New aqua-scape

mikesin

mikesin

New member
As some of you know I am redoing my rock work to eliminate my algae issue. In the other thread many suggestions were made and that was all appreciated. My thinking is to make a much more open aqua-scape and took the idea from Sanjays talk at the meeting a few months ago. I ordered dry rock from BRS, 1/2 acrylic rod and a couple of paving stones from Lowes. Drilled 1/2" holes in the pavers and thru the dry rocks. Inserted acrylic rods into the holes. This allows for taller and stable rock work with out stacking which inevitably causes dead areas for build up and algae. Originally I bought red pavers, that was what Sanjay used but after thinking about it I got concerned about it leaching, so they were replaced with grey/natural pavers.
A few photos . . . .

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ry%3D400


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Are acrylic rods strong enough for the weight of the rocks? I know acrylic can be brittle and I would be concerned of bumping a formation like that and it breaking a rod??

I do like this idea though, looks great!
 
I am sure hoping they are strong enough, 1/2 solid acrylic and the longest is 13". They don't flex much but the rods do move a bit inside the pavers. I bought some reef save epoxy just incase :)
The rocks have been in straight RO/DI water for 3 days now. The RO/DI water is getting changed every 24 hrs. I am attempting to remove all debris and anything that might leach from them before I start to "cycle" with SW. The water has gone from .24 Phosphate to .05 so I'm thinking I may be able start with salt water tomorrow night.
The poor RO/DI filter is getting a real work out. Due to having well water which is high in carbon dioxide I only get roughly 60 gallons of DI water per DI cartridge so I'm going to attempt recharging the DI beads.
 
mikesin said:
I am sure hoping they are strong enough, 1/2 solid acrylic and the longest is 13". They don't flex much but the rods do move a bit inside the pavers. I bought some reef save epoxy just incase :)
The rocks have been in straight RO/DI water for 3 days now. The RO/DI water is getting changed every 24 hrs. I am attempting to remove all debris and anything that might leach from them before I start to "cycle" with SW. The water has gone from .24 Phosphate to .05 so I'm thinking I may be able start with salt water tomorrow night.
The poor RO/DI filter is getting a real work out. Due to having well water which is high in carbon dioxide I only get roughly 60 gallons of DI water per DI cartridge so I'm going to attempt recharging the DI beads.
Click to expand...

Wow! That's pretty bad when you only get 60 gal per cartridge. Have you

considered having 2 DI resin cartridges at the end of your filter?
 
I had a similar problem but I got a faucet adapter that also had an aerator inside and it at the very least doubled (most likely even more) the life of my cartridges. The faucet adapter was from spectrapure or something I think. there are a bunch of different adapters and stuff that may work too.
 
krshlln300 said:
I had a similar problem but I got a faucet adapter that also had an aerator inside and it at the very least doubled (most likely even more) the life of my cartridges. The faucet adapter was from spectrapure or something I think. there are a bunch of different adapters and stuff that may work too.
Click to expand...

So this adapter aerates at the faucet? wow, doubling the cartridge life would be soooo nice.
I'll try a search
Thanks
 
so the phosphate took a little longer to get to zero, but it did. yesterday I put the rocks in saltwater, using instant ocean. today the phosphate is up to 0.48. I'll change out the water tomorrow.
Also replaced my mag 9.5 with a mag 12 to improve flow. found out over the weekend that my gen set will NOT run the mag 12 pump :(((
here is the thread if anyone is interested in pumps and generators http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2092115

I did regenerated 2 cartridges of DI resin, pretty slick...
 
krshlln300 said:
I had a similar problem but I got a faucet adapter that also had an aerator inside and it at the very least doubled (most likely even more) the life of my cartridges. The faucet adapter was from spectrapure or something hink. there are a bunch of different adapters and stuff that may work too.
Click to expand...

Does this adapter aerate the water going to the RO/DI, it looks
Like it Aerates the faucet water only.
 
Well the metal one I had only goes to the rodi and has an aerator just before the 1/4" outlet for the rodi and actually does not actually go out to the sink because the bottom of the one i had has a solid bottom, here it is http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/SP-QUICKKIT.html it quick connects to the faucet but comes off easily for sink usage. I also found this adapter that goes under the sink directly from the cold water feed, it does not need a tap and screws directly to the feed post valve. http://www.marinedepot.com/Feed_Wat...ystems-Captive_Purity-RO1315-FIRORARP-vi.html
 
krshlln300 said:
Well the metal one I had only goes to the rodi and has an aerator just before the 1/4" outlet for the rodi and actually does not actually go out to the sink because the bottom of the one i had has a solid bottom, here it is http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/SP-QUICKKIT.html it quick connects to the faucet but comes off easily for sink usage. I also found this adapter that goes under the sink directly from the cold water feed, it does not need a tap and screws directly to the feed post valve. http://www.marinedepot.com/Feed_Wat...ystems-Captive_Purity-RO1315-FIRORARP-vi.html
Click to expand...

Got it, I was thinking that it only aerated the "faucet" water - thanks
 
quick update, the Phosphate level in the rock tank is still 0.46 with salt added. so, I tested pure RO/DI wate,r it reads zero and then 24 hrs after I mix the salt to the RO/DI but before I transfer the rocks and it is zero. Strange to me that I had zero phosphates with the rocks in pure RO/DI water and 0.46 when in the saltwater. I may go back to pure RO/DI water if it doesn't lower soon.
I have not started the cycle yet....
 
Well, i am still getting phosphate from the rocks. I rinse the rocks and change the saltwater every 2 days. A real pain but i am patient with this. nitrItes are .5, no ammonia and no nitrAtes. I have not started to cycle yet. I want zero phosphates 1st. Sold lots of frags to slim down the colonys to accommodate the new rock work.
new evo 1400's are here for more flow
And I have a new best friend - hydrogen peroxide - it does a wonderful job killing the hair/turf algae off of the rocks that the colonys are mounted to (dip).
I am not very comfortable endorsing this method as of yet, but it sure looks promising.
 
maybe try putting in some phosban or something similar to soak up some extra phosphates then do ~30% water changes per week or maybe 2 times, then see what happens, is it possible that the phosphates are somehow leaching out of the paving stone? I am unsure what brs uses as their dry rock but i have some from marco rocks and had the same problem, used the combo phosguard and wc's for 2 weeks while the cycle was going and everything went well, I also used some "clean" lr from an older setup to seed it that had some macro algae but no nuisance algae and the cycle went really fast surprisingly. The only thing I'm fighting now in it is majano's! but I am currently about to upgrade to a 40b from the biocube so the majano's will be a bit easier to deal with. Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for the replies, I am alternating between 2 plastic bins to cure the rocks, I have had these bins for years - thats one of the reasons that I check for phosphates before the rocks are moved - making sure the bins, RO/DI water and salt mix is NOT contributing to the phosphate issue. As a result I know it coming from the rocks. I am really getting excited about the new rock design as much of the new equipment is now here. Patience is key, lol (HURRY UP ROCKS!)
In a separate container I have approx 50lbs of sand that is "washing" to remove debris and such. This amount should be enough for a 1" sand bed.
I do NOT plan on using any established LR to seed the new rock. I have also battled Majano and aptasia and I don't want to do that again. The plan is to dip all of the corals in the next few weeks in peroxide solution to kill all of the algae on the rocks they are mounted on. remove/quarantine all of the corals a week or so before the big change. During the "change out" the fish will also be quarantined (just to get them out of the way).
All of the current rock will be removed and dried as all of the sand. The tank will be scraped clean of algae. I will have 120G of SW pre-made, i am undecided if any "current" sump or refugium water will be used. After the rocks, sand and new water is added I will add a few fish. The thought is, I do not want to add all 8 fish and have a mini cycle. Fish and Coral will be add as time and tests warrant. Pods will be added to re-seed the refugium and new LR as well as snails. I am removing all of my blue hermit crabs as they do a number on the snail population. My starry blenny will also go to a new home as it competes with the Yellow watchman and Mandarin for food.
After all this the tank will live happily ever after :) ( ya right !)
 
It took forever but forward progress is finally taking place. IF everything goes well the change will take place this weekend. Long story short - I ended up using Seaklear's phosphate remover to battle the constant hi phosphate leaching from the dry rocks. Once they were below .04 I started to cycle the rocks only to find the cycle had already taken place. I have been feeding 1/2 cube of Mysis shrimp per day for the past 3 weeks. No ammonia or NitrItes, only a slow constant rise in nitrAtes.
Have 60G of SW made, working on the next 30. 3 GPH takes a while, LOL
Transfered all my corals and clams to a couple of holding tanks this past weekend, last night I did one more check on the corals only to find both of the clams decided to spawn! What a mess! After putting them in a separate container and a few water changes they seem to have settled down. I have had them for 3 and 4 years, never had them spawn before. I read that clams are believed to spawn under two conditions. Normal and life threatening changes. One of them must of not liked something which triggered the 2nd to spawn. I was careful to match salinity, temp, kh and calcium. Boy I cannot imagine the mess this would of made in the DT. anyway, I will post some pictures of the new set-up sometime this weekend when the aquascape done........
 
I have some concern regarding the pavers and their suitability for the aquarium. The raw materials (aggregates) can be ground from a wide variety of rock types that include those with unsuitable minerals and inclusions. Secondly, the pavers are dyed with an unknown colorant that could easily contain copper or other unsuitable compounds.

With regard to the acrylic rod: They will likely be strong enough, but in the future (or of there is question) fiberglass rods would be much stronger (unbreakable).
 
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