Thinking of Changing My Aquascape

[Rjukan]

Hi, thanks in advance for taking a look at my dilemma.

I set up a 60g cube in Feb of this year with 95% dry rock, a mix of Tonga branch and pukani rocks. Originally I was thinking of setting up something with a zero gravity shelf using acrylic rod etc. But once I started messing with the rock I was able to build something of a pyramid that has tons of caves and passages through it. When looking at the front and side of the tank you can see all the way through to the other side. I thought it was really cool and went with it. Now 9 months down the line I'm tossing around the idea of ripping it apart and changing it to something that has more sand visible in the middle, like a U shape.

I feel like there is too much dead space in the center of the pile of rocks that I could be using for coral. Plus more space for fish to swim in, better water circulation etc. I guess I'm just looking for some others to confirm what I'm thinking, it doesnt look good as is right?

The other issue is actually dealing with reaquacaping a tank that has coral and fish in it. I've been dragging my feet for the last couple weeks, and I think this weekend I'm going to give it a shot. I have way too much rock in the system, so to start with I'll be removing some rocks that dont have any coral on them.

This is it when I started:

Here is a recent photo:

I have a rubbermaid tote ready to go with water, pump and a heater, and I mixed a 5gal bucket of new salt water to add for the displaced water of the rock I'll remove. I would rather not remove the fish (pair of clowns, pair of cardinals, coris wrasse and sharknose goby) if I don't have to. I will probably leave the base rock where it is so they have somewhere to hide during the work.

Any advice or tips are welcomed. Having others interested in the work is also a good motivator lol. Wish me luck ;Nailbiting

 

[Oscaror]

Hi, thanks in advance for taking a look at my dilemma.

I set up a 60g cube in Feb of this year with 95% dry rock, a mix of Tonga branch and pukani rocks. Originally I was thinking of setting up something with a zero gravity shelf using acrylic rod etc. But once I started messing with the rock I was able to build something of a pyramid that has tons of caves and passages through it. When looking at the front and side of the tank you can see all the way through to the other side. I thought it was really cool and went with it. Now 9 months down the line I'm tossing around the idea of ripping it apart and changing it to something that has more sand visible in the middle, like a U shape.

I feel like there is too much dead space in the center of the pile of rocks that I could be using for coral. Plus more space for fish to swim in, better water circulation etc. I guess I'm just looking for some others to confirm what I'm thinking, it doesnt look good as is right?

The other issue is actually dealing with reaquacaping a tank that has coral and fish in it. I've been dragging my feet for the last couple weeks, and I think this weekend I'm going to give it a shot. I have way too much rock in the system, so to start with I'll be removing some rocks that dont have any coral on them.

This is it when I started:

Here is a recent photo:

I have a rubbermaid tote ready to go with water, pump and a heater, and I mixed a 5gal bucket of new salt water to add for the displaced water of the rock I'll remove. I would rather not remove the fish (pair of clowns, pair of cardinals, coris wrasse and sharknose goby) if I don't have to. I will probably leave the base rock where it is so they have somewhere to hide during the work.

Any advice or tips are welcomed. Having others interested in the work is also a good motivator lol. Wish me luck ;Nailbiting

I think removing the rock I've circled will add that little bit of room you need. I actually quite like this scape, has a lot of ledges and height variation will look really cool when grown out, but I feel like the rock I've circled would be better replaced with coral instead.

 

[TreyC2010]

I like the idea of just that one rock as well. Plus it’s way less disturbing to what you’ve already got growing! The fish hiding spots are great to have. If it were me then I’d let it grow like it is.

But the choice is all yours

 

[Rjukan]

Thanks Oscaror, I appreciate the kind words. I may try slimming the scape down a bit before going all out on my plans and post some pics of it.

The other variable I have is a different light I picked up recently. I bought a 6 bulb t5 fixture used for a great price that I was thinking about using instead. It would give me more coverage that would probably work better for this type of aquascape.

 

[Oscaror]

Thanks Oscaror, I appreciate the kind words. I may try slimming the scape down a bit before going all out on my plans and post some pics of it.

The other variable I have is a different light I picked up recently. I bought a 6 bulb t5 fixture used for a great price that I was thinking about using instead. It would give me more coverage that would probably work better for this type of aquascape.

Yes the additional spread will help light the crevices

 

[Rjukan]

Thanks Trey, I'll post some more pics tomorrow. It would be nice to only pull a few rocks and keep the majority as is.

Another thing going on I didn't mention was I picked up some gulf live rock a couple weeks ago that I shoehorned into the tank and sump. My plan was to plumb in a 20g long and have a mantis or something similar in that tank.

 

[Rjukan]

Well I didn't do the major rework of the aquascape, instead I took the middle road. My idea was to clean it up a bit and try the T5 unit to get better coverage around the rockwork.

I took out all of the older rock from my sump and a few pieces from the back of the DT. As a result I was able to set the gulf rock in the DT where I wanted it, and have a few pieces with some nice macro algae on them in the refugium. I also cleaned off the sand and moved some of the coral I had down there to the lower rocks which gives an appearance of more sandy area which is something else I was going for.

I tried setting up the t5 unit and I'm not sold on it. I guess with the right bulbs it could be great, but the bulbs that are in there give off too much white, especially after being used to the blues from the Kessil. Here are a few pics after working on it this morning:

Kessil:

T5 2 Blue Bulbs

T5 All 6 Bulbs