What should i do?!?

[fsu1dolfan]

So i realize that any upgrade is not taking place this year...Thanks CJO for crushing my dreams LOL j/k. But i have been mulling over the idea of redesigning my liverock in my Biocube 29. I have alot of nice rock that i would love to zip, super glue, pond foam, and/or epoxy together to make a cool design. I have quite a few corals and 3 fish that i would need to keep in a bucket for a few hours while i work some magic. Here is the plan and please let me know if anything is a problem because my biggest concern is causing a re-cycle!!

1) Large Bucket with fish and coral - Small heater and pump.

2) Large bucket with live rock - Small heater

3) Clean up the sand and add more. This is a slight concern of mine due to what it could release...but I really want to clean up the sand bed at the same and add more. Mind you my tank is almost 4 years old!

4) Water change after messing up the sand!

5) Now the fun - The plan is to create a bonsai kind of tree looking aquascape with shevles for my frags/corals. I have some really good branching live rock that i will be using to help create this effect. The back up plan if that doesn't work out fast enough will be a large arch.

6) Shave, chisel, dremel down the rock of algae, aiptasias, GSP, and anything else that i don't want.

7) Drill holes where necessary and zip tip to help strengthen the structure.

8) i would like to use some Black Pond Foam on a few of the joints - I have read it takes 24-48 hours to cure though...considering i only have a few hours would it be best to skip the foam and use an epoxy? What is a fast curing strong epoxy suggestion?

9) Let structure harden in old tank water. Then place back in tank. Place frags and corals in desired spots (epoxy if really happy).

10) Fill tank with rest of the old water and put the fish back in.

11) Turn on pumps and filters and have a drink!

I am figuring that this will take anyway from 5-8 hours worth of work from start to finish. One of my questions is the live rock - How long can it be out of the water while i shape it and epoxy it? I don't want to kill too much of the bacteria living in it. The second question is the sandbed. How bad is it really to clean it up and add new live sand?

Outside of that - I think i am pretty good. Obviously i have been thinking about this for a while. For those that have redone their tanks - What should i be ready for?? Anything i am missing from my list?? Any advice is appreciated!!

Thanks Jason

 

[lps1212]

All I can say is goodluck I too have a 29 biocube :bigsmile: and recently did some aquascapeing took out some rock and put in new one when I did that I took all my rock out did same as you plan on buckets with rock and corals took out the fish I didn't want anymore also after about 2 hours of playing around cleanin the sand and redesigning the tank I was done after acouple of hours my tank was back to normal and didn't notice any change. My tank is currently around 9 months old now so I could imagine your concern on losing beneificl bacteria especially 4 year old tank like I said before goodluck and let us know how you make out :bigsmile:

 

[CJO]

So i realize that any upgrade is not taking place this year...Thanks CJO for crushing my dreams LOL j/k.

It isn't the first time that I've crushed some dreams, though usually it's love-struck women when I tell them I'm already married ;)

The least I can do is to try and help out a little.

But i have been mulling over the idea of redesigning my liverock in my Biocube 29. I have alot of nice rock that i would love to zip, super glue, pond foam, and/or epoxy together to make a cool design. I have quite a few corals and 3 fish that i would need to keep in a bucket for a few hours while i work some magic. Here is the plan and please let me know if anything is a problem because my biggest concern is causing a re-cycle!!

1) Large Bucket with fish and coral - Small heater and pump.

2) Large bucket with live rock - Small heater

Sounds good.

3) Clean up the sand and add more. This is a slight concern of mine due to what it could release...but I really want to clean up the sand bed at the same and add more. Mind you my tank is almost 4 years old!

4) Water change after messing up the sand!

You may want to look more towards replacing the sand and just reuse a little of your old sand. Before I knew any better, when I bought my used tank, I reused the sand and had to battle high nitrates for a few weeks. I was lucky it wasn't worse.

5) Now the fun - The plan is to create a bonsai kind of tree looking aquascape with shevles for my frags/corals. I have some really good branching live rock that i will be using to help create this effect. The back up plan if that doesn't work out fast enough will be a large arch.

6) Shave, chisel, dremel down the rock of algae, aiptasias, GSP, and anything else that i don't want.

The structure sounds nice. You might want to look into using a torch on the aiptasia. The foot can be buried pretty deep in the coral.

7) Drill holes where necessary and zip tip to help strengthen the structure.

8) i would like to use some Black Pond Foam on a few of the joints - I have read it takes 24-48 hours to cure though...considering i only have a few hours would it be best to skip the foam and use an epoxy? What is a fast curing strong epoxy suggestion?

9) Let structure harden in old tank water. Then place back in tank. Place frags and corals in desired spots (epoxy if really happy).

10) Fill tank with rest of the old water and put the fish back in.

You might want to fill the tank with water once the corals are in :)

11) Turn on pumps and filters and have a drink!

Personally, I would turn on the pumps and filters before putting in any coral or other livestock to make sure it is all working correctly. This is also a great opportunity to clean your pumps.

I am figuring that this will take anyway from 5-8 hours worth of work from start to finish. One of my questions is the live rock - How long can it be out of the water while i shape it and epoxy it? I don't want to kill too much of the bacteria living in it. The second question is the sandbed. How bad is it really to clean it up and add new live sand?

Outside of that - I think i am pretty good. Obviously i have been thinking about this for a while. For those that have redone their tanks - What should i be ready for?? Anything i am missing from my list?? Any advice is appreciated!!

Thanks Jason

Always budget more time! That sounds good if everything goes perfectly, but, in my experience, that is rarely the case. I'm guessing you'll also spend a significant portion of time aquascaping.

CJ

 

[fsu1dolfan]

Thanks for the input CJO - Those poor women lol.
So replacing most of the sand is a better idea then huh? Any suggestion on the type of sand? Assuming live sand would be preferable.

 

[-Logzor]

I think you have a good plan, a small temp system to sustain your corals will work out just fine I think.

I would make sure to do the following:

1. Replace the entire sandbed, retain a cup or two to seed your new sand. Re-using the sand is simply not worth the risk, the sand-going organisms will recovery rapidly in your new sandbed.

2. Set up a couple buckets of saltwater, as you remove your rocks, vigorously dunk the rock in the first bucket, when you think most of the detritus is gone, go for a second dunk in bucket to to ensure that you have it all off.

3. Proceed with your plan.

 

[zoous]

Make some new saltwater just as a precaution beforehand.

 

[fsu1dolfan]

I think you have a good plan, a small temp system to sustain your corals will work out just fine I think.

I would make sure to do the following:

1. Replace the entire sandbed, retain a cup or two to seed your new sand. Re-using the sand is simply not worth the risk, the sand-going organisms will recovery rapidly in your new sandbed.

2. Set up a couple buckets of saltwater, as you remove your rocks, vigorously dunk the rock in the first bucket, when you think most of the detritus is gone, go for a second dunk in bucket to to ensure that you have it all off.

3. Proceed with your plan.

Sounds good thanks!! Most of the sandbed will be gone...im glad i asked!

Make some new saltwater just as a precaution beforehand.

Yeah i plan to have atleast 20 gallons of new saltwater on hand just in case. Plan is only to replace about 15 gallons at most.

 

[fsu1dolfan]

Another question - I have seen people using oyster shells as good shelves. Where do you get them? Just from the supermarket?