Aquascaping

[bjoiner]

So in theory, my new 50 gallon should be here this afternoon! It's been almost 3 (very long) weeks while they were building the stand. (Now I can hurry up and wait for it to cycle!!)

I realize that this is more of an art than science, but does anyone have any tips for positioning LR. I have LR in my fish only tank but I would like break into reef-keeping. Are the philosophies pretty much the same - leave as many nooks and crannies (cooks and grannies) as possible?

I noticed at the LFS that they had most of their rock flush against the back of the tank with a lot of open space in front. I think I remember hearing that their should be space behind the rock as well.

Appreciate any advice / opinions on what works well, Thanks!

Ben

 

[ChrisRD]

IME it's best to leave space all around the rockwork and build an open structure. Packing it too tightly together and/or stacking it against the back wall will inhibit circulation and increase the chances of having detritus build-up in the rockwork (which will ultimately lead to water quality issues and nuisance algae problems).

HTH

 

[SnowManSnow]

basically, you don't want to cut your flow off. You're gonna want to go for lots of caves, and creavaces, while at the same time keeping things solid enough not to cave in. As far as space behind... ive never had space behind my rock, especially not in a tank that is as shallow front to back as a standard 55g.

B

 

[bleedingthought]

You could stack against the wall as long as you still leave room for good circulation. JMO.

 

[Anonymous]

Leave space for circulation or force water through there with a hidden powerhead.

1) It's where the fish will sleep at night
2) It'll prevent dead spots where detritus collection will take place.
3) It will encourage cryptic zones to bloom where sponges and other low light creatures will help you maintain your water quality.

And that is my 2cp worth

 

[SnowManSnow]

i've never worried about flow around the back of my stuff Never had a problem with it. I guess if i Had a tank with back and FRONT views that was large enough you could aquascape the middle..

b

 

[bjoiner]

Pretty disapointed. The stand was supposed to come a week ago - which was delayed for some reason. I called the store this Tuesday and they said it would be in on Wed (yesterday). So I spent an hour driving to the store only to find out that the truck that my stand was on broke down not far from the store and that the store just hadn't gotten around to calling me about it.

Man, I need a fish tank to relieve me of this stress! :-D


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Patience is a virtue. Unless it's in rush-hour traffic, then it's just torture!

 

[Anonymous]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Hang in there!

 

[bjoiner]

So, I went back yesterday - they had told me at the store that the tank would be in first thing in the morning, since they missed the delivery the day before. I come in to the store around 6:00pm and the shipment hasn't arrived yet! I decided to wait because "it will definitely be here by end of the day" and the store doesn't close till 7.

7:25 rolls around and I'm waiting to be kicked out ( I drove an hour and a half to pick it up, I'll make them kick me out) when the truck finally arrives.

As they unload the canopy, what comes off the truck has two HUGE gapping holes for fans (I wasn't planning on installing fans) and to make matters worse, no stand!!! Arrg.

 

[Anonymous]

Where are the holes? If they are on the top are the back don't worrk about them. If they are on the side I'm sure you can come up with a simple, but creative cover. It may be a blessing in the long run. Fans do quite a bit to help keep a tank cool.

 

[bleedingthought]

So, how long until the stand is in? Sorry about that. And about the holes, if you don't want to spend the money on fans right now, you can just get the fan grills that can cover them up. If they're in the back, you can even go with something like window screening, which might be cheaper. But what kind of lighting are you going for? Like wazzel said, this is good for you. (I can't imagine why it would be a bad thing)

And oh, is this tank drilled?

 

[bjoiner]

The holes are on the sides of the canopy. Ya, I wouldn't mind having fans, but it's just one more expense that I wasn't planning for. I'm just using florescents.

No word on the stand, if they never recieved the order, it might be another 3 weeks. (Meanwhile I have an acrylic tank I hope doesn't get scratched.)

The tank is drilled and pluming all done except to connect the sump with the stand.

 

[bjoiner]

The holes are on the sides of the canopy. Ya, I wouldn't mind having fans, but it's just one more expense that I wasn't planning for. I'm just using florescents.

No word on the stand, if they never recieved the order, it might be another 3 weeks. (Meanwhile I have an acrylic tank I hope doesn't get scratched.)

The tank is drilled and pluming all done except to connect the sump with the stand.

I guess what irritates me the most is not the fact that there is was a mix-up (I mean, these things do happen) but that the people at the store don't seem to care.