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Time to re-aquascape...Need some advice

K

KennyZush

Hello,
Here is the short version of the story:
Back in January, my wife and I rescued a 90 gallon saltwater reef tank from a friends house who's brother left it behind and no one wanted to care for it anymore.
It was in rough shape when we got it, but after a few months we were able to get the system stable and we have been doing really well.
Because we had larger issues at the time, the live rock in the tank was mostly placed where ever we could against the back wall of the tank.
Well, know I think we are ready to really get it to a point where it looks good. I would like to create sort of an arch of live rock from one end of the tank to the other. What is the best way to get the rock to stay together? Should I use bonding putty or do some drilling and pinning?
Also, I plan to remove the rock from the tank to clean and examine them for proper placement. Do you think the fish in the tank should be OK during this process or should I plan to remove them as well? (we are currently housing 2 maroon clowns, 2 angels, a kole tang, a Mandarin and a damsel.)
I am hoping to get the project done in one day...one very long day. Any advice as to how to proceed in the safest way possible?
Thanks for any advice.

Kenny Z.
 
G

grgdnh

I have had good luck using a combination of putty and 3/4" PVC for larger pieces and plastic coat hangers for smaller pieces. When drilling the rock I use a reg concrete bit and take my time. Depending on the density rock I usually break 1-2 rocks out of 10. Hope that helps.
 
MikeNapoli

MikeNapoli

When I did my change over from my 55 to the 120 I took all livestock out and put them in three 10gallon tanks. They were in there for 4 days. The only loses were a sexy shrimp and my watanabe angel who was only introduced to my 55gallon a week earlier. Any way I know you're not doing a changeover but if you go this way I think you'll be ok. Take your rock out and then the fish and coral if you have coral. Put them in 10 gallon tanks with the same water from your display tank with a heater and a powerhead. One day shouldn't be bad at all.

As far as the live rock I'm not sure about how to arch it. When I tried to do mine I failed miserably.


Here's pics of my holding setup while I was doing my changeover. Two ten gallons for Coral and One 10 gallon for 7 fish. $11.00 for each of the 10 gallon tanks and $8 for each of the heaters. Powerheads I already had.

Hope this helped a little.

IMG_2351.jpg


IMG_2357.jpg
 
M

mladencovic

Check with Merv, I believe he has done arch himself in his new tank. People do several things: use putty, aragocrete (or some other cement based mixture), or sealant foam. For structure, I wold go with PVC piping - the sturdiest and most versatile. If you are going to drill just be aware that LR can crack easily. You didn't mention any corals so I would assume it is fish only tank. In that case I wouldn't rush - specially if you use aragocrete that takes a couple of days to cure. Whatever process you use, you should definitively remove the fish. Depending on what size and form of the structure you plan to make, it might be the case that you would need to assemble it in the tank, or gently place in the tank, in which case, you would remove most of the water. All of the fish should be fine in the buckets for quite some time. The only one that might be p...-off a bit (I guess) would be the mandarin if it is not used to prepared foods and its diet is strictly live pods (which will be affected by you removing, cleaning and aquascaping your rocks).
If, on the other hand, you have corals, then yes, the whole thing should be done as quickly as possible, since they would be much more stressed by the move.
 
C

CONSTANTNE

Well first off good luck! Its definately going to be a challenge but will pay off once your done. Only other thing i can add in is using zip ties to join live rock as well. Getting some reef epoxy and making the arch outside the tank should be easier too.
 
K

KennyZush

mladencovic said:
You didn't mention any corals so I would assume it is fish only tank.

The only one that might be p...-off a bit (I guess) would be the mandarin if it is not used to prepared foods

If, on the other hand, you have corals, then yes, the whole thing should be done as quickly as possible, since they would be much more stressed by the move.
Click to expand...

I do have some corals...
Mostly frogspawn
Daisy Pollups
A finger leather
Yellow Pollups

Also a clam, a few shrimp and emeralds along with the hermits and snails.

You folks think it is better to assemble outside the tank and then lower two halves in?

Maybe create the piping structure and mold/epoxy around and to it while in the tank.

Kenny Z.
 
J

jazzsam

I did a good portion all in one day with the fish staying in the tank. I did have a couple that were new and the stress did not do well with them but the established ones did fine. As stated before watch out with drilling becuase the rock can crack easy. Also, depending on how long the rock has been in the tank if it starts to break apart there could be issues. Mine went very well and I just used the epoxy. It is very easy to work with as long as you use enough. Don't be conservative with it. I built a few arches but none all the way across the tank. I can help out if I have time on the day you want to do it.
 
K

KennyZush

jazzsam said:
I built a few arches but none all the way across the tank.
Click to expand...

I dont think my plan is to span the entire tank, but a couple of towers with a small arch in the center seems do-able.

Kenny Z.
 
K

KennyZush

OK - Here is the next question:
When I take the live-rock out of the tank, does it need to say submersed in water or just damp?
Should the formations be assembled in water?

Thanks,
Kenny Z.
 
MikeNapoli

MikeNapoli

They can stay out for a decent amount of time .. enough for you to get the job done. Just don't take a long brake in the middle. You should be fine.
 
malulu

malulu

NJRC Member
I originally have the sand first, then rock, it was great and easy to place and rotate the rocks whatever angle i wanted. BUT... after few months later, the inverts stir up the base, and causing the formation kind of shifted... i afraid the rock may crash one day...

last year, due to my overflow leaking issue, i decided to take everything out and redo the whole setup, i got a 100g rubbermaid container, and move everything there... this time i made pvc pipe frame, and make them above ground of 6 inch or so, then tied all the rocks with tie-wrap, it is a pain to do, and the result looks ok, definately not as nice looking as before. but, it is definately not moving, nor shift any more. also no more dead spots at the bottom... :D

good luck on your project, if need help, just let me know.

BEFORE:
332_09_06_07_9_13_19.jpg


AFTER:
332_18_03_07_10_04_58.gif
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Mush a little concrete onto those PVC frames and you'd never know it wasn't rock! In time it will color up and be less noticable. One thing you can do is to paint it with purple PVC primer. Then it will blend in right away.
 
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