How often are you "tweaking" your aquascape and why would you change it?

[RichReef]

I can't. It's all encrusted. It's just one big rock now. The islands only fit in their spots now. I have to keep the corals above them trimmed.

 

[Thatguy96]

Tweaking, changing the aquascape is a form relief from every day stress for me! Here is a recent aquascape change I did for a friends tank! I love showing off the scollies by attaching them to a rock with a 45 degree angle that allows you to actually be able to see the coral with out hovering over the tank to see the bottom of it.

Let me know your thoughts!

 

[Johnny Nice Guy]

What are some circumstances that cause you to change your aquascape up? (new coral, new fish etc.)

How often are you changing your aquascape up and how involved is it? (little or massive changes etc.)

image via @Queenofreef

Absolutely, stunning. Awesome, rock work!

 

[Adolfo]

my rock scape never change in 6 years but open to do some changes if need it

 

[Nano Chris]

I have changed things a bit. Like when I removed a few anemones to put into another tank. But besides little tweaks I haven’t really moved anything.

 

[reefsaver]

25G Waterbox:
Last year when I started my first Reef, I impulse bought Texas Holey Rock because I liked the look of it.
A couple of months go by and I show my LFS some pictures asking if my Rock was ok.

He said it was okay, but the rock is for freshwater and could hold and slowly leach silicates into my tank and give me algae issues for who knows how long.

So for about 8 months I did indeed have algae problems which wasn't necessarily too bad.
I watch pretty much all Reefing YouTube channels, and kind of already understood that changing out my rock could cause some imbalances or issues. So I did it slowly over time seeding my new Carib sea rock trying to take in and extrapolate on everyone's advice.

So far I'm super happy with my hardscape and I very much doubt I'll be shifting anything other than gluing coral to it.
I did set up my hardscape to be kind of modular by drilling holes and filing down 12mm wide acrylic rod and creating perfect fits to suspend my rock without the use of cement, mortar or glue. So I can actually twist the floating pieces of my hardscape to get better flow and lighting.

The Donut is held by acrylic and's twistable/removable, and the large main arch is twistable/removable too.

 

[no name ...]

I don't change the general rock structure, but I do move stuff around like my little rock island, frags, macroalage, etc, once in a while -- usually when I get some new frags and move stuff around to accommodate them, or when I notice a coral doesn't seem as happy as it could be in it's current spot.

This is exactly what I do now. It took me a long time to lean to leave my scape alone and let my tank mature.

 

[Saltywaterbox]

Mine has been setup for over 3 years and all of the rocks have encrusted together as one mass. I am planning on pulling the structure out this weekend and breaking it apart for a massive overhaul.

Too much rock and once the colonies grew out there is almost no swimming space left for the fish.

 

[vlangel]

I did a tiered sandbed using large pieces of rock as a retaining wall in 2018. Since then I added another rock retaining wall. That portion of the aquascape is fixed and never changed since it holds back a DSB in the display. The rest of the aquascape can be tweaked although I feel like I have it in a sweet spot so have not changed it in a long time.

 

[Nhjmc]

Too often. Isn't good to do I know. Kicking myself for not gluing it. Tried using instant ocean epoxy but that stuff is crap doesn't work at all.

 

[drfm]

I have not changed the general layout of my landscape for 20 years in my 180g tank. All my rock is live rock and not glued to each other. I placed them where there are tunnels and bridges and places for fish to hide and sleep. Over time my rocks shrink and I don't know why except that they seem to slowly "dissolve". Then every 4-5 years I just add new fresh live rock (from Florida) on top to restore the height. It is a reef system with fish and soft corals.

 

[Mike H2020]

When I say I am often changing my aquascape….I mean my goby and urchin are changing it on the daily. My sandbed and floor corals get moved upside down literally every day. Urchin loves to relocate them frag as well. I never knew they eat that gorilla glue ! Lol

 

[Pyrat80]

I would say I am more figuring out how he best way to present my aqua scape. A few changes here or there to maximize available surface space and eliminating flow dead spots or just trying to find a place where my corals are the happiest I can make them. But my tank isn’t very old and I admit that I really didn’t plan out my aqua scape before I started my tank.

 

[bestfishes]

Wandering anemones and flow issues compel me to do changes from time to time.

 

[GeoSquid]

Only when my two trigger fish decide to rearrange it themselves.

 

[Spare time]

Any time I move rocks, some sps breaks in half.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

I set it and forget it for the most part. The only time ill make changes is if im trying to remove coral(s) that are too grown on the rock and i cant just cut them off.

 

[Alazo1]

To Paul B. How was the undergravel filter when you inspected it?.
Sorry, don't mean to derail.
I usually don't mess with the aquascape after maybe the first couple of weeks into the tank. I do however add once in a while for new corals.

 

[Paul B]

To Paul B. How was the undergravel filter when you inspected it?.

Covered in mud and tiny, red tube worms. (my Son N Law)

 

[SkyDoodles]

Just did a major overhaul yesterday. The existing reef was getting unstable for some reason (after over a year). Made a great opportunity to really get the rock cleaned up and switch up stuff. Some of these critters have a mind of their own. Also gave me and opportunity to clear out the snail shell graveyard! Now it seems empty.