Help me fix my 65 gallon aquascape

[Be102]

Hi all,

I am trying to fix my aquascape. I am unsure if that means with the rocks I have now, or just purchasing some new dry rock online and moving most of my current rock to my sump. My tank is 65 gallons and is plagued with pyramid-esque style aquascaping. Not many of my corals are glued down or whatnot other than the encrusting ones.

Would I be able to say take the rocks out during a water change briefly and use some sort of glue/putty to make cool rock structures then return to the tank? Or should I just purchase new dry rock and do that and go from there when adding it to the tank.

Thanks!

 

[davocean]

You have a lot of unused space above, it would be nice to see you go up some, maybe add some cave or ledge areas.

I'm more of a fan of using acrylic rods or even fiberglass road markers to help stack up and keep stable than I am epoxy or glues, but some people do that.

I would probably keep what you have and add more rock, established is nice if you can get it.

You can have your rock exposed for some time while you work w/ it, just keep it damp.

 

[Be102]

You have a lot of unused space above, it would be nice to see you go up some, maybe add some cave or ledge areas.

I'm more of a fan of using acrylic rods or even fiberglass road markers to help stack up and keep stable than I am epoxy or glues, but some people do that.

I would probably keep what you have and add more rock, established is nice if you can get it.

You can have your rock exposed for some time while you work w/ it, just keep it damp.

Thanks for the reply,

I actually have a decent amount of random sized rocks in my fuge just sitting there because they seemed to be weird shaped / kinda hard to stack.
Can you explain more about the rods and how to use / install them? I’ve heard people using rods but didn’t understand it other than like drilling through dry rock.

 

[davocean]

You could probably get by using what you have epoxied and stacked well if you are not comfortable drilling, but I don't think drilling is that big of a thing, just use a cheap masonry drill bit.
But I'm used to working w/ drills so easy for me to say.

I don't think you need a whole lot of height, leave coral room, but it would be nice to get a little more height and some cave or ledge,swim through.

I'm in earthquake area, stability is a must, so I need rods here for sure.

 

[smiley28]

You could try out reef welder? I will be trying it out for the first time this weekend or next week.

 

[Be102]

You could try out reef welder? I will be trying it out for the first time this weekend or next week.

Would love to hear your experience with it

 

[Be102]

You could probably get by using what you have epoxied and stacked well if you are not comfortable drilling, but I don't think drilling is that big of a thing, just use a cheap masonry drill bit.
But I'm used to working w/ drills so easy for me to say.

I don't think you need a whole lot of height, leave coral room, but it would be nice to get a little more height and some cave or ledge,swim through.

I'm in earthquake area, stability is a must, so I need rods here for sure.

What is the preferred epoxy for putting wet live rock together? What is even the process overall?

Take tank water out and start to remove rocks to then put them in like a container to add some water and then epoxy them in there? Will I mess up my perimeters and whatnot by messing with the rocks? I’m thinking about maybe just removing my clowns, taking most frags out in a bucket or something and going from there

 

[davocean]

Tie it in w/ a WC and use the old water to keep rock submerged is what I've done many times.
If it's a DSB we try not to disturb those too much, but moving rock is not a big deal, normally you may have some sponge die off as it hits air, so unless it's loaded in sponge not really an issue, and even then that would scrub off.
It's not a bad time to scrub a little if there is HA or anything
Just keep rock wet or moist.

I make a template on ply or something myself, this makes easier to scape to fit tank and find what fits.

 

[Be102]

Tie it in w/ a WC and use the old water to keep rock submerged is what I've done many times.
If it's a DSB we try not to disturb those too much, but moving rock is not a big deal, normally you may have some sponge die off as it hits air, so unless it's loaded in sponge not really an issue, and even then that would scrub off.
It's not a bad time to scrub a little if there is HA or anything
Just keep rock wet or moist.

I make a template on ply or something myself, this makes easier to scape to fit tank and find what fits.

What do you recommend I do with the coral? Should I put them in some sort of just container with tank water whilst I do everything and hope they don’t bother one another? I guess the time to do all of this is sooner than later considering I want to add more fish.

How long will it take for an epoxy to be ready to added to the tank again?

 

[davocean]

Yes I'd put corals in a holding tank or container and try not to let then touch.

I have not dealt w/ epoxy in a long time, guess it depends what kind and how much you use, maybe others will chime on that

 

[Be102]

Yes I'd put corals in a holding tank or container and try not to let then touch.

I have not dealt w/ epoxy in a long time, guess it depends what kind and how much you use, maybe others will chime on that

How did you go about installing the rods tho? Do you just stack them and that prevents them from falling over? Or do you attach them somehow to the rocks?

 

[davocean]

Well I get kinda into it, you may not need the acrylic platforms quite like I do, just rods alone will work, and I like 1/2"- 3/4" rods, preferably the larger, and I use a masonry bit slightly bigger than that rod, though I might pilot a hole w/ a smaller bit first.

My build thread shows what I did.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/rebirth-of-my-octocab-tank.204901/

 

[Dennco2000]

I'm no expert at aquarium decor but since we have the same tank thought I would show a couple pics of my set up. Good luck with your remodel.
Please excuse my frag tray I just got rid of several frags a couple days ago.

 

[Be102]

I'm no expert at aquarium decor but since we have the same tank thought I would show a couple pics of my set up. Good luck with your remodel.
Please excuse my frag tray I just got rid of several frags a couple days ago.

Thanks for this! It’s difficult to find tanks that are the same size! I like those vertical pillar things: what are they? Do you happen to have a build thread / inhabitant list?

Looks like we got some similar torch’s

 

[Dennco2000]

I never started a build thread, this tank is around 5 plus years old. Most of the fish minus the chromis and domino are 4 years old and in excellent condition as well are my water perimeters.
Yellow tang, clown, purple dottyback, dwarf angel, fire angel, yellow tail damsel, Carberryi Anthias, domino, 3 chromis, 2 cleaner shrimp. All my fish get along, but under normal circumstances some of these would not make good house mates and the tang should really be in a 75 gallon at the least. I have a technique for getting fish to become house mates with fish you would not normally combine not to say it's perfect
but works 9 out of 10 times,

 

[Be102]

I never started a build thread, this tank is around 5 plus years old. Most of the fish minus the chromis and domino are 4 years old and in excellent condition as well are my water perimeters.
Yellow tang, clown, purple dottyback, dwarf angel, fire angel, yellow tail damsel, Carberryi Anthias, domino, 3 chromis, 2 cleaner shrimp. All my fish get along, but under normal circumstances some of these would not make good house mates and the tang should really be in a 75 gallon at the least. I have a technique for getting fish to become house mates with fish you would not normally combine not to say it's perfect
but works 9 out of 10 times,

I’d love to hear about the technique!