Building My Reef...Any Tips?

[Ricardo]

HI All,

Im about to start (this weekend) the building of my reef i.e. putting the LR in!

Before i do i was wondering if you guys would mind giving me any pointers on this.

Im planing on addign the LR first and then the sand after. to hopefully give the base of the reef more stability when sand beds in.

Any tips would id appreciate e.g. should i keep the LR off the glass?

Also, any ideas of how it should look would be useful...im thinking of a bay effect...having LR along left up to front of tank and looping around to the right hand side to front of tank and then eventually getting some tongan branaching LR to have a 'wembley stadium' style span across from the left side of rock to the right side...what you think?

Thanks in advance.

[course-its-reefsafe]

Keep your structure open, allow enough room between rock and glass to get a magnet cleaner through (where you want the glass kept clean obviously :D ) and again, keep the structure open :D

IMHO, avoid too much live rock. About a quarter volume of the tank maximum seems to work better than larger amount, IMHO anyway :)

As for aquascaping I'm the Worlds worst so cant offer any tips :o
The only time my 'scaping has ever looked good is when I've just slung some rock in there temporarily before aquasacping (spoiling) the look :D

Good luck and make sure the piccys keep flowing ;)


Cheers

Chris :)

[course-its-reefsafe]

Oh, forgot to add.

They all look terrible to start with, its only after a few months when your tank starts to mature that it will look settled and naural, so don't worry too much.

Also, try to plan where various corals are going to go, and make sure ther'e room for any LPS to spread out :)


(just another of my tuppence worth anyway)

Cheers

Chris :)

[Ricardo]

So having the LR leaning against the back wall isnt a problem?...

...as i wont want to clean the back wall...as i wont be able to see it becasue of the LR.

[Archer]

So having the LR leaning against the back wall isnt a problem?...

...as i wont want to clean the back wall...as i wont be able to see it becasue of the LR.

I have LR against the back...not a problem:D

[TerraC]

As said try to get a few gaps between the rocks to let good flow through. you can either place the rocks in a pile or piles or lean them against the back glass it's upto you. a powerhead aimed at the front glass will cause the water flow to bounce back into the reef face giving good dispersion into the rocks (Chris - Reefranch is the expert guy to ask about this).

secure the rocks in place with reef putty if you can or just make sure you place them securely so that none can fall over. if you're using reef putty make sure you only use small amounts as it can have an effect on PH & O although I dont suppose it's too critical with no stock in there yet.

Be prepared to have your hand in the tank for at least 6 hours aquascaping and even then you'll probably go back to it and move it all around again cos you dont like it ;) :D

It helps to try plan out a sketch of how you'd like the rocks to look on paper before you start dumping the rocks in. on my tank it's hard to tell from the pics put i've done a central rock pile that sorta goes in a U shape at the front and creates like a cove effect. do a few sketches first and see if there's any you like.

[Bigfoot]

I did my aquascaping about 5 weeke ago, I used a reef rack, in the center back of the tank, this gives the effect of having a lot more rock and good water flow through the main rock structure. It also made the structure very stable. My daughter did most of the design, as she is quite artistic, I am very pleased with the final result.

[Ricardo]

reef rack?...is this egg crate?

i think in a tank my size i dont require egg crate...i dont need too much LR anyway.

Does anyone like my tongan branching LR idea?!!!:D

[TerraC]

Here's a pic of a reef rack.

Arch sound like a good idea. i've seen tanks with 2 rock piles and an arch in the middle looking really good. can place lower light loving corals such as sun corals etc under the arch out of the intense lights.

[Ricardo]

thats convinced me...i dont need a reef rack...my tank size doesnt justify one!
Thanks for the pic.