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#1
06-07-2008, 05:29 AM
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And in addition yes you can start off with partial live rock and some base rock, it will eventually seed the base rock and make it "live rock" it will just take a bit longer to get the full benefit of it.
In my 75 gallon I went with 60 lbs base rock and 30 lbs of new sand, then added 40 lbs of "live sand" (from another tank) and another 65 lbs of live rock (From same tank), about two months later, it's hard to tell apart...... Didn't really get much of a cycle either, if any and eveything is doing very well, except a little more algae that I want, but I'm also using tap water until next week the all changes and top offs will be with RO water. Hope this answers most of what you were asking...... Have fun TJ
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75G, 100 lbs LR, Inwatter Stingray LED's, 25 Gallon Sump, 24wt UV, hermits, Snails, pep, fire & cleaner shrimps, Blue Throat Trigger, Perc Clowns , Yellow Tang, Coral Beauty, Blue Regal tang, RBTA, Coral Banded Shrimp, Checkerboard Wrasse, Many Corals, Royal Tux Urchin 
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#2
06-07-2008, 06:05 AM
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live rock performs denitrification to a certain extent. This lets you keep a little more fish than normal but you can't overload the system.
Also the "pounds per gallon" system depends on the type of rock. Fiji rock is medium porosity. Indo rock is VERY porous. The more porous the rock the better it will denitrify (and the less it will weigh, thus the less it will cost). It's pretty hard to jam some tanks fuller than 1 pound per gallon of indo rock while fiji rock would be easy to jam in 1.5 pounds per gallon. Whatever the case I recommend as much fresh live rock as you can fit for your first tank and I recommend as little sand as possible for the first few months. You can buy your rock from fellow hobbyists or from a store. Getting it from hobbyists means it'll have mostly died off and all the cool (and sometimes not-so-cool) hitchhikers will have disapeared. Fresh rock from the store is full of all sorts of life but you'll have to cure it probably. As for substrate, there are different kinds. For sand most people use argonite which comes in "normal" grain size and sugar grain. I'd stay away from sugar grain unless it's going to be a VERY shallow sand bed (less than 1/2"). As for crushed shells you can mix it with sand 50/50 and you get a pretty nice substrate that sand-sifting inverts will enjoy (along with fish that make their homes in the sand like blennies). Welcome to the hobby and have fun learning. Lots to learn for ever n ever 
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Everything I put in my tank is fully dependant on me.
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