Major rescape, advise needed

[RAV-65]

Hi all,

intend to do major rescaping in my tank and would appreciate all advise in case I miss out anything.

Operation Shakeup :

1> Take out all corals (LPS,SPS) and place in tub with pre-mixed saltwater using Marine Environment salt. All the parameters of the water will be closely monitored 2-3 days before this.

2> Remove most of remaining rocks for rescaping without touching the DSB ( 4 inch in front and 6 inch towards the back of the tank )

3> Remove eggcrates used to stack up rocks previously.

4> Remove all livestocks

5> Light siphoning of top-layer of sandbed to further remove dirt/detritus.

6> Employ new dead-rocks to act as base rocks.

7> Deploy 2xtunzes within rockscape

7> After scaping has be redone, allow few hours for the tank to settle

8> Return all corals/LS to be returned to the tank.

Estimated time taken : 2days max.

Problems expected to face :

1> Large amount of detritus that has been previously trapped in the rocks to be released into the water.

2> ?? Can anyone advise ??

Other notes :

Beckett Skimmer to be running throughout the entire epsiode.

Epoxy to standby in case the rock work not steady

Total Blackout in the tank during whole operation as lights have to be remove, dunno if this will cause problems??

Thought of doing maybe a 20-30% water change during this time, advisable??

Dat's all I can tink of at this moment, dunno if I left out anything, please help to give ur advise and expertise coz I hope I dun run into major problems during the whole operation.

PS: Genuine advise needed, pls do not post jokes like asking me to sell you my corals/LS and so on... Thanxs!

[RAV-65]

Also, can anyone advise if such a rescape would cause the parameters to change drastically??

BTW, anyone who has those big blue togoya tub to lend me would be much appreciated!!

[salivateforme]

Hmmmn, from the above, I gather that your rocks rest on the substrate? That could prove dangerous, especially if you have sand-sifters around...

[diabolus]

bro,

u want i have a 4ft x 3ft x1ft(rough guage la...but its big) plastic tub.

you want can borrow you.

[typrobin]

i think not much problem one lah...dun worry..

as u mentioned, u will do partial water change during this period..i suggest tat u do it after rockscape(when the water is still murky) so tat u can siphon out lotsa dirt..

siphonig of sand is good, but u might wanna buy a packet of new sand in case u "accidentally" siphon out too much sand..

u might wanna get ready a large pail of seawater to wash your LRs before rescaping them, to clear up some detris..i suggest u buy seawater for this purpose..cheaper..

for the tub tat u will be using to hold your corals and LS,use the tank water tat u currently have...dun use new salt mix..might have diff parameters..and after tat just top up your tank with new saltmix...

and wat skimmer will u be running on this tub for that 2days??i can pass u a set of my experimental skimmer (old set)..but u must have a 3000ltr pump for it..

[RAV-65]

bro,

u want i have a 4ft x 3ft x1ft(rough guage la...but its big) plastic tub.

you want can borrow you.

Bro, greatly appreciate that!!!

Can PM me where to pick up??

[RAV-65]

i think not much problem one lah...dun worry..

as u mentioned, u will do partial water change during this period..i suggest tat u do it after rockscape(when the water is still murky) so tat u can siphon out lotsa dirt..

siphonig of sand is good, but u might wanna buy a packet of new sand in case u "accidentally" siphon out too much sand..

u might wanna get ready a large pail of seawater to wash your LRs before rescaping them, to clear up some detris..i suggest u buy seawater for this purpose..cheaper..

for the tub tat u will be using to hold your corals and LS,use the tank water tat u currently have...dun use new salt mix..might have diff parameters..and after tat just top up your tank with new saltmix...

and wat skimmer will u be running on this tub for that 2days??i can pass u a set of my experimental skimmer (old set)..but u must have a 3000ltr pump for it..

Hmmm.... so the partial water change would be good...

Good idea, would standby a pail of seawater to "wash" the rocks!

Guess gotta formulate more salt water and use half half, half fresh and half from tank, dun wan to take out too much water from my tank....

Anyway, will take a look at the skimmer! maybe a good idea to use it! Thanxs!!

[RAV-65]

Anyone else can advise?? In case I left something out??

[Terryz_]

Think best is to let your tank settle down and test for possible ammonia spike for a day or two den if everything okaie den add your LS back... Would be safer this way... And try not to stir up the sand if not i think you will need to cycle again... Having partial water change after the rescape... Will be good...

[RAV-65]

Think best is to let your tank settle down and test for possible ammonia spike for a day or two den if everything okaie den add your LS back... Would be safer this way... And try not to stir up the sand if not i think you will need to cycle again... Having partial water change after the rescape... Will be good...

Hmmm.... never thought there will be a ammonia spike, coz any additional rocks would be cured before hand... Appreciate this idea, but anyone else who has experience can confirm this?? Would there really be an ammonia spike?? from wat? Not anticipating much if not any die-offs....

[Terryz_]

Or is it Nitrite or Nitrate... Cant remember... You wun have to worry if you are not touching the sand... But the detritus that is trapped on the rocks will be stirred up... Think will have a change in your water para one...

[RAV-65]

Or is it Nitrite or Nitrate... Cant remember... You wun have to worry if you are not touching the sand... But the detritus that is trapped on the rocks will be stirred up... Think will have a change in your water para one...

Dat's why I'm wondering wat kinf of effect will dat have... so intend to use a pail of saltwater as suggested by typrobin to "wash" the rocks, might be getting a net used for catching BBS to "catch" the detritus can also the skimmer will be running all the time... dunno if that helps....

[Terryz_]

It think can will be good... I dunno ler but that time i did a major rescape and added the LS back the same day after the water settle down... Lost a damsel, scooter blenny... So i think it will have some effect on some fishes....

[RAV-65]

It think can will be good... I dunno ler but that time i did a major rescape and added the LS back the same day after the water settle down... Lost a damsel, scooter blenny... So i think it will have some effect on some fishes....

Wat other LS/corals u had den bro??

I got a scooter blenny too...

[zorden]

Did it come across to you to hide some of the power heads in the rocks?

i find that leaving power heads expose is very ugly but conceal them in the rocks prove to be unwise for future maintenace..

so what your decision?

[RAV-65]

Did it come across to you to hide some of the power heads in the rocks?

i find that leaving power heads expose is very ugly but conceal them in the rocks prove to be unwise for future maintenace..

so what your decision?

Thanks for the reminder bro, have intended to hide the 2 tunzes within the rocks... still scratching my head on how to do it!

[RAV-65]

bro...i suggest that u let your tank settle for a day...test for ammonia spike like what bro terryz said....sometimes major rescapes will cause a new cycle to occur....also...try your best not to disturb your DSB...it will kill some beneficial bacteria in the sand....

Hmmm... will try to prevent to having too much die-offs, but got to finish everything asap... so may not have the luxury of waiting for one day...

[lightningstrike]

Thanks for the reminder bro, have intended to hide the 2 tunzes within the rocks... still scratching my head on how to do it!

buy tunze rock to conceal. S$100++ each.

[RAV-65]

buy tunze rock to conceal. S$100++ each.

Thought of it leh, but the "rock" is white in colour, very ugly leh...

[lightningstrike]

Thought of it leh, but the "rock" is white in colour, very ugly leh...

smear the rock with Deltec (purple) epoxy.

[RAV-65]

smear the rock with Deltec (purple) epoxy.

Wah, dat's quite a large area to cover leh...

[scarab]

Bro, Tunze hidden in rockwork not effective. I tried before. The flow is substantially reduced. I end up placing them outside. Ugly, ugly lah, Bo pian but if your corals benefit from the good flow people won't notice your Tunzes. They will be busy with your corals.

BTW I got 2 Tunze 6000 and 5 maxijets 1200 all exposed.

[wa_lanz]

hahah yeah lo... where got tunzes?? all i see in scarab's tank is rainbow colours...

[minsmarine]

Me love to rescape ( major ) here and there. When ever I have itchy hand, I did

based on what you had described, seem like you left out nothing. However, 2 days to complete everything is bit too long.

my tank is smaller than your in 2 1/2 time. I normally completed in 5-6 time. After rescaping , I let tank settle down for 1-2 hr than all LS and Coral ( 95% are SPS ).

Bare in mind that I do change water 100% ( most of the time, all new water ). Never lost LS nor SPS. All r seem to be more happy, Can tell from the look and remember new water is better than old water

I am installing new sump and major rescaping this saturday night. Ofcourse 100% water change b4 my most expensive toy comming ( CR ) geez more ex than my TS12.

If you need more help do let me and SBS know since we are neighbor, we will try our best to mess up your room, your tank and ..... your wallet lar

[Ancelot]

hmm... dude,

maybe run your tank with lotsa of mechanical filtration..

in some freshwater aquariums they sell this rack with lots of holes at the bottom cost around $3.50 might wanna buy that and use a powerhead to run in your tank to remove any detrius.. I learnt this method from weileong's tank setup. looks good and efficient. so might wanna try..

I suggest you use NSW for your new setup. cause you want to get things done fast.. so NSW is a better source for saltwater than salt mix. You got to account that salt mix you need at least 3 weeks for every grain of salt to dissolve...so NSW is still a wise choice.. or less you have to start preparing lots of salt mix now..

just my 2 cents worth..

*anyway if you need help, just PM me in advance. I can offer you another pair of hands...