Live Rock and sand

[devo]

can someone tell me ? How much live rock do I use to cycle a 40gallon tank? I know the rule of thumb but wasn't sure if you can add more later or if you should start out with 1 pound per gallon.

 

And as to live sand the only local supplier I have that carries saltwater products is big als and they don't seem to have any All thier tanks are straight glass on the bottom.Do you need LS or can you use crushed coral for your bottom?

[technoshaman]

We Are not men.... we are D E V O

 

I would add the majority of the rock at the start. Reason being adding it later when the tank is already stocked can cause a mini cycle of varying severity.

 

As for substrate there is a lot of debate. Sandbeds have marginal denitrification abilities in small tanks due to limited surface area - additionally the whole efficacy of the DSB in general is now up in the air. I would not use a very coarse substrate as particles of food and poop will get in and stagnant in between the grains. If you go with a larger particle size of say crushed coral I would reccomend not making it too deep and occasionally siphoning out parts of it or keeping the crud in suspension and remove it with some kind of mechanical filtration.

 

Bare bottom tanks work but are kind of wierd looking till algae, etc encrust over the bottom.

[mattie]

you don't need much lr to start your cycle but as technoshaman stated it is best to get as much as you can up front example

40g would do best with 40-60lbs of LR since this could be pricey you can start with 30 lbs and add small peices later but note as you add new rock it can cause a small spike in ammonia and nitrites

I would recommend sand in the tank for looks and filtration you don't need live sand just get LR and about 15-30LBS of sand I would recommend arganite sand selcet size .5-1.5mm it will look good, and help with growth of pods. arganite will help buffer the calcium a little . but any sand that is suitable for a salt water tank will become live sand after 2-4 weeks so don't worry if you can't get

personally i don't like Cruched coral but its okay if thats all you can get