy]

i understand the concept of more Lr = better but i believe there can be to much of a good thing.
If you pack a tank so full of rock that the total water volume of the tank is lets say half of the tank size, 14 gallons of water in a 29 gallon tank you will have more heat issues and a higher % of water evaporation causing a larger flux in salinity.
Im not saying in his case this will be a problem i only wanted to address some of the possible changes he may encounter in his system due to adding more LR.

 

[reef diver]

Personally 50 lb + is just too much IMO from an aesthetics POV, also remember fish dont usually liv in anything like that they swim OVER the reef. IMO, add another 15 LB, use some more for a 10, then ,maybe do a conjunction sump for both, and put the rest of the LR in there. Yes too much LR will 1 look bad, 2 cause WAY too many deadspots, and water displacement. for a 29 id use maybe 35 lb of rock.

 

[blaze98]

Originally Posted by Reef Diver
Personally 50 lb + is just too much IMO from an aesthetics POV, also remember fish dont usually liv in anything like that they swim OVER the reef. IMO, add another 15 LB, use some more for a 10, then ,maybe do a conjunction sump for both, and put the rest of the LR in there. Yes too much LR will 1 look bad, 2 cause WAY too many deadspots, and water displacement. for a 29 id use maybe 35 lb of rock.

That makes a lot of sense. The pieces that I want to add are simply to make the tank look "fuller", I really shouldn't have a problem with the LR causing too many deadspots because the rock would be going up the back wall of the tank in a single stack, and a well placed powehead should take care of the flow behind it. I really should wait until I post pics to try to explain it, but it will be like a pyramid with larger rocks on the bottom and smaller pieces on top. I am going to use the remaining live rock in my 10 and the rest will go in a sump for my 29 gallon.