[ckwatson]

I have been wanting to set up a salt water tank for some time i am just not sure how big i want to go. No mater what size i go with i know i want to go with a sump. I just need to know how big of a sump i will need. I have a 35 gal tank and a 120 gal tank I have gathered from online and yard sells. Money and space will be a big factor what i go with. Like i said i am trying to do this on a budget so is it really necessary to have 1 lb of rock for each gallon when starting a tank?

[lynnvangsnes]

A pound of LR per gallon is minimum for a reef tank. You'd be surprised how far 120 lbs goes...not very far in filling it up. You could use your 35 for the sump in your 120. You've got your tanks...good. Generally, you can plan on spending $30 per gallon to get your tank cycled after all equipment and LR.

[msbdiving]

I know this won't sound that great to your pocket book, but it's actually 1.5-2lbs per gallon that you are shooting for. I have found great deals on craigslist for LR at anywhere from $2/lb to .75/lb.

[ckwatson]

I am not in a big hurry to get fish in and it will be a while be for i add coral. So is there any draw back to slowly building up the rock and just starting with crabs and things of that sort. I dont mind the time, and if i can do it and make a good clean tank i would be fine starting with a smaller amount of rock or going with some live rock and some filler rock and letting it grow what it needs

[mtfabel]

Only problem with adding a little rock at a time is that if the rock that you add is uncured then it will cause your tank to cycle again. This is no big deal unless you have living things in there.

[ckwatson]

what about doing half live and have dry or some combination of the 2?

[mtfabel]

That would be fine. Its just best if you add all the live rock you are going to use at the same time.