New Aquascape

[coopthetitan]

Hello everyone! I started my first tank around 2 and a half years ago and for my hardscape I basically just tossed in some marco rocks with no real thought about flow and coral placement. I now want to change my entire hardscape with a new well thought out custom piece. The only problem is I dont want to crash my tank by taking out my 15 pounds of rock. Is there a way that I can get around this? Maybe by adding some more Bio blocks to the back to keep some of the biological filtration while the new rock gets cycled? Any tips would be appreciated!

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Do you have sand in the tank? If so that should provide enough of a biological damper to any changes to the tank if you're only removing 15 lbs of rock.

Biological media in the back chambers/sump can help, and bacteria has most likely colonized all of the other surfaces of the tank as well. As long as something isn't actively decomposing you should be good but you should also be prepared to dose some starter bacteria once the new hardscape is in the water.

 

[Privateye]

Can you tell us a little about your setup? How large is the tank? What animals do you keep in it? Do you have a sump? What kind of substrate are you using? Can these rocks be incorporated into the new aquascape, either at the base or off to the side?

If you had a sump this would be easy - just put the rocks in the sump.