how many pounds of LR per Gal?

ive been hearing different than i was told by my LFS (1p/gal min)

 

Reef tank? Fish only?

 

reef tank with fish

 

as a general rule of thumb, 1 1/2 to 2 pounds per gallon.

 

1.75lb/gal. Some go as high as 2lb/gal.

 

the basic recommendations are 1-2 lbs a gallon. most people go with 1.5 lbs per gallon if they can afford it.

also you know only a small percentage of the rock you need has to be live, the rest can be base rock. thats something a lot of lfs leave out when they think they can sell you the liverock.

 

For a Fish only or bare minimum salt water tank, 1 to 1.5 pounds per gallon is a good amount. For a Full Blown reef tank, 1.5 to 2 pounds per gallon is a good range to be in. We have about 60 or 70 pounds of rock in our 46 bowfront, and it's fully stocked with fish and now houses over 15 coral colonies in it, from xenia, zoas, shrooms, up to acros and starburst and a birdsnest. I say 60 to 70 pounds because I lost count of what we actually have in there, my mom kept on adding more and more later on and I never figured out what count we were up to. I think it might be 65 actually. So we're just under 1.5 per gallon, but we have a great skimmer running so that makes up for alot of it.

And as sostoudt said, you don't need to buy all live rock. We started with around 50% base and 50% live rock in the tank. You could theoretically start with around 90% base rock and seed it with some live rock, this keeps out alot of annoying critters and stuff, but you have to wait quite a while for the tank to become fully live and operational. Supposedly it takes around 6-12 months for base to become live. I've heard 6 months to 12 months, but I'm not sure. I guess it varies quite a bit.

 

I like to use a volume measurement, it better relates to how much you really need. I would fill the tank with about 1/3 of the volume with rock.

 

I have seen some places try to sell LR at almost $8/lb!!! No thank you!

 

Quote..I have seen some places try to sell LR at almost $8/lb!!! No thank you!

That's the norm in the prairies where i live My buddy owns his own store,3-1/2 hrs away.He always has jakarta and it's priced at 8.99 Can. a pound.It's nice rock tho,but a loser store an hour away charges 10.99 for premium boulders .