Help with big project.

hunt30

hunt30

Member
Trying to turn my 55 gallon tank into a reef tank. I have had the tank for like 2 years or more. I want to take out the lava rock that I bought when i first got the tank and put in all LR and base rock. I also want to put the new rock on top of the bare glass. This is a problem because I already have rock and sand in the tank. If I do this I know I am running the risk of causing a new cycle to happen but will this hurt my fish?
-2 percula clowns
-2 pajama cardinals
- blue headed wrasse ( I think)
- goby thats about 4 inchs not sure the name
- Lawnmower Blenny
I will put some pics on here of my tank. I think this should be my first step in turning it into a reef tank. unless you see the pictures and think it would be better to just redo the rock that is in the tank already but I hate the lava type rock. Also and good ideas on how to place the rock. I like to keep the rock in the middle of the tank with none touching the glass.
Thanks
Hunt


 
murph145

murph145

Active Member
if i were u id get some pre-cured rock from somewhere a piece at a time and do it that way... u wont get a huge shock to ur tank and it shouldnt have any cycle effects aor if it does they will be very minimal and ur fish will be just fine!
but yet ditch the lava rock and go with some nice LR
 
hunt30

hunt30

Member
Thanks for the help. The only thing is I want to be able to put the rock on the base of the glass to make a stable base so I can stack the LR really well and leave gaps so there are no dead spots. Dont you want to make it kinda of gapy with lots of shelf room for the corals?
 
murph145

murph145

Active Member
well i put my sand in my tank first then settled the rocks into the sand and built up from there
i think maybe u take out half the old rock and build up half with new wait a week and see what happens then do the otehrside then when u got the rock in there u can mess with aquascapping it better....
u want the rock to be open to allow flow throught it that way the natural filtration will work and ur water will be great!
i have a 180 with about 250lbs LR and its very open and caverness to allow for flow and all my corals seem happy
hope that helps a lil
 
hunt30

hunt30

Member
Yea that helps. So your saying to not worry about what it looks like until I switch out all the rock ? I appericate this very much ...I just want to make sure I do things right the first time.
 
conch

conch

Member
The Lava rock you have in there is now "Live Rock". That is to say that it has all or the bacteria in it needed to break down your ammonia and nitrates. If you take it all out at once, and don't replace it with a similar amount of Coraline encrusted live rock, you could well end up with a spike, bacause right now things are balanced. Why not just keep the rock that is in there there, and add some nice pieces of Seed Rock (Coraline encrusted live rock) Get your lighting up to par 4 65 watt pcs to start perhaps, and begin adding a 2 part Alkaline/calcium additions to get your alkaline and Calcium in to line (get a test kit for this). The coraline will then grow on your lava rock, and you will then have Very Porous Live rock with tons of places for bacteria to live ;) What ever you do, do like murph says and take baby steps when changing things. Don't try and do everything at once. and best of luck to you.
Also if you go reef, definatly consider a sump/refugium set up under you tank. with this you will not have to worry about the water level in the tank. The water level will go down in your sump and will not be visable in the main tank.
you will never see wour water line from the front of the tank, much better visual appeal. This has the added bonus of increasing your total volume which makes for a more stable environment.
 
conch

conch

Member
I tried it for awhile and noticed no real advantage. But I already use Bionic 2 stage Alk/Cal. the problem with purple up is that it will boost you Calium, with out doing anything for you alkalinity which works like a Ph Buffer for your tank. Also Purple up does NOT add coraline to your tank. It only boosts the calcium and minor trace elements. If you don't have any Coraline Live rock in your tank you will not get any to grow in your tank.
 
hunt30

hunt30

Member
I see .. thanks. Also though I have noticed that when the Lava rock ages its kind of gets britle. That was the reasoning on why i want to get it out. Also because i think it is harder to get coralline to grow on it. JMO.
 
conch

conch

Member
Actually Coraline appears to grow better on darker things. But I have just read you onter post and see that you have already thought through some of this stuff. Here is another suggestion... I see that you are planing on building a sump. Great, do that 1st and place some of you lave rock (crushed in to smaller pieces in to the 1 st section (like you see Bioballs in a lot of set-ups) I did this when I started my tank several yeas ago, the porousness of the Lava rock make a great biofilter Then replace what you took out of the Main tank with a Combo of new Live rock and Base rock.
The Base rock is muchhh cheaper, and will soon become live rock. about 3/4 of the rock in my tank is Base rock and I have about 60 lbs in my tank. Over time all will become encrusted.
The "blue headed Wrasse" could also become a problem in a reef tank it is most likely a Lunare Wrasse and it will eat all the snails and Crabes that will become you "Cleanup crew" if a reef tank. They are a very important part of your tank. I put one in my reef with out doing the research, he killed all of my inverts and with in a week I hade a huge algae and cynobacteria outbreak:(. If you want to go reef I recoomend taking him to your LFS and trading him for some of that new live rock or something.


 
hunt30

hunt30

Member
Hey thanks for the help. I appericate the adivce and will follow up with some of it....now all I do is the waiting game lol. Wait to build the sump and then to do the rock lol. Always takes time with saltwater. BTW very nice tank...Looks real good.
 
conch

conch

Member
Thanks, It took a while to get it to that point (with 2 MAJOR moves, One from Florida to NH Whick I lost a lot of stuff :( ) I build my sump from a 20 Long with 4 pieces of 1/4 lexan as my baffles. It has done me wll through the years and was cheap and easy. The Only thing I would change is to perhaps have yous a 20 high instead. It would have been much easier to fit. Also for a Skimmer, look around on that

[hr]
site for a "JEBO" HOB or in sump skimmer. They are extreamly inexpensive and work well. I have had mine for almost 2 years and love it. As long as I have it up and running well, I have very little problems with my Water. Reefing can become very expensive so if you can find some inexpensive things that work once in awhile, great. More money to spend on Coral :)
 
hunt30

hunt30

Member
Alright man thanks for the adivce ....Sorry I have done some reseach for this but I dont know what an HOB is ...I might sound dumb but I have to ask lol.
 
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