Should there be certain spacing of Live rock in tank to better bioilogical filtration

John Hartford · 03/09/2006, 10:36 AM

I was wondering if there should be an open space from the back of the tank to the live rock, that way the water could flow from the front of the aquarium, through the rock and back out. Or should one just simply not worry about the space and concentrate on the asthetics of tank in dealing with the live rock?

artful-dodger · 03/09/2006, 11:27 AM

You want to have water circulating everywhere...dead spots will accumulate detritus. How you balance (so to speak) your rock work with your water movement is up to you. Some people use powerheads behind the rock (tough to service or replace), some use PVC spraybars (a challenge to clean) and some use a closed loop with lots of nozzles pointing everywhere.

It is tough to accomplish this water movement objective in any tank, but it is particularly challenging in an 18" (front to back) tank such as the 125.

03/09/2006, 10:36 AM	#1
John Hartford Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Iowa Posts: 256	Should there be certain spacing of Live rock in tank to better bioilogical filtration I was wondering if there should be an open space from the back of the tank to the live rock, that way the water could flow from the front of the aquarium, through the rock and back out. Or should one just simply not worry about the space and concentrate on the asthetics of tank in dealing with the live rock?

03/09/2006, 11:27 AM	#2
artful-dodger Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Highlands Ranch, Colorado Posts: 3,011	You want to have water circulating everywhere...dead spots will accumulate detritus. How you balance (so to speak) your rock work with your water movement is up to you. Some people use powerheads behind the rock (tough to service or replace), some use PVC spraybars (a challenge to clean) and some use a closed loop with lots of nozzles pointing everywhere. It is tough to accomplish this water movement objective in any tank, but it is particularly challenging in an 18" (front to back) tank such as the 125. __________________ "In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." -- Thomas Jefferson Current Tank Info: 140g RR Oceanic "Ultimate" mixed reef, 37g softies, 40g RBTA tank, 65g FOWLR, 40g breeder frag, and (of course) a 29g QT! ...next up is a 240g! (Gotta go to K-Mart and buy a life...)