Confused after visit to LFS

[blossom]

Hi all,

could anyone tell me which rock it is which I should be getting to go with live rock(and become populated by it)? The place I am looking at has ocean rock, reef rock and tuffa rock.

Also, I had been planning on a deep sand bed to go with my live rock, a protein skimmer and the built in mechanical filter which came with my tank, but the bloke in my LFS says I don't need a DSB.
Also, it doesn't look like getting live sand is going to be very easy here (in England). It also doesn't look like we get as many live crawly things on our live rock here. :(

Any advice would be great.

[mmancuso13]

You can use any base rock to keep the LR up off the sand to prevent die off. I used lace rock from the Bahamas. To help get the tank started quickly check out GARF Grunge at www.garf.org

Good Luck!

[mmancuso13]

Oops! your sand question... You can get your own at the shore, just try not to collect oo much from the tidal pools as you may get some other things you don't want.

[blossom]

I'm not sure if the sand here will have anything in which would survive in warm water. The north sea is pretty cold.
Will all rocks turn into living rock eventually?

[Scuba Oz]

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/526049513Reefnut_welcome.gif

Wheter you want a DSB or not is up to you, as long as you follow the rules of a DSB they seem to be doing great as I was taught from WATERKEEPER. I dont really get your liverock question? Is the bloke selling "live" rock or "dead" rock. If it is live rock it has the population you need, if it is "dead" rock it needs to be populated. By that we are talking the benefitial bateria needed to break down Ammonia to Nitrite to Nitrate. Any rock will become live over great amount of time and how long that takes is what is seeding it. Live sand can be ordered on the internet or harvested from the local sea, but I would go out a mile or two for this, do not take off the beach, this is not good sand (and there is some debate about this) (but debate or not it DOES NOT have the bacteria needed for your tank, it can become seeded over time, but not as a major source if any sice it has silicates in it.

Now if I just confused the hell out of you, you should read these great articles before going any further



http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=239848 (http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=239848)

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=239848 (http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=239848) http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=189313 (http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=189313) http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=190414 (http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=190414)

Waterkeeper is a good bloke and has a style about him, no worries, what he says is right on!

[blossom]

Thanks very much. The rocks I listed were the Non-live rock. As live rock is very expensive, and I want lots of rock, I am going to have to get a fair bit of non-live rock to go with it. All the different types of rock were confusing me though, as I wasn't sure if the bacteria from the live rock would populate all of them.

If i keep the mechanical filter which is built into my tank, and don't have a DSB then are my nitrates likely to get to high?

Thanks again for any and all advice. :)

[romunov]

If you want to go a DSB, see here (http://gutfeeling.mine.nu/my/dsb.html).

[dppitone]

As to your two questions:

1) Type of rock - Rock type is determined by where it comes from, which dictates its features. It is generally accepted that "Fiji" type rock is the best for the $, as good pieces have numerous small crevices, which increase surface area permitting more beneficial bacteria. "Ocean Rock" is a catch-all that usually means "not Fiji".

2) Deep Sand Bed - for every person that has success with a DSB, there is another that is successful without one. The LFS is right - it is not crucial to have a DSB. It's also not crucial to have a shallow bed of crushed coral - or for that matter, it's not crucial to go bare bottom. Like the other poster said, it's your choice. These options have developed into philosophies. And the deep sand bed, in short, indicates the philosophy of recreating reef habitat as closely and naturally as possible.

[dppitone]

What is the connotation of "bloke?" Good, bad?

[blossom]

A bloke is just a man, it isn't good or bad :)

Thanks very much for everyones help :)

[marinegirl]

Some bloke is the same as saying Some Guy ....

[WaterKeeper]

Right, and a female is a Blokess. :D

[marinegirl]

Lol@ thatcrap bloke

i swear its blokette .... he he he