Changing Aquascape on Established Aquarium

[NorCalReefing]

Hi everyone. I’m new here so trying this all out.

First off, I have a Reefer 750 (est 2019) that’s been somewhat neglected. Not going to bore people with why but it involved having lots of infants in the house due to Covid). Now kids are in all day care and I have no money!

Anyway, I was an impatient noob when setting this all up and ended up using the “balance the rocks and hold it together with underwater epoxy” method. And as a result, I really hated the overall look.

So here’s my plan (please feel free to call out any mistakes here):

First off, had a lot of used rock that dried out long ago. It’s currently being bleached in a bin in my backyard with RO water. Once it’s sat for 7 days, I’m going to hose it down and let it dry out completely. Then into a bucket with fresh RO, some flow and dechlorinator. I’ll leave it for a month with a few water changes.

I’ll then build out a rock structure using the BRS method by smashing up larger pieces and gluing them together to create a more interesting aquascape. Since my end goal is to keep both SPS and zoas, the goal will be to create natural looking shelves that keep the zoas and acans on the lower half of the tank.

Now obviously I’m concerned about replacing rock in an established aquarium with newly cured rock. I was also thinking of replacing the sand under each rock while I was at it.

If I only replace a third of the tank at a time ( and go slow ) will this allow the new rock to be properly seeded by the old? Does anyone know how long that could take?

Additionally, will this potentially trigger nuisance algae?

Appreciate your suggestions and feedback.

 

[TX_REEF]

Go slow for sure. If possible, leave the old rock in, even in the sump or wherever you can, as long as possible to fully seed the new rock. If you simply replace the old rock with new, you’ll decimate your biological filter.

 

[NorCalReefing]

Go slow for sure. If possible, leave the old rock in, even in the sump or wherever you can, as long as possible to fully seed the new rock. If you simply replace the old rock with new, you’ll decimate your biological filter.

Definitely planning on slow. I’m going to build the Aquascape in 3 parts. My plan was to place one into the display and then wait a month or two for the next.

Curious if anyone else has had any nuisance algae from curing rock with bleach? I thought I read on another post that I shouldn’t.

Also, would replacing the sand at the same time cause any issues? I’m moving away from a very fine crushed coral to the BRS Fiji Pink. Hopefully will help me avoid having to fully vacuum the sand bed every 2 weeks.

 

[Cell]

Sounds like a reasonable plan. I wouldn't expect any issues considering you are cycling the new rock first. I'd clean up a chunk of existing live rock and drop it in with your new rock when cycling.

If you fully air dry, dechlorinator is not necessary but won't hurt either.

I'd be tempted to swap out the entire sandbed in one shot.
@brandon429 can confirm if this is safe or not.

 

[mtraylor]

Another option would be to add some live rock from existing reef to your bin of new rock after it stabilizes and let that fully seed over 4 weeks or so. Then just replace it all in one shot. Also putting as much of old rock in fuse sump will help allot too

 

[brandon429]

Agreed with Cell and Mtr

Do the sand swap all at once not in sections, it's safer to swap all sand at once

Read the sand rinse thread to see how we pre rinse and prep the sand for these 200 swaps on file, you pre rinse so the new setup is totally cloudless

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

If you are reading this thread to cure a tank invasion from a link I sent you, we do not need to identify your type of invasion here we do not need you to test anything at anytime regarding nitrate, phosphate etc Above all, we do not need to see a microscope slide picture of your invasion at...

www.reef2reef.com

For sure I expect lengthy protracted uglies phase since it'll be animal nutrients plus bright light and no biome on the new rocks. Fusing the scape together where you can't remove rocks for external cleaning is likely to make this not fun for many months. You'd be better off guiding the current rocks back to clean on top of new sand.

 

[NorCalReefing]

Sounds like a reasonable plan. I wouldn't expect any issues considering you are cycling the new rock first. I'd clean up a chunk of existing live rock and drop it in with your new rock when cycling.

If you fully air dry, dechlorinator is not necessary but won't hurt either.

I'd be tempted to swap out the entire sandbed in one shot.
@brandon429 can confirm if this is safe or not.

Any specific reason why you’d swap it all out at once? I was thinking of a third to avoid having to dig around the old rocks if possible.

 

[NorCalReefing]

Agreed with Cell and Mtr

Do the sand swap all at once not in sections, it's safer to swap all sand at once

Read the sand rinse thread to see how we pre rinse and prep the sand for these 200 swaps on file, you pre rinse so the new setup is totally cloudless

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

If you are reading this thread to cure a tank invasion from a link I sent you, we do not need to identify your type of invasion here we do not need you to test anything at anytime regarding nitrate, phosphate etc Above all, we do not need to see a microscope slide picture of your invasion at...

www.reef2reef.com

For sure I expect lengthy protracted uglies phase since it'll be animal nutrients plus bright light and no biome on the new rocks. Fusing the scape together where you can't remove rocks for external cleaning is likely to make this not fun for many months. You'd be better off guiding the current rocks back to clean on top of new sand.

Should I still expect a long uglies phase if I only swap out a 3rd at a time with bleached rock?

Also how is it safer to swap all the sand? I’m genuinely curious as I have never swapped sand before.

 

[Cell]

Any specific reason why you’d swap it all out at once? I was thinking of a third to avoid having to dig around the old rocks if possible.

Mostly convenience and little benefit to partial changes.

 

[mboley]

Why are you taking out the old rock at all? It would be better to leave it.

 

[NorCalReefing]

Why are you taking out the old rock at all? It would be better to leave it.

A few different thoughts on that.

1. The rock is bulky and takes up a lot of space. It limits flow which has led to detritus traps under certain rocks. I really like the look of the negative space aquascapes.

2. The original rock work was set up back about a year ago when I discovered that detritus was gathering behind my rocks. So it was cobbled together with epoxy and I’ve always regretted not taking more time on it.

3. With Zoas, they tend to encroach on everything if you give them the opportunity. I’d like to try to create dedicated areas for SPS that will give them plenty of time to grow.

4. The current rock is infested with pyramid snails and aptasia. I know it will just get on the new rocks, but figured if I could get a fresh start, it would be better.

5. Regarding the sand, I used a fine crushed coral before and it has been a detritus issue. I’m able to vacuum it but it’s always been a pain in the … so switching to a traditional sand has been a plan for a while.