Re-Rockscaping???

[pointx]

Hello, I am going to rescape my rockwork and was wondering if I should try to remove and qt my fish (pork fish, 2 clowns and an angel) prior to moving all the rock around?
I am sure its going to get cloudy and dirty for a few hours, is that something I should be concerned about.



Regards.

[SALT WATER CRAZ]

It will stress the fish out more having them in the tank. I would pull them, and put them in another tank if you are going to do it...


If you have substrate DONT move the substrate around.....
(Your paramiters could go south if you do.)

[pointx]

Ty, I will try to minumize moving the sand bed. Although its still very new and clean so maybe I wont freak out my water quality. Is there a rule of thumb on how high or how tightly packed the rock work can be? Obviously I am try to achieve good light and water flow but my guess is that once I am done the back of the tank will have very little of both.

[bmrescort]

Just remember one thing when you are placing your rock work, fish love to go in between the rocks. I try to place my rock in a tank with MANY holes for the fish to swim thru. Also you want to try and make a few caves for the fish to sleep in at night. I have 2 or 3 in my 125 and my blue hippo tank and purple tang love sleeping in the caves.
In my opinion you do not need to stack the rock that tightly.

[scotmc]

I reworked 1/2 my rock work. I kept the fish in the tank. I took my time and kept an eye on where the fish were. My hight is 3/4 up the tank for my high points. If you plannning on keeping corals, you may want to keep that in mind. When reworking your rocks.

[pointx]

I have a very tall hex and I am having a hard time placing the rock to my liking. I would like to slope up to the top of the tank in the rear, with a open sand area in the middle for a large coral specimen and a place for free swimming for my pork fish. All of my LR is large so I dont have much filler for voids etc... I will post some pics when I am done

[dileggi]

This all sounds interesting, which leads me to another question that I never though of. When I stacked my rock, I left crevices and caves for the fish, but not intentionally! LOL! Anyway, my rock work comes to within 4 inches or so to the height of my tank and the front area of the tank is completely open. Is my rockwork too high to keep adding sps to the tank?

[papagimp]

oh man, lol. Not to laugh, but one thing you'll learn after a year or so in the hobby, it often turns into a horrible mess rearranging rockwork. If ya don't like the new arrangment, you'll never get it back the way you did. Take all the planning time you need prior to doing this, definatly stick the fish in another holding tank for the time being so you can more easily work with the aquascaping. Don't forget that zipties and PVC, along with epoxy and superglue can be your friend when aquascaping. (for those with hex tanks, a mason drill bit and some pvc can make for a nice large pillar of rock in the center of those things - pointx)

Have fun and get some photo's posted for us! Best way to give idea's to others, let em see what you've done.

[papagimp]

Originally posted by dileggi
Is my rockwork too high to keep adding sps to the tank?

No such thing as rockwork being too high. It's all a matter of personal preference. Most "reeftanks" are not true replications of a reef, more of a hodgepodge of various reef zones mixed together so as long as you like the look, it's all good. Place corals approprately to allow for growth.

[pointx]

To be honest i got carried away a bit with a few additions. So I am going back to more of what I was originally going for. A low to mid leval reef. 4' to 16' High light, lots of flow etc... LR

As far a things to aid in stacking and alike I am still going with oh natural to keep everthing kinda in sync. The tank has been up and running for 50 days and so far no loss
or problems. I did run a perm water line from the end of my dock to do 50% water changes every 4 days, takes about 5 minutes of my time and seems to keep everything happy. Although when storms and visible water problems seem to become a problem I will have to re-evaluate that approach.

Well, removed fish and will start the project asap, keep you updated. and thanks for the great advice.

[pointx]

Here are some Update pics. Took about 2 hours and about 2 water changes to clear it up.
Need to move some of the rock anemone still but need to do it when the lights are out tonight. Love to hear everyone's opinion on the layout so far.

Regards.

[Mike7]

The stand wood work is beautiful

[pointx]

Thanks mike