Bunch of rubble or few large pieces?

[Glipzcom]

So I posted that I was about to buy all this live rock to start my tank but I went to a local club meeting and someone brought up the base rock idea.

So I went to the LFS and saw they had a bunch of rock called lace rock and it looked cool and mostly looked like it had lots of nooks for stuff to grow in.

Got it home and used lots of cable ties to try and make two interesting shapes.

So now I still need live rock. I was wondering if i should just buy like 20 lbs of rubble and just glue it all over the rocks. Or buy 2 or 3 big established pieces to get the cycle going.

[Pisces23]

I'd go for the 2 or 3 big established pieces. When I set up my tank I bought 20 lbs of "nano" live rock from premium aquatics, along with 3 lbs of their live rock rubble. The 20 lbs filled up my tank wonderfully. But the rubble varied in size -- some good sized chunks, but a lot of tiny stuff that I'm now using for frags. I know I wouldn't want to try to take the time to stick dozens of little pieces of rock onto my set up. Just my two cents...

[Blade_Runner]

If it's the same price, go with the larger rock. It's better for building and you can always break it.

[coral reefer]

Go with the bigger rock, however I would get some that is less dense/more porous like a sponge...This offers more surface area for bacteria etc. to adhere to and grow!!!
That is what it is all about...increased surface area-better water quality, whether it is substrate or live rock or more importantly tank shape and size!