Aquascape upgrade

SeaJay

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I started my tank a little over a year ago, not knowing what I was doing, intending on a FOWLR only. Of course much has changed and I've been making the necessary upgrades to become a reefer. My aquascape consists of a shipwreck flanked by two piles of dry rock. I'm upgrading lighting and have an APEX on the way, so I'd like to just go ahead and revamp everything at once getting rid of the shipwreck and building a proper aquascape.

My question is, am I best starting over with dry rock so that I can build, drill, epoxy, etc as necessary? Can I build using my existing rock without drying it and starting over? I really don't want to lose the growth that I've accumulated over the 16 months if I can help it.

It's a 135 gal display. Any input is greatly appreciated.

C2EEA849-0419-4CC2-B5A4-6188A58D873F.jpeg

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These pics are from when I built the stand and the rocks were still white. I added a couple pieces of live rock to get things started. Now it’s all cured and colored and I’m not keen on the idea of starting over with dry rock.
 
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New&no clue

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I don't think you have to start over. I've taken my rocks down and build them back up several times. I've added new rock in as well when I'm trying something new. I pull some out that I don't like and put it in the sump, then move it back up again.
 

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I don't think you have to start over. I've taken my rocks down and build them back up several times. I've added new rock in as well when I'm trying something new. I pull some out that I don't like and put it in the sump, then move it back up again.
You're doing all of this in tank and without securing the structure with glue/epoxy/pvc, yes?
 
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SeaJay

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I don't think you have to start over. I've taken my rocks down and build them back up several times. I've added new rock in as well when I'm trying something new. I pull some out that I don't like and put it in the sump, then move it back up again.
I’ve restacked a couple of times to make it better. This time however, I want to really build something with caves and ledges and whatnot. Things that I can’t accomplish just by dry stacking.
 

New&no clue

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Do you want to take out of the water to do this or leave everything in? When using Epoxy my skimmer always goes crazy, even if I'm just placing frags. So I always turn that off when I'm doing anything.
 
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Do you want to take out of the water to do this or leave everything in? When using Epoxy my skimmer always goes crazy, even if I'm just placing frags. So I always turn that off when I'm doing anything.
I would build it in probably 3 larger sections outside of the tank then put those together in the tank.
 
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I guess a more specific question would be, what happens if I remove my live rock and it dries? If I let it dry and re-use it, is it simply a matter of re-establishing the bacteria? Will it keep its color when it goes back in? Are there any specific don'ts that I should be aware of?

One thought I had was that I could I remove one side, dry the rock, build it and put it back in. Then give it some time to get re-established. Then pull the other side, build it and put it back in. Then bridge the two sides together.
 

Seanybaggs123

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I guess a more specific question would be, what happens if I remove my live rock and it dries? If I let it dry and re-use it, is it simply a matter of re-establishing the bacteria? Will it keep its color when it goes back in? Are there any specific don'ts that I should be aware of?

One thought I had was that I could I remove one side, dry the rock, build it and put it back in. Then give it some time to get re-established. Then pull the other side, build it and put it back in. Then bridge the two sides together.
The problem with letting it dry, or so I've heard, is that the die off that happens in that time frame will cause excess nitrates, phosphates, and possibly an ammonia spike depending on the bioload your filtration is used to handling.

I'm trying to accomplish the same objective as you.

What I've done so far is removed some of my live rock and put it through a bleach cure process (can be found on the BRS youtube channel). It only takes a couple of weeks and starts the rock over from scratch.

I plan to build a structure for one side of the tank when that process is finished and remove half of the existing scape.

I'll then cure the rock I removed from that process, and build a structure for the second half of the tank. Should take me a few weeks to a month, which should be plenty of time to seed the newly added structure.

The biggest downfall I see is that I'll likely lose a good amount of microfauna.

I wish there was a way around doing it this way, but I bought a used setup. So, trying not to groan too much...
 

New&no clue

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This is what my LFS guy has told me, I'm not sure how true it is. Live Rock can be out of the water for 1 hours without and consequence to the tank. As he explains it in the ocean the tides go in and out exposing rocks for hours at a time. I've taken my rocks out of my tank to rearrange and re-glue together, however, usually only out of the water for 30mins at most.
 

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You can drill or cement rock that is wet so you do not need to dry it. Keep a spray bottle of salt water handy or wet towels to keep the rock at least moist, and then go to work. Doing one structure at time as you suggested is an excellent idea. Don't forget to post pics of what you do, so others can learn along with you.
 

Seanybaggs123

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You can drill or cement rock that is wet so you do not need to dry it. Keep a spray bottle of salt water handy or wet towels to keep the rock at least moist, and then go to work. Doing one structure at time as you suggested is an excellent idea. Don't forget to post pics of what you do, so others can learn along with you.
A Spray bottle of saltwater..... You sir... are a genius!
 
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SeaJay

SeaJay

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You can drill or cement rock that is wet so you do not need to dry it. Keep a spray bottle of salt water handy or wet towels to keep the rock at least moist, and then go to work. Doing one structure at time as you suggested is an excellent idea. Don't forget to post pics of what you do, so others can learn along with you.
I plan to really spend some time on it, but if keeping it wet is all it takes and can be effectively epoxied without drying, that may be the route I choose. I want to cut the bottoms of the base rock flat and use a combination of epoxy and rods. I was thinking in terms of days, not hours.
 

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This is what my LFS guy has told me, I'm not sure how true it is. Live Rock can be out of the water for 1 hours without and consequence to the tank. As he explains it in the ocean the tides go in and out exposing rocks for hours at a time. I've taken my rocks out of my tank to rearrange and re-glue together, however, usually only out of the water for 30mins at most.
What did you use to re-glue? I am moving from a standard 90gal. to a 130 peninsula, and my rockwork is about 15 years old. I don't want to dry it. I figure anyplace I need to glue, I will need to clean really well before gluing.
 

New&no clue

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Instant Ocean HoldFast Aquarium Epoxy Glue Stick (HF-1)

This is what I always use. But I’m not sure I’d recommend it. It’s all they sell at my LFS so it’s easy to pick up. I find epoxy hard to work with.
 

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