Saltwater Questions (Live Rock & Waste Clean up)

[Sean]

Okay you are going to have forgive my ignorance on these matters.

I'v been into saltwater aquariums for little now but in the past i just couldn't get it to work for the life of me. I got the hqi 28g nano about 5-6 months ago and by god things are still alive. I had a few things pass away on me but things seem to be some what stable now.

The things I would like to get some feed back on is live rock. I bought this mass amount of rocks and put it in there.. about 2-3 months in I felt that the 28 pounds was too much and I took out some rocks.. It now easier to clean the tank and I didn't have a mass about of debris hiding where I couldn't see it. The levels instantly balanced off and now when I change my water I don't get this mass amount of algae i have to scrape off the next day. But how much waste should be sitting around.. I'd like to put sand in one day but if I can't see the stuff under the sand its going to get messy and hard to tell where to clean. Should i just bite the bullet and put sand in anways?

I see that some have an amazing amount of coral in their tank and I was wondering how do they fit in there? When I go to the store the coral usually comes on a rock I do my research find where i should palce it in my tank and then rest it there.. But the mass amount of rock i bought to begin with is still empty.. there's the odd worm some sort of clam and a little bit of red and purple.. thats about it.. I know this isn't a simple question but how do you get it soo your live rock is full of life? Am i suppose to just slowly replace my giant rocks with little ones that i buy from the fish store with coral on it? It just seems like my tank is holding life but not producing it.