scsinet
Active Member
Live Rock Changes and Startup
For those of you who remember my last update... you know... the one that I did like 2 years ago...
I had built platforms out of PVC pipe that I used to support the rocks.
The platforms I concluded were too tall... causing the tank to look really stupid... like this:
It may not look that bad from the picture, but there were a couple big issues... For one thing, I had 350lbs of live rock. With the platforms, so much empty space was under the rock structures that I couldn't fit all of the rock into the tank.
Also, due to the height, I had to literally stand flat pieces on end to try to get the platforms completely covered.
While simultaneously disappointed and agigated, I removed all of the rock from the tank, causing untold amounts of filthy seawater to drip onto the carpet, despite the drop cloths and towels everywhere. This of course caused my fiance to be not disappointed but definitely agitated.
So once I had all the rock out, I pulled the PVC structure out and removed all of the platforms, leaving just the flat bottom portion. This again was to allow me to stack the rock and distribute the weight across the bottom of the tank, plus allow for stability with me wanting to keep burrowing animals like gobies and jawfish.
Once I got the rock in, I set the canopy on top and fired up the lights for the first time to see how it looked:
... ahh the blue of brand new halides... don't worry... they'll settle in and whiten up.
I was much happier with this aquascape. Aquascaping has never been my thing... I'm not artistic enough, but I wasn't unhappy with this. I got a couple of good caves in place.
Now that I had water in the tank and I was happy with the rock, I went ahead and started up the system.
For those of you who remember my last update... you know... the one that I did like 2 years ago...
The platforms I concluded were too tall... causing the tank to look really stupid... like this:
It may not look that bad from the picture, but there were a couple big issues... For one thing, I had 350lbs of live rock. With the platforms, so much empty space was under the rock structures that I couldn't fit all of the rock into the tank.
Also, due to the height, I had to literally stand flat pieces on end to try to get the platforms completely covered.
While simultaneously disappointed and agigated, I removed all of the rock from the tank, causing untold amounts of filthy seawater to drip onto the carpet, despite the drop cloths and towels everywhere. This of course caused my fiance to be not disappointed but definitely agitated.
So once I had all the rock out, I pulled the PVC structure out and removed all of the platforms, leaving just the flat bottom portion. This again was to allow me to stack the rock and distribute the weight across the bottom of the tank, plus allow for stability with me wanting to keep burrowing animals like gobies and jawfish.
Once I got the rock in, I set the canopy on top and fired up the lights for the first time to see how it looked:
... ahh the blue of brand new halides... don't worry... they'll settle in and whiten up.
I was much happier with this aquascape. Aquascaping has never been my thing... I'm not artistic enough, but I wasn't unhappy with this. I got a couple of good caves in place.
Now that I had water in the tank and I was happy with the rock, I went ahead and started up the system.