Preparing to Re-Aquascape

[lnevo]

So, I've been putting this off for a while now, because I'm nervous to take everything apart, but I just don't have enough surface area on my aqua-scape. There are just too many overhangs so anything I mount will not get enough light. I have frags on the sand bed that are dying to get mounted so that they stop getting sand dumped on them by my Diamond Goby.

The frags on the rack also need to get mounted so they can get more light. Being off to the side where they are, was always supposed to be a temporary situation... right now we're going on a few months :redface: and I've got Captain America's (ok, from the last Fall swap... has it really been that long already) that are now growing on the eggcrate...

Here's a recent FTS. It's a horrible picture, but it shows all the dark spots that I'm trying to fix...



So, I've got an extra 20 gallons of water made aside from the 20 that's ready to go in my mixing station. I've got a stick of purple epoxy and a bottle of coral glue. I'm going to try and avoid using the epoxy for the rocks and I'm planning on going with the more piled up mountainy look to get as much surface area for coral as possible. I'm sure more glue though would be handy.

But I'm looking for what tips everyone could provide before embarking on the actual day of re-scaping. I've been dreaming of this day for a while and it's obviously been a long time coming. My tank is almost at it's one-year anniversary and I'd like to do it before it get's to that point.

So what words of wisdom, tips, and tricks can we come up with?

Thanks all for the feedback!

 

[ducati335i]

Ok, I did this not too long ago abd it was the best thing I could do.. I did the left side one weekend, right another.. I used the plastic reflector posts as rods, drilled holes to stick them
From rock to rock, then used tons of jb weld.. Also used zip ties to hold rock in place, but then I jb welded all over it, haha.. I love aqua scaping.. U can have the best coral abd fish, but if your aquascapping sucks then there is no point.

 

[Joeb]

not to hijack the thread but where do you place corals when your tearing the tank apart? i want to redo my rocks because i don't like them but don't knonw what to do with the 28 or so pieces and frags that i have?

 

[Tonyscoots84]

In a rubbermaid container with a powerhead and heater

 

[lnevo]

My plan was to drain around 15 gallons and put it in one of those rubber tubs for putting drinks in at parties. I was gonna throw a powerhead and heater in and use that as a holding area as I rearrange everything. I want to get some of the old epoxy and clean off the rocks of any detritus before they go back in the tank.

I was also thinking of siphoning some of the sand but not sure how necessary it is. My diamond goby is a very aggressive sifter...

 

[ducati335i]

Yes, or I just moved them over in my tank

 

[lnevo]

Bump. I know you've all done it! Let's hear what worked what didn't. I need this to go smooth and counting on you guys to steer me straight

 

[ducati335i]

Drill rocks so u can place acrylic rods or the reflector rods in, stack however u like, use jb weld to seal up... Use zip ties to hold rocks while you fuse them w jb weld... U can make anything.. But u will probably need a lot of jb weld...it works 100% and easy

 

[BuGG]

Are acrylic rods available at home depot or lowes?

 

[ducati335i]

No idea, u cAn get the reflector posts which work great as well and are reef safe

 

[edd]

i just did mine. i used the rubbermaid thats made to slide under the bed. theirs more room on the bottom cause its not tapered. put a power head and heater and take your time.

 

[lnevo]

So, today was the day. I had about 35 gallons of water ready to go. I started by setting up my water change setup, and put all the water into a rubbermaid, about 18 gallons. Added heater and powerhead and transferred everything into it. Everything transferred back after giving the tank a good cleansing. Ran an extra powerhead with a filter sock on the output for a while as well. I scraped off all the extra epoxy off all the rocks. And finally after getting everything situated and the water cleared up, I changed my carbon and did another water change.

I did have a couple of hitchhikers in the buckets, my firefish and blue hippo tang who was buried in one of the rocks and I realized about 5-10 minutes later. Both made it back and are doing wonderful. Think the fish are really enjoying the new scape. I have to say, it's so much brighter now, I feel like I just upgraded my LEDs. And now with enough surface area, I have all frags mounted and I feel like I finally have a reef tank. Now hopefully everything keeps growing well. I've set my lights on an acclimation schedule so everyone has time to adjust to their new locations.

Pics to follow... however they do not do it justice, It's so hard to capture, plus so much is closed up at the moment....

 

[lnevo]