Help needed aquascaping

[Amber]

Hi i have been stuck in a tough place with my 60 gal cube tank for a while, i started off really rough trying to do a crab tank that failed, turning it into a reef tank. So i didn’t setup my tank to what most people do nowadays it was kinda messy but my tank if fine now. So i have a lot of rock in my tank with some coral and fish, but just recently realized that i did not aquascape or anything at the start of my tank. So now in stuck with a bunch of rocks stacked on top of each other and no idea how to or what to make and do with my tank because all my coral are already used to the spots they are in and my fish already have territory’s. The rocks don't look bad but i really like the new design in new tanks but don't now how to make mine anywhere near them, and i don't know what will happen if i do that. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[siege]

So... the fish and the corals can adapt to some change - the fish especially, and the corals as long as light, water, and flow all don't change drastically from what they like.

You could always just get some pieces and glue them onto the existing structure. Superglue (as long as it's pure CA glue) is totally reef safe, and bonds quickly under water. If a heavier piece, maybe use a reef epoxy.

If you really want to do something new, you could always buy some dry rock, build an aquascape, and then "cook" it in a tub of saltwater with some water from any time you do a change from your display tank thrown in. Once it's nicely matured, you could just swap it in. Or you could buy a bunch of pre-built pieces, assemble them how you like, and cook them.

Cooking it either way may not be entirely necessary, but there's a lot of biology going on in that rock in your tank, and it might be gentler on the system if you didn't replace it with something entirely sterile - especially all at once. Regardless of how you go, you might want to consider finding a way to leave in a couple of pieces of the old rock, at least for a little while, or put them in your sump, if you have one - if an AIO, maybe you can find a way to safely fit a piece or two in your filter compartment?

You'd have to be prepared to remove the corals from the rock wherever they're attached, but its not as if that's not a done thing - just do a dip in Coral Revive or ReVive in-between.

FWIW, I've been working on my own aquascape, and found these two videos to be most helpful:

and

 

[shanepike]

That second video is no longer a good one. Below is the update to it where Ryan says he wishes he had never done it like that. That scape looks cool, but it's not actually healthy for the inhabitants of the tank.

 

[siege]

That second video is no longer a good one. Below is the update to it where Ryan says he wishes he had never done it like that. That scape looks cool, but it's not actually healthy for the inhabitants of the tank.

Nice, thank you... I felt like that one I was watching again wasn't one of the one's I'd watched more recently... but it was in my history, showing it had been watched. I figured maybe it was just the headache and I wasn't remembering correctly.

 

[siege]

Nice, thank you... I felt like that one I was watching again wasn't one of the one's I'd watched more recently... but it was in my history, showing it had been watched. I figured maybe it was just the headache and I wasn't remembering correctly.

Out of curiosity, why did he say it wasn't healthy?

One of the reasons I thought something was off was that he only ever said NSA, not "HNSA", and I was pretty sure the one I'd watched was on the latter, but... it looked close enough

 

[shanepike]

Out of curiosity, why did he say it wasn't healthy?

He said it didn't give fish any place to take shelter.

 

[silentdeath5]

of all the tanks I’ve had, the cubes (94 and 60) were the most difficult to scape. 60 being the most difficult. Best advice I can give is to just gather photos from the web of 60 cube scapes and just do what you can. Or you can also focus on the corals which grow and give you a good scape. Things like leathers and such

 

[Amber]

So... the fish and the corals can adapt to some change - the fish especially, and the corals as long as light, water, and flow all don't change drastically from what they like.

You could always just get some pieces and glue them onto the existing structure. Superglue (as long as it's pure CA glue) is totally reef safe, and bonds quickly under water. If a heavier piece, maybe use a reef epoxy.

If you really want to do something new, you could always buy some dry rock, build an aquascape, and then "cook" it in a tub of saltwater with some water from any time you do a change from your display tank thrown in. Once it's nicely matured, you could just swap it in. Or you could buy a bunch of pre-built pieces, assemble them how you like, and cook them.

Cooking it either way may not be entirely necessary, but there's a lot of biology going on in that rock in your tank, and it might be gentler on the system if you didn't replace it with something entirely sterile - especially all at once. Regardless of how you go, you might want to consider finding a way to leave in a couple of pieces of the old rock, at least for a little while, or put them in your sump, if you have one - if an AIO, maybe you can find a way to safely fit a piece or two in your filter compartment?

You'd have to be prepared to remove the corals from the rock wherever they're attached, but its not as if that's not a done thing - just do a dip in Coral Revive or ReVive in-between.

FWIW, I've been working on my own aquascape, and found these two videos to be most helpful:

and

So... the fish and the corals can adapt to some change - the fish especially, and the corals as long as light, water, and flow all don't change drastically from what they like.

You could always just get some pieces and glue them onto the existing structure. Superglue (as long as it's pure CA glue) is totally reef safe, and bonds quickly under water. If a heavier piece, maybe use a reef epoxy.

If you really want to do something new, you could always buy some dry rock, build an aquascape, and then "cook" it in a tub of saltwater with some water from any time you do a change from your display tank thrown in. Once it's nicely matured, you could just swap it in. Or you could buy a bunch of pre-built pieces, assemble them how you like, and cook them.

Cooking it either way may not be entirely necessary, but there's a lot of biology going on in that rock in your tank, and it might be gentler on the system if you didn't replace it with something entirely sterile - especially all at once. Regardless of how you go, you might want to consider finding a way to leave in a couple of pieces of the old rock, at least for a little while, or put them in your sump, if you have one - if an AIO, maybe you can find a way to safely fit a piece or two in your filter compartment?

You'd have to be prepared to remove the corals from the rock wherever they're attached, but its not as if that's not a done thing - just do a dip in Coral Revive or ReVive in-between.

FWIW, I've been working on my own aquascape, and found these two videos to be most helpful:

and

Ok thanks alot for the feedback and the videos, i will definitely watch it and use the advice. But j had one question i watched a brstv video about aquascaping and he mentioned flow how drastic of a change do you think the flow would be for the corals because they have been in there same spot for about a year. Agin thanks

 

[Amber]

of all the tanks I’ve had, the cubes (94 and 60) were the most difficult to scape. 60 being the most difficult. Best advice I can give is to just gather photos from the web of 60 cube scapes and just do what you can. Or you can also focus on the corals which grow and give you a good scape. Things like leathers and such

Yeah i have realized that this a very difficult tank to aquascape and i am just going through which design i should do for my coral and fish. But i do have leathers and softies in my tank which will fill it out good

 

[siege]

Ok thanks alot for the feedback and the videos, i will definitely watch it and use the advice. But j had one question i watched a brstv video about aquascaping and he mentioned flow how drastic of a change do you think the flow would be for the corals because they have been in there same spot for about a year. Agin thanks

Changing the aquascape will definitely change the flow. How drastic it will be? Depends on the aquascape, really. It's kind of up to you to examine the tank, direct the flow from the returns, add/move powerheads as needed, and see to it that flow in the tank is sufficient but not too much.

You can look up the type of coral to get an idea of what kind of flow it likes, then based on the placement/angle of your returns and powerheads, coupled with observations made while selecting a location, you just choose what looks like the best spot. And/or you could temporarily and very lightly mount them to a frag plug or so, and move them around a bit until you find a spot where they seem happy.

General rule of thumb, SPS wants lots of light, lots of flow. The softer a coral is, or the longer the polyps/tentacles, the less flow it is likely to want or tolerate. Still, that's... extremely general, and it's worth checking articles (our own @Tamara Marshall has a lot of good ones on the subject on her website) on your specific corals to get an idea of what their general needs are.

Again, though, having been in the same spot that long isn't a big deal. The ocean can be a very changeable thing, and as long as the parameters of the water quality itself don't change too drastically, and you don't leave them permanently in way too little or too much flow for too long, they'll be fine.

As long as you're paying regular attention to your tank - and, even better, logging those observations - you'll be able to tell if the coral is happy or not.