i would say if you are going for a reef tank then buy more base rock, and put them at the bottom and stack everything else on top of them so that they are not seen, the base rock will eventually turn into live rock, because they will be seeded, and then you have all the benefits still and not as much expence, but you would have to wait a while before it is all live rock, and i stacked mint w/o any base rock, and it turned out nicely |