rearranging live rock with fish and coral in tank

hops523

Member
I would like to rearrange my live rock in my 20 gallon tank, but will this be a problem with 3 fish and a few corals inside the tank already?
 

ophiura

Active Member
It can be very stressful, especially in a small tank...and can impact water quality dramatically. Its not something I would necessarily do without having a plan. Now if you are moving a rock or two...but if you are moving everything....
I would siphon out some water to a cooler or something and put the fish and coral in there. I would have at least 15 g of water made up to add. Then move the rock, siphon out some of the nasty water from moving the rock around and replace. Then return the other stuff and watch water quality carefully the next couple of days.
 

kaingers

Member
If you want to be fish friendly I would consider taking them out while you do your scaping, but they will be alright if you decide to leave them in. I would be concerned about crushing either the fish or the corals when moving things around, so be mindful of where they are in the tank. Remember you want to have have your base LR on the bottom glass and not sitting on top of sand! Good Luck, and share some before and after pictures!
 

bird dog

Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
http:///forum/post/2594644
It can be very stressful, especially in a small tank...and can impact water quality dramatically. Its not something I would necessarily do without having a plan. Now if you are moving a rock or two...but if you are moving everything....
I would siphon out some water to a cooler or something and put the fish and coral in there. I would have at least 15 g of water made up to add. Then move the rock, siphon out some of the nasty water from moving the rock around and replace. Then return the other stuff and watch water quality carefully the next couple of days.
Perfect
 

candycane

Active Member
I think it really has to do with how long the tank has been set up. 5 years and you are most likely bursting a bunch of sulfur pockets. On the other hand, I have replaced 80% of my substrate in dozens of different tanks and never had a single problem. It usually kicks up a bunch of brown debris and blah blah blah........
My advice would be to follow the above advice as precautions though, LOL, unless your tank is fairly old. Also, if you are doing this after a few months - then I would probably have an extra canister filter on hand with a WICKED huge amount of carbon on hand. Sometimes, it can be more stressfull to move the fish then to move your live rock. If you go chasing them around the tank then burn their little gills by letting them touch air, etc. I find it best to move the stuff around with a full tank. That way there is more surface area for the detritus to float around in and more area for you to pump out. Have the above bucket of pre-mixed water available, and replace the removed water. Then usually just chuck on the canister filter and let it run for a bit.
What is the size and age of this tank? Those two are VERY important.
 
Top