Live Rock Placement

[sfarris002]

I will be upgrading my 28 Gallon tank to a new 55 Gallon tank in the next few weeks, The 28 Gallon tank is starting to pull apart at the seams. Not good!

In my current setup I have my live rock on top of my sand bed. The new tank will have a 2 to 3 inches sand bed. So should the rock be on the bottom of the tank or can I put it on top of the sand bed?

I know that some people say bottom of tank because of certain diggers.

Just looking for thoughts and ideas.

[JamesL]

I guess it would depend if you are going to have any diggers in the tank...

When I did my 24g to 75g upgrade, I used my existing rock and also added new rock. I first put the new rock in (touching the bottom), and added sand. Then once the tank stabilized over a week or so, I added my existing rock. With my existing rock, I just pushed it as far down into the sand bed as I could, as I had planned on getting a jawfish and pistol shrimp (both voracious diggers).

(BTW, Welcome to ARC! I just noticed that was your first post )

[chrisfowler99]

I agree with the comment about diggers.

If a digger clears out the sand under a supporting section of the rock the rock can shift, potentially crushing the digger or causing other rocks on top of it to fall.

[Rjohn]

Put the rock on the bottom, then add your substrate. Your rock will be stable and diggers won't matter much. I have seen several people put eggcrate on the bottom, then the rock, then the substrate. The eggcrate will diffuse the weight of the rock somewhat.

[Zarathustra2]

I used a pvc pipe skeleton and zip tied my rock to that. It gives you the best of both worlds and lets you do some really cool things with your aquascape.

Also, Avoid the 2-3" of sand area. If you want a DSB then you want 4" or more. If you just want a decorative sand bed keep it in the 1" area. 2-3" will not give you the benefits of a DSB but will act as a "nutrient sink" causing nitrates/nitrites to spike in your system.

[sfarris002]

I am not really looking for a DSB. I more want to have deeper sand bed to have it more alive. After getting everything setup I am planning on getting this - http://www.ipsf.com/livesand.html

I am figuring a 2 to 3 inch sand bed will give these creatures a place to grow. My current 29 Gallons tank has a two inch sand base and it works well.

[Zarathustra2]

Again, your choice. The general rule of thumb is that a 2-3" sand bed is a bad idea. The main reason being that you get some areas in an anoxic state but it does not have enough depth to keep that state stable. So the general rule of thumb advice is to either keep your bed at 1 inch or pile it on to over 4" but stay away from the 2-3" area. The critters in the pack you mention will be fine in 1" of sand. Do you plan on adding any jawfish or shrimp gobies?

Let me know how it works with the IPSF product. I'm a huge fan of biodiversity and saw thier products but thought that the cost was more than a bit too high, especially for a lot of the products they have that come as pretty standard hitchhikers on live rock. (See the 19.95 for bristleworms.) I'm also not a fan of trademarked names for animals. Like if you look up the "Microhermits ™" they are pretty standard orange hermits you can get most places. On the other hand this was one of the few places that I saw that was selling live zoo/phytoplankton cultures as a jump started for your reef and I like that idea.