redoing rockscape too frequently bad?

[ryanpal]

i redid my rockscape about 2months ago. im already thinking of a new design which my powerheads would be behind the rocks to help decrease/eliminate dead spots.

last time i redid the rockscape it made my tank cloudy for a day and it seemed to affect the corals etc.

im wondering if it's too soon to do this again. ive been doing addtions to the tank (fish, corals), large water changes, and changing of current. im wondering if this is too many changes and that i should let the tank settle for a bit before dong this again.

on a differnet note i want to have the proper setup as quick as possible so it can increase growth and maintain stability faster.

any ideas?

 

[kaihonu82]

less you're sticking your hands in the tank the better

 

[Sk8r]

Ms. Manners assumes this is a new tank and that you're still rearranging the furniture. It's hard on things, yes, but as long as you don't accidentally frag half your specimens and you have a decent skimmer AND you don't kick up the sandbed you should be ok. Eventually you should achieve perfection.

 

[Frick-n-Frags]

your animals will tell you if you are disrupting things too much.
just watch everything, and if it isn't looking so hot, back off for a while.

you won't do anything major like kill all your bacteria because the overall setup isn't much different with re-arranged rocks, same rocks, same fauna etc

 

[ryanpal]

this was an existing setup which was moved to my house in june. so its still somewhat new (even though it was an existing tank for 5 years)

i noticed when i move my rocks around it seems to disrupts things. i don't want to spike the nitrates. maybe i could do this while doing a water change.

how do you guys go about doing a restructure like this? the last one i did i just moved the rock while still in the water...would you guys remove all corals (place them in a seperate holding container) and remove rocks and then assemble?

 

[H2OLUVSME]

I usually like leaving the corals in the tank or sump so as not to change temp and water conditions. I usually do one end at a time moving/placing the corals away from the rock moving action.

I would go ahead and try and get it like you like it, so you can sit back and relax. Moving a little at a time will only disturb your stuff more often, and you wont be happy with the tank.

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

Actually, I wonder if it may be doing some good. Moving the rocks around would help stir up detritus and prevent piles of it from accumulating and rotting.

 

[ryanpal]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11083219#post11083219 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by aninjaatemyshoe
Actually, I wonder if it may be doing some good. Moving the rocks around would help stir up detritus and prevent piles of it from accumulating and rotting.

while that may be true...its another change that may stress the system more. see the vicious cycle here?

---

i guess it comes out to a judgement call.

on that note, im thinking of putting two powerheads behind the rocks...anyone have any feedback/insite on this? good bad? things to consider?

 

[H2OLUVSME]

Ive always placed Phs behind the rocks. For estetic reasons, and to keep it moving back there and reduce build up.

 

[ryanpal]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11083490#post11083490 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by H2OLUVSME
Ive always placed Phs behind the rocks. For estetic reasons, and to keep it moving back there and reduce build up.

from my current setup it seems as if the first rock in its path woudl deflect the water and prevent it from going more towards the other side of the tank. do you find this to be the case? also how do you recommend i place one that back and the setup of my rock which will sit in front?

 

[H2OLUVSME]

It getting deflected some by the rocks is a good thing, IMO. It helps in getting more flow into the crevices of the rock work. It wouldnt be effective at all if it just blasted down to the other end of the tank, IMO. I also try and aim the front phs at the front of the rock work to aid this as well.

I try and place it above or below the first couple of rocks so that it makes it a ways into the rock work though. You dont want the very first rock directing all of the flow out from behind the rest. If it defects some, that isnt a problem, but you want most of it to get wel into the rock work.

Try out a few things. You should be able to come up with a good effective way at achieving both goals. It will never be perfect, but you can usually get it close with time and patience.

 

[xtm]

I am one of those people who likes to aquascape, scratch his head, then adjust here and there, then re-aquascape again. There is no such thing as perfect aquascape. Sooner or later you will get bored with your rockwork and start moving things..

That being said, I try to limit my aquascaping at least once a month, and nothing major at that. Last time I did a major aquascape, (3x in one week) I bleached 3 SPS colonies and killed some frags.

 

[ihopss]

Algae groan in certain light well need that light, look at Coralline algae if you move it out of that light it will (possibly) die, if you have 50 LB of rock in a 210G you might not affect the tank,but 200LB of rock in a75G is different. So I would keep an I on the water and be ready to do some changes.

 

[ryanpal]

ok so im pulling my hair out trying to find a good solution. i even tried to experiment and put the one maxi sureflow pointing down in the back to see if it could push water out from the back (didnt exactly work)

i uploaded a picture of my setup to see if some of the experts can give me an opinion as to how they'd set up my powerheads.

i'm thinking of modifying the rockscape so that its a valley in the middle and built up more on the sides...i guess like a V. i even put red x's where i was thinking of putting the two maxi's behind the rock

At any rate, id love to hear some feedback of what powerheads you'd put where and maybe even if you'd changed the rockscape a bit

 

[ahullsb]

what size tank and which powerheads? If that is a cube, my roommate is having the same problem. I'll try to get a picture of his aquasape. He had a wall in the center, and it looks like you have created one in the back. The V might be a better idea. Maybe try moving one of those in the back lower than the other?

 

[JimKelly12203]

IMO it would never hurt to do a full re-cure on your LR before a big move.

It sucks. And it's a huge project with tons of messy equipment and sticky new salt water.

But if you're completely moving a tank (and presumably re-arranging it in the process) why not?

 

[H2OLUVSME]

Ryan, I think your rock work isnt open enough. It may only be the pic though. I also think that you should try moving at least one of the phs on the back to the right end. You can then move the two on each end up to the front corners and either aim them at the reef, or at each other, which will push water erratically towards the reef.

I know it sounds bad to put your phs in front of te rock work, but in actuality it makes them less noticable. It may make them more noticable in pictures, but not in person. I did all kinds of testing with different placement ideas and I found that the top front corners are the least obtrusive spots to mount them. IMO, its because they are not in line with or past the focal point. You see right past them as the reef is much more eye catching.

Here is a link to thew last pic I had of my old 75. I have two huge phs in the front corners. Even in the pic they arent that noticable. In person you didnt notice them at all. Again, sitting in front of the tank, they arent in your direct line of site (unless you are sitting 8 feet back looking at something on the side glass ).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v618/freekfornature/TBS REEF II/2005-9-19031_PB.jpg

Also, you can see the open-ness of the rock work on the left. It is harder to tell on the right side, but it is spaced well, just in the other direction. You can kind of tell in this pic that the right side is spacey as well.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v618/freekfornature/TBS REEF II/2005-8-02093_PB.jpg


In the first pic I posted, look to the right back corner. I had a 300gph ph aimed directly behind the rock. It was at a height in which it did intersect rocks and the water was forced out into that pile of rocks. The phs on the front interesected each other (much more forcelbly) and pushed water directly onto the reef face (and corals) making it very turbulent around the corals and crevices of the rock work. There is also a ph under the pile on the left (on the side of the overflow box about 5" up from the sand. It is achieveing the same thing, but without having to intersect. It just faces out of the rock work and works its way out, while the water from the big pumps pushes back. I had very little build up anywhere in that tank.

Of course its easier to achienve the more flow you have. The two front phs I had were rated at like 1500 gphs. The one on the left is reduced with the deflector, but I still had a lot of flow, which made it much easier to get it erratic and every where. This makes it easier to avoid dead areas, and to get flow to all of the corals that need it (which is all of them ).

I hope this helps!

Also while you are rearranging, and thinking about flow. Here are a couple of articles that may help you set up your rock to utilize what you have better.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/1/aafeature

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/circmarart.htm

 

[ryanpal]

ahullsb: it's a 150 gal and those powerheads are 2 koralia #4s and two maxi 1200s moded with sureflow kits. i was thinking about putting the sureflow kits behind the rocks in the corners.

H2OLUVSME: it's hard to tell from this computer the images come in dark...I'll recheck at my home computer.

I should note that I had the to maxijets on the sides of the tank...I just moved the one to try something new and see where the flow would go. You mentioned you had powerheads facing the rock...but wouldn't this push some of the detritus etc. behind the rocks?

one concern i have about having the ph's behind the rock is getting stuff stuck in them. i had somethign shredded this morning (my bta?) and i can see that being a frequent problem behind the rock.

this is harder than i though ;]

i'll check those links...in meantime anyone else have any feedback?

 

[hyperfocal]

It seems that every time I fiddle with my aquascaping, something ends up broken. A rock slips and dings an acro, or I misjudge due to refraction and bump my arm into one of my montis, or the like. Perhaps I'm just terribly uncoordinated, but it's got to the point where I really only mess with my aquascaping to fix a real problem.

 

[ryanpal]

here's two more ideas i had:

1. arrange the 4 powerheads so that they form a circular flow. the sides would be pointed towards the back and front. the koralias would be pointed in the direction i wanted the flow to go to help with the momentum

or

2. put two phs in one direction...two in the other. have them hooked up to a timer. they go clockwise for 12 hours...then they shut off and the other phs kick in to go counterclockwise for 12 hours.

::shrugs::