well here she finally is....in progress!

[LFS42]

The reason we suggest you bury the base rocks is because many fish will dig. If they dig under your rock (that isn't sitting on the glass) the pile will shift and squish the fish digging and possibly other fish/corals in the area.

I personly have put the rocks in first, then added the sand around the rocks. It alot easier than trying to push the rocks all the way down after the sand is in there.

I also found that you use less sand that way.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents and that what I recomend to people setting up their tanks.

 

[reefNewbie]

Ok, so would this idea work?

I was thinking of getting a couple of 6in diameter 4-5in long pieces of PVC. Then drilling a bunch of 1/2in holes in them for arreation. Then i would stick these things in, vertically under all of my main baserocks. This way it wouldnt use up a lot of room and make my sand bed even deeper in my tank than it currently is. Also, Since i already have all my sand in, I would not have to be digging all of it up to lay pvc down or whatever else i would use as shelfing. Does this sound like a good idea?

 

[dick182]

The reason we suggest you bury the base rocks is because many fish will dig. If they dig under your rock (that isn't sitting on the glass) the pile will shift and squish the fish digging and possibly other fish/corals in the area.

Yeah, I'll give you a good example of this. I just re-setup my tank, I took some old rock that was in a refugium, put it in the tank, then added the sand. I piled the rest of the rock on top of it.
I recently ewas lucky enough to come by a pistol shrimp and goby pair at the lfs.
The pistol literally does nothing but shovel sand out from under the rocks all day, by the arm load, it's actually hilarious and interesting to watch.
If my 250 lbs of rock were just sitting on the sand, it would have been a landslide by now.

 

[reefNewbie]

Man i really dont want to bury beautiful rock. It seems like so much of it will goto wast if i were to burry it. I think im going to try to make some kind of shelves. Whether they be with pvc or what not. thanks guys

 

[ChrisRD]

Why is now that i have to burry it all the way to the glass?

IME you don't have to. I don't.

 

[dick182]

Man i really dont want to bury beautiful rock. It seems like so much of it will goto wast if i were to burry it. I think im going to try to make some kind of shelves. Whether they be with pvc or what not. thanks guys

see if your lfs sells dead, dry rock. Or limestone, use that as a base

 

[beerbaron]

Ok, so would this idea work?

yes i think this will work well. just make sure your rocks are very stable on the pvc. in fact, you may have to experement with different sizes, i think bigger will be more stable.
BB

 

[reefNewbie]

well guys, I went out and bought 5 feet of 4in diameter PVC and am going to cut it at lengths of 3-5in depending on the depth of my DSB at the particular part where i have the rocks. I like the idea of buying dead rock, Before i cut all this up, I might look into that.

Wolfman, what do you do then?

 

[Expos Forever]

RN:

just an FYI. You can upgrade your hood to 250w or 400w with a ballast and bulb upgrade. I phoned hamilton today... I am going to upgrade mine to an electronic ballast either 175w/250w havent decided on the wattage.....


hth

-ben

Ben

I too have a Hamilton 2x175MH and 2xNO and had no idea the ballast might be upgradeable. Please give more details...cost,work involved,etc... Is it simply buying a completely new ballast and wiring it into the existing hood?

Thanks

 

[ChrisRD]

Wolfman, what do you do then?

I just put the rock on top of the sand (I push some pieces in enough to get them stable). I wouldn't put digging fish in a tank with a DSB anyway, so undermining has never been an issue for me.

 

[reefNewbie]

cool. What would be considered digging fish...would a fighting conch be considered dangerous? what about madarin goby?

 

[ChrisRD]

cool. What would be considered digging fish...would a fighting conch be considered dangerous? what about madarin goby?

Well, I guess lots of fish can dig. I should have been more specific. I try to avoid fish that dig as a primary part of their regular behavior (mainly to avoid the mess and disturbing the DSB - not really because I'm concerned about undermining).

The conch shouldn't be a problem. Never kept a mandarin so I couldn't say (read-up on their feeding requirements).

At any rate, I've never had any settling/toppling issues with the rock just sitting on the sand. JMO.