Saltwater Aquarium Guide -- Typical Marine Starter Kit

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It is difficult to use live rock as the sole source of filtration in a fish-only setup, but it certainly can be used effectively to reduce nitrates. The use of live rock in a fish-only setup must be closely monitored. If nutrient levels in the aquarium are high, the live rock will be the first to demonstrate this fact. Live rock in presence of high nutrient levels will grow unhealthy amounts of hair algae, and in some cases, cyanobacteria (slime algae). To avoid outbreaks of plague algae's, a few simple rules must be followed:

First, you must start will high quality live rock; live rock which is highly encrusted in coralline algae. Avoid live rock which already has hair algae growing on it. Regular additions of calcium may also be needed to keep the coralline algae thriving.

Second, you need to keep nitrate levels low (~10ppm) and ensure you have nearly undetectable levels of phosphate (~0.02 ppm).

Finally, feed sparingly; decomposing food is one of the main avenues for introducing phosphate/nitrate and contributing to alga e problems.

If you plan to add live rock to your system, remember live rock contains living organisms, so they can be killed along with any other organism in your tank. It's a good idea to wait until after the tank is set up before buying live rock. There is no good place to store live rock other than in a circulating tank. Trying to do otherwise will be disastrous and costly. Also, if you are going to put live rock into an established tank, the rock must be cured live.

There are certain caveats that should be noted. If you decide to use a UGF, reverse flow setups are better. A RUGF will keep nitrates lower by keeping the substrate cleaner and will aid water movement and circulation.

In addition to good filtration, water movement is a must in Saltwater Aquarium. Without circulation the system will be unstable and usually grow unhealthy amounts of algae and other undesirable organisms. The easiest way to achieve water movement is to have a powerhead in the tank for circulation. Care must be taken though, an oversized powerhead in a small tank will easily make a washing-machine-like environment that will cause problems for small or slow moving creatures.

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