Re-arranging Aquascape

[G8trBait16]

Hey y'all,

I was wondering if I needed to look out for anything before a re-arrange my rocks. The reason why I am doing it is bc I just sold most of my LPS to a buddy of mine, which make my tank almost a 99% SPS tank. My tank is 10 months old and all of my SPS frags have encrusted onto the rocks.

1. Is it ok to take the rocks out of the tank and put into 5G buckets with saltwater for a short time during this process?
2. Should I do a water change after it is done?
3. Is there going to be any negative effects by changing the aquascape (I am not adding new rocks)?
4. Any tips and tricks that would help in this process.

Thank y'all very much!

 

[Labridaedicted]

Hey y'all,

I was wondering if I needed to look out for anything before a re-arrange my rocks. The reason why I am doing it is bc I just sold most of my LPS to a buddy of mine, which make my tank almost a 99% SPS tank. My tank is 10 months old and all of my SPS frags have encrusted onto the rocks.

1. Is it ok to take the rocks out of the tank and put into 5G buckets with saltwater for a short time during this process?
2. Should I do a water change after it is done?
3. Is there going to be any negative effects by changing the aquascape (I am not adding new rocks)?
4. Any tips and tricks that would help in this process.

Thank y'all very much!

1. Is it ok to take the rocks out of the tank and put into 5G buckets with saltwater for a short time during this process?

Yeah, this is fine, depending on the quantity of rock, a larger Rubbermaid tote would work better and allow you to stack the rocks less.

2. Should I do a water change after it is done?

I would. This will likely stir up a lot of detritus. I would also take the opportunity to shame the rocks real well in sine clean salt water to get all the detritus down in the holes out. It's always amazing how much crap (literally) and other stuff gets down in there.

3. Is there going to be any negative effects by changing the aquascape (I am not adding new rocks)?

Only things I can think of are the previously mentioned detritus cloud and possible light stress if you move corals that are encrusted into new areas. Might just require a lowering of intensity or light cycle if you see some stress indicators in your corals. Test your nutrients once the dust cloud subsides to make sure you don't get a spike from stirring up all the detritus the sand and rocks have been hiding.

4. Any tips and tricks that would help in this process.

One cool tip I learned was to put the plastic egg crate people put on top of their tanks in the sand. Keeps the rocks from sliding even if gobies and such dig around the base. I've done some pretty acrobatic rockscaping using the egg crate to lock in some points. Also, if something is not staying the way you want it to sit, use coral epoxy (the stick kind) in the joints. Makes it sit level and again makes a precarious stack very stable.



Good luck!