Aqua-scaping

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Doug

Do you still have your shallow sand bed Brad?

I do in this tank, but did not in the last 2 setups. Same results either way.

[kien]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

I was close to that, but had to add a bit more when I restructured. But even with that little, NO3 has always been 0, so it's enough for filtration.

Can't forget the filtration provided by all those granules of sand as well. That's a lot of surface area right there.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by kien

Can't forget the filtration provided by all those granules of sand as well. That's a lot of surface area right there.

You have a shallow sandbed also? I have to go back and look again.

[kien]

Originally Posted by Doug

You have a shallow sandbed also? I have to go back and look again.

Yes. My sandbed is about 1/2 to 1". Simply for aesthetics but but the sand grains do provide surface area for biological filtration as well.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by kien

I'm probably somewhere at around 1/4 a pound per gallon of rock

Also, it really isn't how much rock you have in weight. Some rocks can be ridiculously porous and light, which is more important, rather than a giant bolder that weights 3 times as much.

Yes, the fiji I bought is much heavier and less porous than the Pukani but I could not resist that good sale he had on the Pukani...

[somewherebeyondthesea]

Originally Posted by kien

I'm probably somewhere at around 1/4 a pound per gallon of rock

Also, it really isn't how much rock you have in weight. Some rocks can be ridiculously porous and light, which is more important, rather than a giant bolder that weights 3 times as much.

+1 That's my understanding of that as well. You could put large non-pourous boulders and you wouldn't acheive very much filtration. When I go diving I study the reefs really close, and I've found the base of the reefs are very dense and then they become pourous as you ascend higher up the reef wall.

My Dad uses a ton of Rock but there are many spaces for caves, he went with lots of flat pieces rather than large boulders, his tank is over 10 years old...I've had better luck with pourous light rock myself.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by somewherebeyondthesea

+1 That's my understanding of that as well. You could put large non-pourous boulders and you wouldn't acheive very much filtration. When I go diving I study the reefs really close, and I've found the base of the reefs are very dense and then they become pourous as you ascend higher up the reef wall.

My Dad uses a ton of Rock but there are many spaces for caves, he went with lots of flat pieces rather than large boulders, his tank is over 10 years old...I've had better luck with pourous light rock myself.

Your papa is old school like me....

[asylumdown]

I was just reading Vancouver Reefer's thread in the tank journal section and he had a link to a great aquascaping thread on RC that I have managed to not see until just right now. It might help you with some tips/tricks. I wish I had had the patience to create my structures outside of the tank.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2217633