Live Rock

Ramie

Member
Is it easier to drill Live rock wet to make a stackable cave, or what not, or is it easier when it's dry? I'm tearing down and rebuilding my RSM 130. And really want to make a beautiful rock setup, upgrade the lighting, and filtration.

What would be the best way to do this? Drill holes, put plastic rods to connect them, and what about a sealant? I'm super new to this kind of thing so be as detailed as possible.

I plan on upgrading the lights & adding to the filtration system. Not sure if i should go with a Seamless Sump I found, or find a Fluval G6 canister filter. I would love the Seamless Sump, but I'm not sure if there is enough room in the stand for it,

I'm thinking on upgrading the lights in it to these Led's but not sure which ones to get.

I want to keep the hood, and have it look clean and stock I guess, but with filtration and lighting.

I plan on having 1-2 clown fish, cleaner shrimp, few crabs snails, and possibly dip my feet into some easy to care for corals. Ricordeas, Zoas, ect...
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
The page you found covers most of he basics. I would add that you want to make your rock formations so you can easily remove them if necessary. In other words don't make one large piece. Make that one large one out of several smaller pieces.

If your only planning a few fish, there is really no good reason to add a sump. Save your money. You will also save all the time and effort that you will need to put into maintaining it.

If at all possible, avoid the use of canister filters on SW reef systems. They tend to become massive dirt traps, and nitrate factories. They are also big oxygen consumers. Also those Fluval G6's cost about $380, making them very expensive. Save your money here also.

If your planning a lot of fish, then a sump may be desirable. The big thing it will do for you is let you use a much larger skimmer and/or more chemical or mechanical media. Biological media is a complete waste of time in a reef system. You don't need it. That's why you have all that live rock in there.

The Steve's LED retrofits are well known in the hobby and a good choice.

A few additional notes on the hobby...

Don't spend your money on equipment unless it's really going to do something for your system. I hate to think about the number of times I make a major upgrade on something and spent a lot of money, and while the upgrade was better, it wasn't that much better. Your going to find plenty of other things to spend your money on.

Get that tank going and see how your making out before you do upgrades to the lighting or filtration or anything else. You may not need to do it.

No matter how good it sounds, avoid new products until they have established a track record. A lot of products are rushed to market and those early buyers too a beating on that new product. Yea, I've done this more than once too.
 

Squatch XXL

Well-Known Member
Don't spend your money on equipment unless it's really going to do something for your system.
This is the best advice to anyone who may be new to keeping salt water. I have been keeping captive reefs off and on over the last 2 decades, and the best way to start is by keeping it simple.

Get that tank going and see how your making out before you do upgrades to the lighting or filtration or anything else. You may not need to do it.
It takes some time from initial setup until most tanks are "stable"....the first few months can be filled with ups and downs of various algaes and unstable params while your beneficial bacteria colonize and adapt.

Still to this day, I only use the "Berlin" method of reef keeping. It is bare bones simple, with the least amount of moving parts. The most complex part of my whole setup is my skimmer ($30 generic ebay model). Berlin method involves lots of live rock and water motion to maintain parameters. Berlin seems to be a great place to start and even stay, and is in some ways the most "cost effective" method to "get your feet wet" with your tank and its nuances.

I do use a sump and skimmer in my setups however. The skimmer that I use is totally unnecessary because I don't keep much livestock....the sump is only useful to hide my heater and my skimmer...and for a bit of extra system water.

I have never fastened rocks together, though it is on my list of things to try. However, I have drilled plenty of rocks for places to mount frag plugs. As was indicated on the link, wear gloves and safety glasses. Rocks may be soft for a bit, then suddenly hard and a drill bit has no choice but to either shatter the rock, or to grab and spin it around.....If your fingers are near you can get a nasty smack. If you are using a masonry bit and are going slow, you minimize these risks.

@DaveK as usual has given lots of great advice. He has vastly more experience than I do, and is quite familiar with things that I have no idea about. Everything he posted is great advice.
 
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