advice needed for 600 gallon beginner

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Lava rock should not even be sold, it will eventually detieriorate inside of your tank leaving nothing. craigslist has LR for 3$ a pound. Otherwise make your own LR or use base rock. I would say you could use a 50/50. Its safer using base rock because its never really "uncured" because it was never alive. So its perfectly safe to put in the tank "dead"
 
ok, well assuming i do diy live rock, say 200 lbs of "fake" rock and 100 of live. then say a couple hundred pounds of sand. would this suffice if i had a 3 or 4 months to just let the tank cycle and let the rock/sand seed? or am i going to need more time/ more initially live product?
 
The easiest thing would be to have reef safe fish like basslets and cardinalfish plus a TON of other community fish. Although that's the easiest for a beginner you seem willing to do research and with that size tank you have an enormous investment started. I would recommend doing exactly what you want to do otherwise you'll find yourself on here selling all your fish in 4 years so you can get your shark!
 
shark_curious;3824463; said:
ok, well assuming i do diy live rock, say 200 lbs of "fake" rock and 100 of live. then say a couple hundred pounds of sand. would this suffice if i had a 3 or 4 months to just let the tank cycle and let the rock/sand seed? or am i going to need more time/ more initially live product?
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This will do fine ;)
 
canuck, if i do go the route to do a diy live rock, and i put it in the sump. wouldn't it be more beneficial to not make rock, but a porous "brick" to fit the size of the sump for water to flow through? it just seems it would give more surface area than to try and fit random shapes together. or can the algae and bacteria only live on the surface of rocks rather than the small holes and channels that are created inside of the rock?
 
not to jump off the subject, but has anyone used aquaripure? is it worth the money? and does it actually prolong time between water changes? also would something like this take place of a protien skimmer or are we talking to different types of waste?
 
shark_curious;3831077; said:
canuck, if i do go the route to do a diy live rock, and i put it in the sump. wouldn't it be more beneficial to not make rock, but a porous "brick" to fit the size of the sump for water to flow through? it just seems it would give more surface area than to try and fit random shapes together. or can the algae and bacteria only live on the surface of rocks rather than the small holes and channels that are created inside of the rock?
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If i where you i would run a WET/DRY with bio balls or pot scrubbies. Put in the protien skimmer and your pump. Then with what ever space you have left put cermic noodles F ing everywhere. I think any kind of rock in the sump is not as effeciant as those cermic noodles. I use to run LR only in a sump then i switched to a wetdry bioballs it worked a little better. Then i added cermic noodles to the part where my skimmer sits and my tank is amazingly always clear and water params are perfect.

So the main point. Keep rocks in the tank. Make sure you sump has a wet/dry with bio balls AND cermic noodles. They are very cheap on ebay. Keep in mind Bio balls are only efficant with wetdry's , they need the drip plate dripping water on them and need the oxygen as well. So dont fully submerge them. And the Noodles need to be fully submerged.


And with all the DIY rock , i wouldnt make it , i would buy base rock. Your LFS should cut you a good deal since you buying so much. I would put the base rock all over the back and build with it. Then cover it with nice liverock. In time the base rock will be very close to the LR as far as looks. But you dont want to start out with an eye sore. So place the base rock carefully and hide it with live rock. Since your doing it this way i would fully cycle your tank first before adding any fish. Maybe add like 60 damsels. They are super cheap on ebay as well for big numbers. O and making your own rock would work out to like a 1.23-1.75 per pound. Which base rock could be cheaper , thank making it yourself. Add your labor in as well.
 
each of the overflows is packed with bioballs all the way down (so about 5 by 5 by 48). do you think i need more or would that be sufficient?
 
Bioballs make a great alternative to live rock. However, in the overflow is a bad spot. Have them AFTER you mechanical filter.... otherwise they become your mech filter, and they collect junk in them instead of acting as degas and active denitrification. One method I like to use is making a 'tower' of them as the filered water returns to the tank. It's a great way to make the most of them.
 
should i also leave the bio balls in the overflow for added aeration and diminish noise or should i only keep them under the drip tray and the return flow?
 
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