Some aquascaping questions

[Be102]

I would like to redesign my tank however I have a few questions before doing so. Can I do a water change; throw my rocks into a bin/bucket with my old water, plan my scape and re add without too many problems? Before I do this I also have a few concerns. Some are creating a dust storm, stressing the fish, causing a mess lol. Will my few hermit crabs and snails be alright? If they get put into the bucket of water? Has anyone have any good experiences with bonding wet rocks together? I assume they must stay wet in order to stay "alive". Can I just get a big tube of super glue and try that?

 

[ahiggins]

Get some of this-its a 2 part so you have to kneed it until its one color. It works really well for rocks and can work when wet. (its actually easier to kneed while wet IMO).
http://www.spapartsshop.com/470550-24.aspx?gclid=CKiZzffH59ACFcmFswod854O8w

Thats exactly what I would do-do a WC and put the rocks in the old water bucket. Youll want to dip them in and out a few times in that bucket to get the detritus off.
Usually die off doesnt occur until its been 30 min+ out of water. Technically it starts off as soon as its out of the water but it will be in such a small amount that you wont notice. The max time ive ever had LR out of water was an hour before it went back in. No ammonia spike.

 

[Be102]

Get some of this-its a 2 part so you have to kneed it until its one color. It works really well for rocks and can work when wet. (its actually easier to kneed while wet IMO).
http://www.spapartsshop.com/470550-24.aspx?gclid=CKiZzffH59ACFcmFswod854O8w

Thats exactly what I would do-do a WC and put the rocks in the old water bucket. Youll want to dip them in and out a few times in that bucket to get the detritus off.
Usually die off doesnt occur until its been 30 min+ out of water. Technically it starts off as soon as its out of the water but it will be in such a small amount that you wont notice. The max time ive ever had LR out of water was an hour before it went back in. No ammonia spike.

Would it still be considered out of water despite being in a bucket of tank water? Or is it physically if it is dry. I only intend to probabaly pull out the pieces as I sculpt it in order to maximize time whilst wet. I'm thinking of getting a big bucket filled with about 10gallons of freshly emptied tank water; and possibly another small bucket with water in order to be able to have multiple places to put the rock as need be. I will defiantly check out the product you posted above. Thanks!

 

[ahiggins]

You can buy it literally anywhere lol I get mine from amazon :)
And yes, only if its physically dry. If you have corraline algae, you will notice it starts to look like velvet when its dry.

 

[sinekal]

I have rescaped multiple times by pulling my rock out into tubs. It was exposed to air but didn't dry out. Corraline will generally bleach out but that's the only effect I have had. If there's a lot of algae and such you can end up with a bit of a die off too.

 

[Be102]

Fortunately not much coralline has grown just yet. Here's what I am working with

lol the pictures are to help my clowns go to my anemone.. which isn't working clearly

 

[ahiggins]

hahahahahahahahaha I think thats the funniest thing Ive ever seen! Ive heard it actually works.
Are you the same one that had the carpet nem eating everything in your tank?
I dont like carpets :/ I think BTAs are much prettier but Ive never had either. I have rock nems :D

 

[Be102]

hahahahahahahahaha I think thats the funniest thing Ive ever seen! Ive heard it actually works.
Are you the same one that had the carpet nem eating everything in your tank?
I dont like carpets :/ I think BTAs are much prettier but Ive never had either. I have rock nems :D

I thought it was hilarious as well. I saw it on a thread the other day and was like what the heck if anything I get some nice pictures of clownfish hosting in anemones ;). But yes unforunetly that thing is a monster and has eaten a green warface goby; hermit crab shell and all... (spit the shell out after) and I am beginning to think he ate my shrimp as well :/ hoping to get him out; aquascape and everything all in one go. Any ideas for a scape?

 

[ahiggins]

Im a lover of TONS of live rock lol so I have mine maxed out top to bottom-ill post a pic. I like all the caves and overhangs and it makes cleaning the sand easy because theres so little exposed haha

 

[ahiggins]

Pic
Don't mind the frag racks. I always grow out the frags so I can put one in the DT and grow another in the frag tank to sell eventually.

 

[Be102]

Pic
Don't mind the frag racks. I always grow out the frags so I can put one in the DT and grow another in the frag tank to sell eventually.

Thats really cool. I wonder what it would be like to build it up against the glass, I was always under the impression to not do that. Due to impossibility to clean and whatnot. Do you have any dead spots? I have an mp40 and hydor 850 which spins the water around fairly well. Wonder what would happen if I went more vertical.

 

[ahiggins]

I have two hydor 420s behind the rocks. one on left, one on right-blows the water from sand up. then I have the return blowing against the front glass angled at the toadstool in the bottom left. The only dead spots are about a 2"x2" square in the front left and front right corner. I siphon those each week. Once I get my gyre for the frag tank, Ill add another 420 to it. probably blowing back to front. Knowing that I would never get behind the rocks to clean, I made sure to put a lot of flow back there.
One think I wish I would have done is put rock in first, then sand. Sometimes I feel like my rocks will become unstable if I siphon too much sand...

I built against the back wall and the rock barely touches the glass on the right and left sides but I made sure its really stable so it doesnt put pressure on either side. I have enough room to run a little magnet to clean:

I also have a razor on a stick (homemade lol) that I use to get the harder buildups.

 

[Be102]

I have two hydor 420s behind the rocks. one on left, one on right-blows the water from sand up. then I have the return blowing against the front glass angled at the toadstool in the bottom left. The only dead spots are about a 2"x2" square in the front left and front right corner. I siphon those each week. Once I get my gyre for the frag tank, Ill add another 420 to it. probably blowing back to front. Knowing that I would never get behind the rocks to clean, I made sure to put a lot of flow back there.
One think I wish I would have done is put rock in first, then sand. Sometimes I feel like my rocks will become unstable if I siphon too much sand...

I built against the back wall and the rock barely touches the glass on the right and left sides but I made sure its really stable so it doesnt put pressure on either side. I have enough room to run a little magnet to clean:

I also have a razor on a stick (homemade lol) that I use to get the harder buildups.

Now you have me thinking maybe I have not enough flow.. Do you think that the hydor should be pointed somewhere else? I was always told to put it up at the surface to create agitation ( I think...?) Those little magnets are cool. Do you have a link to them? I use a mag float but it is really thick. I'm thinking of trying my best to restructure everything with as little problems possible.

 

[ahiggins]

I know, I use the mag float for the big frag tank lol is it weird my frag tank is the biggest tank I have? hahaha
Heres the link-search around though. Maybe someone has it cheaper. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...d=PLA_G_6194&gclid=CO_Y58Px59ACFY-FswodhFcP1A
Your MP40 is PLENTY lol I wish I had 2 MP10s to use instead of hydors. Just keep in mind the potential coral you want to buy as some will need more flow, some less. moving the power heads around alone took me 3 months to get right.

I totally understand restructuring. It took me about 4 months to get it where I was really happy with the way it looked.

If you dont have a sump or skimmer (to put oxygen back into the water) then yes, I agree that youll want to agitate the surface water. That can be as simple as moving your hydor closer to the surface that way when it sucks, it created a little divot in the water-not enough to create a vortex though. Keep in mind that you want as many "directions" of movement as possible ie not linear. The word that comes to mind is "chaotic" flow lol its something that everyone tries their hardest to achieve.

 

[ahiggins]

Im not the authority on anything, by any means, but I can answer whatever questions you might have.

 

[Be102]

I know, I use the mag float for the big frag tank lol is it weird my frag tank is the biggest tank I have? hahaha
Heres the link-search around though. Maybe someone has it cheaper. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...d=PLA_G_6194&gclid=CO_Y58Px59ACFY-FswodhFcP1A
Your MP40 is PLENTY lol I wish I had 2 MP10s to use instead of hydors. Just keep in mind the potential coral you want to buy as some will need more flow, some less. moving the power heads around alone took me 3 months to get right.

I totally understand restructuring. It took me about 4 months to get it where I was really happy with the way it looked.

If you dont have a sump or skimmer (to put oxygen back into the water) then yes, I agree that youll want to agitate the surface water. That can be as simple as moving your hydor closer to the surface that way when it sucks, it created a little divot in the water-not enough to create a vortex though. Keep in mind that you want as many "directions" of movement as possible ie not linear. The word that comes to mind is "chaotic" flow lol its something that everyone tries their hardest to achieve.

I actually do have an aquamaxx hob protein skimmer that is pretty good at doing a good job. I tend to keep it as a wet skim production as possible. I think thats best? If you get bored and want to watch my problems I've gone through since becoming a member of r2r. I am looking to install a sump at some point, just not really what I want from it. Whether I want a refugium or what I want at all. I currently have this tank http://petsmart.com/fish/supplies/a...aqueon-65-gallon-aquarium-ensemble-16714.html and don't have tooo much room underneath. I just recently removed a canister filter (last week) and am seeing some possible positive change. I use Coral Pro salt, however feel this might be a problem to my excess phosphates. Overall I am just basically learning the correct way to have a tank, rather than how to just keep it alive. Any and all suggestions and help is always great!

 

[ahiggins]

Its always been better to go with multiple smaller ones as opposed to one big one-that way you can create multiple flow patterns rather than just one. Every tank is different though.
I used to do freshwater tanks but would tear down and rebuild all the time. never held my interest until I started a saltwater tank

 

[Be102]

Its always been better to go with multiple smaller ones as opposed to one big one-that way you can create multiple flow patterns rather than just one. Every tank is different though.
I used to do freshwater tanks but would tear down and rebuild all the time. never held my interest until I started a saltwater tank

I currently have a 20gallon High planted tank with shrimp! Originally was what got me into saltwater. Its quite addicting. Also quite upsetting at times! :/

 

[ahiggins]

One thing-i used to use coral pro but it makes up really high alk. 11+
I use the red sea (blue bucket) not the coral pro. This solved a LOT of my problems.

 

[Be102]

One thing-i used to use coral pro but it makes up really high alk. 11+
I use the red sea (blue bucket) not the coral pro. This solved a LOT of my problems.

That seems to be the biggest common consensus around. I will definitely be changing to the original version. I honestly end up having calcium and alk so high that I think to the fact that it doesn't even show up on my sailfert test kits.. I have a refractometer coming tomorrow I am hoping to figure out possibly my reasoning behind my algae growth and all my other problems.