Aquascaping a Top Braced 230 Gallon

[Hugh Mann]

So, it occurred to me as I was struggling to remove the old coralline from this tank that for lack of less appropriate, but more fitting language, will be problematic.

I've never done a scape on a tank this size, or with nearly as much rock. Looking at having about 200-230lbs of rock, give or take, but here's where my problems start, from what I believe will be least to most problematic. Looking for possible tips, suggestions or solutions to how I may go about this project. Odds are it will also be just me working on this thing alone.

I need a ladder to access the top of the tank. Between the stand and tank itself, the top is just over 6 feet. For various reasons I can't do a lower stand.

The space between the ceiling and top of the tank is 23".

The tank is 30" deep, from the top I can barely touch the bottom of the tank with a fully outstretched arm.

The tank is braced around the edge and two middle braces, leaving me three 14x24" openings to work through. This by far seems like it would be the biggest hurdle to tackle.

Beyond that, what about aquascaping with live rock? I'll be using about a 50/50 mix of live and dry. I intend to do most of the work before I add the saltwater, just to make it a little easier, but am concerned with the time it may take, killing all the bugs and other critters living in the rock.

Sticking rocks together. I'm thinking epoxy this time. I don't trust the rocks not to shift over time, and as mentioned, it will be a huge pain to do any overhauls should there be a collapse. What's a good one to use?

What about sand? I'm using about 80lbs of black sand. Should I place the base rocks and then add the sand around it, or place the rocks on top of the sand? In my current tank, I did the latter, but I have since read that it's not recommended to do it that way. I'm guessing detritus buildup/stability issues?

My intention is to also build an aquascape that is more so fish friendly than visually pleasing. Maximizing caves and hiding holes as many of my planned fish are cave dwellers. Potentially including a couple pvc pipes for my eel.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Sand first, then rocks.

Also some black sand is magnetic and gets stuck to pumps and magnet glass cleaners (and then scratches glass). Just thought I'd mention that.

For sticking rocks together have you thought of using acrylic dowels instead of epoxy? I do alot of fragging so permantly glued rocks wouldn't work for me..

As far as the bacteria on the rocks I wouldn't worry too much about it being out of the water too long. That stuff is resilient. But just out of paranoia id probably keep it covered in wet paper towels.

When I got my first acrylic tank I was also stressed about the opening being too small to work through. But I was wrong. Once everything is set up it really isn't bad at all

 

[Hugh Mann]

Yep, I know. I don't plan on having any magnets get close to the sand. Will manually scrub the glass closer to the bottom.

I have not thought of that. Not a terrible idea, though quite a bit of extra work by the sounds of it. Might consider it though. I don't plan on many corals or anything like that to frag. Would rather a solid scape because of my eel, which is going to get big.

What about the other critters? Have already seen a couple little brittle stars in the live stuff I got. I guess with more porous the rock is as long as it stays damp should be fine. Due to a limited capacity to create/store saltwater, I plan on doing it in stages. Build the rocks, fill to their level, build some more, and so on. As I am guessing it would definitely kill the good stuff if I just filled the tank with RODI over two weeks with my abysmally slow unit and then mixed in the salt.

What sort of opening did you deal with/depth of the tank? Pose any difficulty in the aquascaping?

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Ya I imagine the mini brittles and worms and stuff would have a hard time out of the water. I still think just the wet paper towels will do the trick though. Of course a little bit of die off is to be expected if they're out of the water for a long time. But look at the live florida ocean rock that people are getting shipped in wrapped in wet paper. All kinds of urchins and starfish are surviving that..

My tank is 24" deep and the 2 openings are about 8"x20". Aquascaping and maintenance haven't been a problem at all. But then again I put my rocks in one at a time, not as a big structure

 

[Weasel1960]

Consider building your aquascape outside of the tank first, as a dry fit. Epoxy sections together in manageable chunks that can then be reassembled inside the tank. Larger chunks will likely be more stable as they are heavier so you may not need to epoxy one chunk to another.

 

[Hugh Mann]

Consider building your aquascape outside of the tank first, as a dry fit. Epoxy sections together in manageable chunks that can then be reassembled inside the tank. Larger chunks will likely be more stable as they are heavier so you may not need to epoxy one chunk to another.

That was part of my plan, yeah. Big, heavy stuff on the bottom and using smaller and smaller as it goes, with the exception of any real nice shelf rocks I might find.

Good idea to make mini assemblies. Might help the process along. Hopefully it will be easier than I am imagining.

Side note: Heater in the bin died while I was at work, and it will be a day or so before I can get a replacement. Odds are most of those critters won't survive the 64f anyways. Oh well, it's only a small amount of the live rock I have yet to acquire.

 

[lavoisier]

Sand shifts! If you put your rocks on the sand then the rock will shift as well. If you want stability place the rocks directly on the bottom of the tank and add sand after.

 

[Murica]

Sand shifts! If you put your rocks on the sand then the rock will shift as well. If you want stability place the rocks directly on the bottom of the tank and add sand after.

+1

 

[Hugh Mann]

That's a very good point. Would it be of any value to secure the base rocks to the bottom with glue or anything like that?

It's not like I live in an earthquake prone area, but with the big fish I plan to stock, especially my moray, I want the aquascape to be as rock solid as I can make it.