To Rescape or not to rescape?

[Hond1217]

Hi this is my first reef tank and I have had it up and running for about 9 months now.

When I first started I followed the recommended 1/1.5 pounds per gallon.

Which seemed like a lot of rock, I set up my aquascape but obviously not knowing what cleaning would be like etc. and some of my rocks are quite close to the front glass and back wall and make cleaning pretty difficult also it’s hard to find good wave maker placement that flows through my rockwork.

My questions for experienced reefers-

Is it worth it to rescape and disturb the sand bed or better to just leave it as is?

If I do rescape are there many things I should be worried about, such as stirring up bacteria or losing bacteria on the rock?

Is it better to have more rock work in the tank generally anyway?

Many thanks for any advice or tips!

More recent with no blue light:

When cycling and new:

More recent and the rock I’m looking to remove:

 

[tzabor10]

Rock work is excellent for providing hiding places for your livestock. It also gives surface area for bacteria. It is difficult to clean around and a bit unsightly. I have used extra rocks in a sump, in a refugium, and to seed a new tank. Yours looks great. Good luck

 

[ScottJ]

You could move rocks away from the front wall so you can get a scraper in there. I don't clean the back, so I don't care if some of them are right up against it. Up to you.

Looks like this tank is an All In One? If so, you can't really stash any extra rock in a sump. So, Maybe you could go higher with them? just watch you don't shade out corals below. Or plan on some low light corals for the shady spots.

If you do need to remove rocks for a while as you work on it, just stash them in a bucket of saltwater at near the right temp. That way the rock and any corals or CUC on them will be fine.

 

[Justfebreezeit]

That sandbed dosen't look overly dirty, so I wouldn't worry too much about disturbing it.

I made the same mistake when setting up a few tanks back in the day, it will keep driving you crazy not being able too clean that spot of the glass.

If you want to do it. My advice is do it.

 

[exnisstech]

I like to be able to scrape all walls except the back.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I loved the piled rocks look, IMO its the most natural thing to a real reef and fish act very naturally in this type of setting. I like it. I would place a small powerhead behind the rocks out of view to keep up the flow behind the rocks.

But its your tank and if it you really want to change it then go ahead. Good luck

 

[ScottJ]

I loved the piled rocks look, IMO its the most natural thing to a real reef and fish act very naturally in this type of setting. I like it. I would place a small powerhead behind the rocks out of view to keep up the flow behind the rocks.

But its your tank and if it you really want to change it then go ahead. Good luck

Piled rock look in my 55 gallon

 

[slingfox]

If you need to ask about whether to rescape or not then the answer is yes, rescape! Otherwise, every time you look at your tank you will have the rescaping question in the back of your head. Over time that would drive me crazy.

This kind of mindset has caused me to tweak my aquascape multiple times during the first 12 months. The end result is much better than where it started and I have finally gotten to a point where the scape is in a good spot.

I wouldn’t worry too much about disturbing the rocks or sand. I have done that many many times and never had any issues. If you are paranoid you can pair the disruption with a large water change and add in an air bubbler to temporarily increase oxygen levels. If you want more surface area for bacteria, use Seachem Matrix in your sump or back chamber.

 

[Hond1217]

Rock work is excellent for providing hiding places for your livestock. It also gives surface area for bacteria. It is difficult to clean around and a bit unsightly. I have used extra rocks in a sump, in a refugium, and to seed a new tank. Yours looks great. Good luck

Appreciate the reply , thank you!

 

[vlangel]

If you rescape, don't be afraid to break some larger rocks into a few smaller pieces. That may help you build up higher so that you are not so close to the glass, especially in the front. I, like some others leave some of my back glass uncleaned. I painted a mural so I do scrape portions of the back glass but I also want algae for my cuc.