changing the rock/aquascape --

[memorisa]

I've been wanting to change my aquascaping for some time now -
currently it is a one main island in the middle of the tank spawning all the way across with about 10 inches from each side.

But i want to have like a valley design with two separate islands and have better water flow thru as well.

I have been lazy and holding off, but when i was doing some maintanence this weekend, some rocks moved around and almost fell off (they are not cemented or anything) so now i'm pretty sure its not very stable. so i would have to do it soon.

Do i have to take out all the inhabitants??

also i have 2 corals (octopus and torch) epoxied to two pieces of large rock, what do i do about them?


many thanks in advance

 

[griss]

No need to remove the tank inhabitants. Just carefully rearrange the rock. Good luck.

 

[smalls383]

I would make sure that you dont crush any of the small inverts such as crabs and snails when you are moving rock around......once you start moving stuff, the water is going to get cloudy quick.....and it will be hard to see in there

so I would take out the snails and crabs and anything else small

 

[memorisa]

thanks griss and smalls383! it seems like its going to be easier (but not that much) than I anticipated.

I am a little worried about the cloudiness - namely, the nitrates/nitrites that are going to be released. and like when i turn the rock sideways or something to fit into the new scape, wouldn't the aerobic and anaerobic bacteria die off due to their new orientation to oxygen and light etc?

 

[memorisa]

bumping for my last question, if no one minds : )

 

[R.W.]

When i rearrange my rockwork, I take out all the inhabitants except for my trigger because he locks himself into the rock. Then i can freely do what ever i want without wondering if i crushed an animal. When i am finished i dose a bit of prime to bring down any ammonia or nitrate that were stirred up.

 

[memorisa]

could you explain what do you mean by prime? excuse my ignorance


and what about the bacteria living on the rocks? they are used to low oxygen or high oxygen and things get reversed, does it cause problems?

 

[phenom5]

The bacteria on the LR will be fine.

The only thing I recommend...set aside an entire day to do it. I can't tell you how many times I've set out to "tweak" my rockwork, only to end up spending hours doing a complete re-scape.

 

[pledosophy]

When I rearrange my tanks I remove all the corals and rocks, and sometimes the fish depending on what fish it is.

I move the corals to a rubbermaid container, anything htat is salt water safe will do.

Then I pull the rocks out. I keep the rocks in a rubbermaid container too, but I have a special one I use that is designed to store shoes under the bed. It's about 5' long by 2.5' wide. It can hold quite a bit of rock and makes it easier for me to see what pieces I have/need for what I am trying to do.

Next I take out as much water as I can and store it in jugs. Keeps the tank from getting to cloudy to see in and you'll get more stable rockwork if the rocks are done out of water IME.

After the rock looks good I pour the water in over the rock, then place the corals.

Works for me.