Unit 91 Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Hi guys, im thinking about bulding a bigger mixed reef tank, is there a way to seed normal sea sand and volcanic rock to have an active microbial population? Im estimating I might have to use 30 kg live sand and probably 80 kg rock to get started in my new tanks, Size 6ft X 2ft x3ft I currently have a 128 L tanks with live ronk and sand I also might note. this was a tropical aquarium that is being conferted to a marine tank, I still need to build a sump for it Quote Link to comment
Tired Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Why do you want volcanic rock? It's less full of tunnels than ocean rock, might contain unhelpful trace elements, and will lose the nice dark color as soon as algae covers it. You don't need to use entirely live rock for your tank, if that's what you're worried about. Any amount of live rock will add the bacteria and microorganisms that you need. Bottled bacteria or just patience will establish some level of nitrifying bacteria on their own, but live rock is the best way to get biodiversity and speed up the tank's maturing process. A small amount of live rock and a bunch of dry rock will do just fine. Pure dry rock can also work, but since you have to add all the biodiversity separately (most of which happens on tiny coral frags), it can take years to get to the amount of biodiversity that live rock comes with. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.