Quote:
Originally Posted by
wading-for-fish http:///t/395760/3d-wall-and-fish-help#post_3524286
Is there any concrete or cement that I can use for a 3d wall that I don't need to leech? How do I acclimate a lot of fish at once with out sending the tank into a bioshock? With that in mind where can I buy cold waterfish online? I am clueless any help at all would be great.
Hi,
There is no way to add a bunch of fish at once without killing everything. BECAUSE...There are good bacteria colonies that develop in a fish tank, they feed on the ammonia and nitrites (deadly to living critters) and that colony develops on a "as needed" kind of basis. We cycle the tank first, then we add one fish, it takes anywhere from 3 days to a week for the colony to really catch up and handle the new bio-load that one fish created. If you add too many critters at once, the little colonies are not developed enough to handle it, and before it can catch up, everything alive dies from the poison of their own waste (AKA Ammonia) then if anything survives the ammonia overload, the nitrites develop and totally wipe out the rest.
Nothing in this hobby can safely be rushed. You should also have a quarantine tank all cycled and ready to go. If you have a cycled display there is a short cut to set up the QT. Keeping a new fish quarantined for 3 to 4 weeks will assist in helping you pace yourself on what you add to your display at one time, preventing a crash.
Now about that rock background...Yes indeed there are lots of folks on this site including myself, that have done it. It isn't hard at all, and if you are not happy with the rock arrangement, it's an easy fix.
A few hint's for design:
Larger rock should be near the top, because the lower rock will butt up against the background for an awesome 3D+ effect. Always consider your equipment when doing the rock wall. Make sure where things go, and leave room for the overflow, heater or HOB filter and power heads.
Materials:
Black pond foam...you can order it on-line, or go to a hardware store.
Dry dead or base rock that is for SW tanks and came from the ocean, or handmade rock...the freshwater rock is prettier, but it has metal traces that you don't want in your tank (the pretty colors).
The more nooks and crannies the better.
Method I did:
[*]
Lay your tank on it's side (after you do a water leak test) Make sure the tank is good and dry.
[*]
Wear rubber non-powdered doctor gloves (The pond foam is sticky and messy)
Take egg crate and cut it to fit the tank, and lay it inside where you will attach the rock.
Squirt a little pond foam (it expands quit a bit as it dries) and attach a rock to that spot. (don't worry about little spaces between, the foam will expand as it dries, and fill it in)
Keep adding your foam and attaching the rock, until you are done.
Leave the tank on it's side for about 24 hours.
Trim the extra foam between the rocks with a steak knife, or other handy cutting tool. The foam will also leave a few little bubble holes...and that's okay, it will look awesome.
I went through all the trouble to sprinkle sand on the foam in between the rock...it just bubbled up when it expanded, and was cut away, so doing that was a waste of time. Don't worry about the black foam that shows, purple coralline algae loves plastic, and will color that up pretty quick.
I have a few pictures of my rock wall. Done on a 30g long tank for seahorses. I didn't realize the larger rocks should have been on top until later on...
The finished tank. Leave ledges for corals if you plan on a reef tank.
