25-gallon Lagoon Mixed reef Build

DDenny · May 18, 2023

Now I trying to decide if I go all the premium liverock or try and get a small amount of the coralline base liverock to build up the structure then use 10 pounds or so of the premium liverock to make it look good. Oh the decisions hahahahaha

jabberwock · May 18, 2023

DDenny said:
Now I trying to decide if I go all the premium liverock or try and get a small amount of the coralline base liverock to build up the structure then use 10 pounds or so of the premium liverock to make it look good. Oh the decisions hahahahaha

I did 20 pounds of premium, and noted in my order (after getting instructions from TBS) that I would like "skinny rock". So shaped for a smaller tank. The rocks definitely have a top and a bottom to them based on how they were sitting in the ocean. All this to say that aqua-scaping options are limited with the premium. No complaints here. I would do it the same again and again.

DDenny · May 18, 2023

jabberwock said:
I did 20 pounds of premium, and noted in my order (after getting instructions from TBS) that I would like "skinny rock". So shaped for a smaller tank. The rocks definitely have a top and a bottom to them based on how they were sitting in the ocean. All this to say that aqua-scaping options are limited with the premium. No complaints here. I would do it the same again and again.
View attachment 3157173

Thanks for the input will probably go all premium hard to get just 10 pounds nad 10 pounds of each. Might call and see if they can pair them together for a 20 pound package.

DDenny · May 20, 2023

jabberwock said:
I did 20 pounds of premium, and noted in my order (after getting instructions from TBS) that I would like "skinny rock". So shaped for a smaller tank. The rocks definitely have a top and a bottom to them based on how they were sitting in the ocean. All this to say that aqua-scaping options are limited with the premium. No complaints here. I would do it the same again and again.
View attachment 3157173

Did you put the rock in a tub to cycle off any or just straight into the tank? I was thinking about ordering some next week and putting them into a rubbermaid tub with a powerhead no lights (just ambient light from the room) for a week or two to let the dieoff happen in that before putting them in the new tank. Just not sure if that is needed if they are shipped in water there shouldn't be much die off.

DDenny · May 26, 2023

Been super busy with proctoring finals for my students. But here is a quick update.
Stand is coming along hope to have it complete by Tuesday. Using cedar tongue and groove and will drill through the tubing and screw in from the back so my better half doesn’t see the screws (she is picky and it doesn’t look good she will make me by the APS stand). Will have to cut the tongue off the corners so that it fits together nicely or find some trim for the edges.

jabberwock · May 27, 2023

DDenny said:
Did you put the rock in a tub to cycle off any or just straight into the tank? I was thinking about ordering some next week and putting them into a rubbermaid tub with a powerhead no lights (just ambient light from the room) for a week or two to let the dieoff happen in that before putting them in the new tank. Just not sure if that is needed if they are shipped in water there shouldn't be much die off.

Don't try and cycle the live rock. Straight into the a cycled tank. This is what I did at TBS's recommendation. Start at post #3 for details.

I ordered "Premium" live rock. It comes with macro algae and critters. The folks at TBS recommended that I have a cycled tank to receive the rocks. So, in an old 15 gallon Fluval Flex that I had run freshwater in in 2018, I started with 1 pound each of live rock from 2 different LFS. Then I added 1 pound of ceramic biomedia and ran Tim's ammonia to start the cycle. I also arranged for "local pickup" of the rock. This would minimize the rocks travel time from 3 days in air cargo to 8 hours in my car.

DDenny · May 27, 2023

Wish I could drive it will be in Florida end of June but it takes me two days to drive from South Texas. With summer coming on strong and hit like usual might have to wait for cooler temps or pay the extra for overnight.

DDenny · May 29, 2023

Stand update for today only got in an hour of work unfortunately

Wife didn’t want to see screw holes on the outside and I wasn’t sure I could find a putty to match the cedar so the screw come in from the back side. Still need to work on the door(s) not sure if I’m going with one or two.