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Pictures up of my new aquascape...


opaquelace

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opaquelace

EDIT: The pictures of what the aquascape looks like now are towards the end of the post.

 

Well I just added more LR to my tank...I'm unsure about potential dead spots and things of that nature. Please let me know what you think of the look of the scape and if you see any areas which could lead to dead spots. Currently I have about 12 or 13 pounds and my tank is a NC12. Is it ok to have LR resting against the back wall of my tank? Or is that bad?

 

Here are the pictures of my tank, from the front and from the sides...

 

p7050041wx2.jpg

 

P7050044.jpg?t=1183739477

 

P7050042.jpg?t=1183739531

 

I'm currently testing my water for ammonia/nitrites/nitrates/pH and stuff...I'll update later with those...It looks as though my ammonia levels are at 0, and my pH was 8.0. I haven't tested the nitrites/nitrates yet. With the new LR, my tank will go through another cycle right?...it may not be finished yet seeing as I haven't tested the nitrites.

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I'm at work and unfortuately can't see the scape - my work blocks those photo's but yes it's OK to have it touching the back wall. My big concern with scape is stability and not having it too close to the sides so that you can still clean the glass.

 

As far as the new rock is concerned you may have a new cycle or a mini cycle - it really depends on if the rock was cured and how long it was out of water - How much die off you will have. Your best bet is to watch your peramiters and give it time.

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opaquelace
I'm at work and unfortuately can't see the scape - my work blocks those photo's but yes it's OK to have it touching the back wall. My big concern with scape is stability and not having it too close to the sides so that you can still clean the glass.

 

As far as the new rock is concerned you may have a new cycle or a mini cycle - it really depends on if the rock was cured and how long it was out of water - How much die off you will have. Your best bet is to watch your peramiters and give it time.

 

My nitrite test has finished, however the water is still clear/barely pink. Does that mean that my nitrites are really high and I have to use the high nitrite test? Or what?

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opaquelace

So I finished testing my water...

 

Here are the stats

 

pH: 8.0

Ammonia: 0

Nitrites: Fairly sure they were close to 0, the water was clear (didn't turn pink really at all)

Nitrates: 10

I haven't tested the alkalinity yet...

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I recently added about 5 pounds of cured live rock (well is was supposed to be cured) and it ended up crashing my tank, so monitor it very closely. Also you might want to remove those flat pieces you have on top, since it doesn't look very good and you can't do much with them.

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opaquelace
I recently added about 5 pounds of cured live rock (well is was supposed to be cured) and it ended up crashing my tank, so monitor it very closely. Also you might want to remove those flat pieces you have on top, since it doesn't look very good and you can't do much with them.

 

Well my rock was kind of teetering...so I re-did the scape. Now it is extremely secure. It barely budges. When it settles again I'll post new pictures. I have no livestock in my tank, it is simply sand, LR, and water. I'm going to test it about every 4-5 days to see if the new rock starts a new cycle or a mini cycle. I'm thinking it probably will, seeing as I added 9 pounds new pounds of of LR...it's not cycled but it is cured. A tank can't crash if you have no livestock can it?

 

Also, what do you mean I can't do much with the flat piece? Does that mean coral won't take to it? Or do you mean you can't do much with it looks wise?

 

Well I redid the scape...it was teetering too much for my tastes...and I wasn't really pleased with the way it looked. Here is the new one...from the front only...I'll post side pictures if requested.

 

P7060046.jpg?t=1183742179

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Well to me it just looks like it's taking up space, the top piece looks like sandstone. I would either put it at the bottom or remove it. Plus It doesn't look like you can put anything on the top 2 pieces. The top it a great spot for corals and I don't see how any can fit on top.

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I agree with shift9k if you break up the rock into smaller pieces you have more possible combinations of stacking the rock and making more natural structures, but I like your second reaquascape a lot better :D

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I agree with the other that top flat piece seems to be just taking up space, If you are worried about not having enough rock in your tank just crush some of it up and put it in your filter chamber or in back of some of your rock where there is still flow but it is not visible to the eye that way you can still keep the same amount of lbs of rock but don't have to stack it way high. I had the same problem in my tank! Over all looks great!

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opaquelace

I took the top piece off now...I just redid it...again...

I liked the way the bottom looked in the most recent picture I posted, but I don't want to have the bottom thriving with coral and the top just LR. That would look odd, and bad IMO. The top now doesn't go above the surface skimmer.

 

Here are some photos of what it looks like now...my third rescaping today...and my last for a while. It's sturdy, it's not too high, and it's got a good look to it I think. The water isn't totally clear yet but you can see what it looks like.

 

P7060047.jpg?t=1183753328

 

P7060049.jpg?t=1183753359

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opaquelace
What are your stocking plans for this tank?

Is this a NC 6 or 12?

 

It's a NC 12.

 

Stocking plans

Well for my CUC I want some

-blue legged hermits

-small turbo snails which I will exchange every once in a while when they get too big...or I might get some smaller snails...I've still got quite a bit of research to do and quite a bit of time to do it with (or so I think)

-pair or trio of some kind of shrimp...I've heard that sexies will (unfortunately) find a spot in a tank of my size and may never be seen again which is disappointing because they are extremely entertaining to watch :lol:

-if I don't get shrimp, I was thinking of emerald crabs or porcelain crabs

 

Fish:

-definitely a pair of clowns

-I would love to have a firefish gobi, but I've heard that the clowns may become territorial and kill it...also that three fish in a tank of my size would be too much :huh:

 

Corals:

-green frogspawn (later on though, once I'm confident in my reef-keeping abilities)

-zoanthids, there are so many colors and things that I have no idea which one I want

-green star polyps

-green open brain coral...I'll have to trade it in every once in a while once it gets too big...but I think they are beautiful :wub:

 

I think that's it for now...I'll probably find other corals that I want as time goes on...but that's what I know for right now. If you have any suggestions...let me know because this is my first tank of any kind :eek: .

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It's a NC 12.

 

Stocking plans

Well for my CUC I want some

-blue legged hermits

-small turbo snails which I will exchange every once in a while when they get too big...or I might get some smaller snails...I've still got quite a bit of research to do and quite a bit of time to do it with (or so I think)

-pair or trio of some kind of shrimp...I've heard that sexies will (unfortunately) find a spot in a tank of my size and may never be seen again which is disappointing because they are extremely entertaining to watch :lol:

-if I don't get shrimp, I was thinking of emerald crabs or porcelain crabs

 

Fish:

-definitely a pair of clowns

-I would love to have a firefish gobi, but I've heard that the clowns may become territorial and kill it...also that three fish in a tank of my size would be too much :huh:

 

Corals:

-green frogspawn (later on though, once I'm confident in my reef-keeping abilities)

-zoanthids, there are so many colors and things that I have no idea which one I want

-green star polyps

-green open brain coral...I'll have to trade it in every once in a while once it gets too big...but I think they are beautiful :wub:

 

I think that's it for now...I'll probably find other corals that I want as time goes on...but that's what I know for right now. If you have any suggestions...let me know because this is my first tank of any kind :eek: .

 

Really your first tank!!! I'm not new to fish keeping, but i am new at SW reef!

I love the firefish, there fins or cool! I think almost everybody gets clowns i am planning on getting a small pair!

I like you choice of coral, the green open brain will get a little to big just make sure that you are able to trade it in when it becomes to large for your tank you don't want it to die. turbo snails are alittle bigger then some snails but man do they do a good job at cleaning algae of my rock! Read some more and figure out if they get to big for your tank and then make the decsion from there. My self i want to get a queen conch (the ones that get really big and you can make horns out of there shells) they grow really slow in aquariums so i might get one.

 

Oh yeah if you are thinking about putting in hermit crabs be sure to supply plenty of shells for them to change into or they will either kill each other for shells or the will turn on your snails!

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opaquelace
Really your first tank!!! I'm not new to fish keeping, but i am new at SW reef!

I love the firefish, there fins or cool! I think almost everybody gets clowns i am planning on getting a small pair!

I like you choice of coral, the green open brain will get a little to big just make sure that you are able to trade it in when it becomes to large for your tank you don't want it to die. turbo snails are alittle bigger then some snails but man do they do a good job at cleaning algae of my rock! Read some more and figure out if they get to big for your tank and then make the decsion from there. My self i want to get a queen conch (the ones that get really big and you can make horns out of there shells) they grow really slow in aquariums so i might get one.

 

Oh yeah if you are thinking about putting in hermit crabs be sure to supply plenty of shells for them to change into or they will either kill each other for shells or the will turn on your snails!

 

Yeah, this is my first tank ever (I'm terribly excited, I could spend hours upon hours in the Aquarium of the Americas). Until I found this site my nerves were getting a bit frazzled though :wacko: because I couldn't find any really good books and everything seemed to be going wrong (little did I know everything was going right, and the little bubbles forming in my sand were nitrogen bubbles and a sign of progression haha). Some of the stuff in the book I bought was going right over my head too :huh: . I'm fairly sure I could bring back the open brain once it got too big. My boyfriend is a tank maintenance guy at my LFS and the owner is extremely nice. As long as I brought it back in good health, I don't think he'd mind (especially since the bigger they are the more money they bring in).

 

As for the hermits...I will definitely keep them with a good supply of extra shells, thanks for the advice. I don't want them killing each other or my snails.

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Thats cool you have a friend in the buisness, i have one too, it makes thins so much easier! Yeah i know what you mean about being frazzled i am still so scared to even put my hands in the water because i am afraid there is something on my hands that could throw my whole system out of whack!

This hobby is very addicting, i find my self gazing at my tank for hours at night, even though i have to go to work the next morning, looking for new little critters to come crawling out of the cracks and hole in the rock! I wish you luck with your new aquarium!

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just forget the blue hermies and get red scarlet hermies. much more reef-safe and they don't compete for shells..in fact, sometimes they even sleep next to each other during the day. I even have my original 4...thriving and molting!

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just forget the blue hermies and get red scarlet hermies. much more reef-safe and they don't compete for shells..in fact, sometimes they even sleep next to each other during the day. I even have my original 4...thriving and molting!

 

Oh yeah, i didn't know that scarlets were less agressive, i think i might have to get some of those to help my snails out with cleaning my diatom outbreak so i can start my coral!!!!

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opaquelace

So I redid the scape...yet again just a little while ago. I added another piece of rock...and changed it to where the coralline is showing more. I turned the lights off for the picture...it's easier to see everything. Let me know what you think!

 

P7070054.jpg?t=1183838607

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So I redid the scape...yet again just a little while ago. I added another piece of rock...and changed it to where the coralline is showing more. I turned the lights off for the picture...it's easier to see everything. Let me know what you think!

 

P7070054.jpg?t=1183838607

 

Just remember that just becuase there is corallie alage on the rock now it may die off duing the cycling and then grow back, But the aqauscape does look very nice, my coral line is spreading right now, i am hoping it will take care of my diatom problem!

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opaquelace
Just remember that just becuase there is corallie alage on the rock now it may die off duing the cycling and then grow back, But the aqauscape does look very nice, my coral line is spreading right now, i am hoping it will take care of my diatom problem!

 

I figured that some of it would die during the cycling, but I also figured that it was best to have the most amount of coralline showing possible. IDK, I'm new to this haha... I actually have some coralline growing on my tonga branch, which didn't have any on it at all when I first got it :D . About half the rock was almost finished cycling, only the two large pieces (very large pieces) on the bottom are new from my LFS. There is some dark dark blue coralline on one the largest piece too, and I'm hoping some of that spreads and not just have it all purple and pink.

 

Also, I redid it again haha. It looked a bit too square. I like it the way it is now especially, because I have a little cave that my fish will be able to swim through towards the back and stuff... Here are some pictures.

 

P7070059.jpg?t=1183843468

 

P7070057.jpg?t=1183843526

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