aquascaping -- what am i doing exactly?

[chelseabrook]

I have my tank with sand and water and rock all in there currently but do not know how to situate my rock in a 36 gal bowfront.

Ive been told to use epoxy and not to use epoxy. how do i use that? out of the water and then put it all back in once it dries? Will it harm my fish or other life? Will doing it out of the water kill my live rock? Do i need to wear gloves so something in my LR doesnt sting me or something?

Or i can just aquascape under water and hope things dont topple over?

Not sure what im doing and dont know much, just want to get it aquascaped and slowly add coral frags as i can afford them

Pics of bowfront tanks would be helpful.

 

[Ghstwolf]

Your in the valley.. Nice.. One of the mods Sk8tr (sorry if I spelled it wrong) is from Spokane as well, it's nice to find local reefers...

Aquascaping is a matter of personal taste.. You are the one that will be looking at your tank, so making it look as appealing to you as possible and still being productive towards coral placement and providing enough cubby holes/hideing places for your fish to feel safe.. I don't know about using epoxy.. But Loctite GEL superglue works very good, you can pick a bottle up at Walmart for like $4.00 (just make sure it is GEL)..

You want to aquascape allowing as much water movement around your rocks as possible.. Try to limit the amount of rock that is touching the sides or back of your tank if all possible.. You could always dry fit all your rocks together on a towel on the kitchen table so you can get a good feel for how they want to fit together.. Then take a photo, print it out (if all possible) so you have a record of what position the rock was in when placing it in your tank.. This method will also tell you IF you even need to glue your rocks together, as it will give the chance to move them around to get the best more stable position.

Any further questions please feel free to ask..

 

[ziareefer]

Hello, first off congrads on your new tank!
Underwater marine epoxy is completely reef safe and wont harm any livestock. Sold at Petco or cheaper and just as good, if not better is Aquamend-sold at Home Depot.

If you are putting a real heavy rock at the top, it's not a bad idea to also use a plastic dowel with the epoxy just to be sure.

However keep in mind,
It isn't impossible to aquascape without using epoxy. You just have to fit the rock in like a puzzle and interlock the rocks. Try turning them, flipping them upside down etc, you will get them to fit securely.
Occasionally you'll need to move the rock - cleaning, retrieval of a deceased or undesirable fish, your algae clip or tongs fell under the rocks etc...
It's a good idea to change things around periodically. If rock is stacked *properly* it won't shift.

 

[chelseabrook]

thanks for the replies, so if i do epoxy or glue them together i do this out of the water and wait for it to dry correct? Wont taking it out of the water kill the live rock?

and what is a dowel?

 

[zland1]

You can also use egg-crate and zip ties to stack rocks.

 

[chelseabrook]

Your in the valley.. Nice.. One of the mods Sk8tr (sorry if I spelled it wrong) is from Spokane as well, it's nice to find local reefers...


Any further questions please feel free to ask..

and yes im in the valley , was wondering if there were anyone from the valley or even this area on here haha, i tried looking for a local club on here but no posts there! if you ever know of any events going on or anything id love to know im way new to this and looking for inexpensive ways to find frags or for trades etc.
any advice on best place to get a good deal on fish/frags / clean up crew etc?

 

[chelseabrook]

You can also use egg-crate and zip ties to stack rocks.

i read not to use egg crate bc it keeps waste or something like that.... how would i use a zip tie? trying to picture it in my head, ill have to youtube it or something....

anyone know if i can take the rocks out of the water to do this or do i epoxy them underwater??? and will taking the rocks out kill them?

 

[Ghstwolf]

There is a local reefkeepers club here in Spokane.. But I'm not a member.. As far as clean up crews go.. IF the mail service in your area is a flakey as mine mail order is VERY risky.. I had to re-order my shipment thru Reefcleaners because the mail person didn't pay attention to the bold print on the lable that said "Put on customers door".. They left it in the bulk bin.. TWICE!! Anyways... Petco is pricey for crabs/snails, like $1+ per critter.. Look at Vivid Aquariums, they FedEx, or other online sites that use other than the post office..

For frags.... Depends on what you are looking for... Petco here on the SouthHill gets some really great items in on thursdays... I picked up a 4 headed torch for like $30, they usually sell $20 a head.. Also in Mead there is Coral Props.. He's got a website and his prices are really good... I'm sure if you called him he would probably allow a live pickup vrs shipping since we are only 30ish mins away...

As for your question of the epoxy... You can do either.. Use it out of or underwater.. It would be easier to use it underwater, much easier to move 1 rock than moving 3 or so at a time once they are stuck together.. Your live rock will have some die off just because you are starting a new tank, so I wouldn't worry about killing off stuff by arranging them out of the water first just so you can get a good feel for how they are going to fit together..

 

[sponger0]

Aquascaping is the base of how your tank will look. It will effect how your corals grow and where you can place them. So understanding placement will help.

Caves, places for fish to hide are all things to consider.

Epoxy can be used but do know it will cause a skimmer to go nuts and overflow until enough waterchanges are done to get it out.

Zip ties can be used also to tie rocks together but drilling holes into the rock in appropriate places.

When doing an aquascape, its recommended to keep the rock off the glass so you can clean the algae that will grow off the glass.

Ive always just stacked rocks and its never been an issue.

The reason people are against using eggcrate under the sand is cause sand critter can get stuck and die but also detritus will get stuck under there and can cause issues later on down the road.

 

[keithhays]

One thing that is a good idea is to put your rock in first and then your sand or the rocks will shift under the sand. Some of this depends on what kind of rocks you have (size and shape). If you have rocks that are fairly rounded and smaller, you going have a lot of stacking and are more likely to need epoxy or some other system to hold them in place. If they are larger and more craggy or jagged they tend to hold themselves in place with out much fuss. Try not to have them too close to the sides which restricts flow and easy cleaning of the glass.
Personally, I got sick of the whole stacking thing in my previous setups and just ordered large 15" to 24" rocks...no stacking needed. I will say my experience with the epoxy while not dangerous to the fish, it is also not exactly permanent. Sometimes depending on the surface of the rock it will hold tight and for years and sometimes it never holds at all without also adding super glue gel (cyanoacrylate) to both sides of where you are placing it.
btw, if you have a skimmer, it will go crazy for a while after the epoxy is added.

 

[chelseabrook]

thank you everyone. I think ill stack for now. Still not sure what i want it to look like , ill play around. Just got my first coral today. A blue xenia hes on his own little live rock so i can move him where i want while moving stuff around.

Ill have to check out that store in mead? does he have pretty good prices?

 

[Ghstwolf]

Yea.. Coral Props is the name of the website.. He has ALOT of good corals at really good prices...

Before you get carried away, might I suggest you either go to BulkReef Supply or Marine Depot and purchase a Coral Dip.. Coral Rx or Revive are pretty common ones and they are priced really good. You don't want to spend your money on corals just to see a bad critter (like flatworms) getting into your new tank and eating them..

 

[foundnemo11]

Just stack it to look natural with some caves maybe bridges or something. Try to make a nice wall on the back glass without leaning too much on it.

It's mostly person preferance . I've had about 4 maybe 5 different scapes and now I am very happy with how it is now. Take your time I wouldn't drill or glue anything. Unless you plan on have huge fishin that 36 , just Stack the rocks ad wiggle abit to make sure they are secure.

 

[ziareefer]

First coral, exciting.
Blue Xenia is a pretty coral but can spread to any other near by rocks and or glass it can touch, very quickly. It can over take real estate and or other corals, FYI...

 

[chelseabrook]

im finding that out , it is growing fast. im not sure where i want her to stay for now should i isolate her rock on it own? haha. how do i frag the xenia?

 

[cubsare1]

here is a great thread on aquascaping: http://web1.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2217633

 

[mil hse]

It's all on what you like. I typically rearrange my tanks a few times within the first week or so until I get the look I'm going for. you can always look around on here at some tank designs for some ideas. Xenia can spread fast so make sure you keep it where you can pull rocks out if it spreads where you don t want it.

 

[Arnoldtatts]

Here's a few pics from aqua scape I'm currently working on
Front

Right

 

[Arnoldtatts]

And left

 

[Slystone]

You got some neat pieces of LR. NIce work.