Changing rock around...

Cloudburst2000 · 07/03/2012, 11:41 AM

I am not exactly new. I have been in the hobby for close to three years now, but I am new to rearranging my rock work after set up so I wanted some pointers/guidance. Anyhoo, I set up a 16g Nuvo aquarium about three months ago with TBS live rock/sand. It's been running that way ever since. I have the critters that came with the TBS rock minus some gorilla crabs I removed (still think I have one left to snag) and the cucs that came with it (gave them to my bro-in-law). From TBS water, I have a brittle star, peppermint shrimp, some large sponges, gorgs, a handful of snails and hermits, and a few small corals that came on the rocks. The only thing I have added has been a skunk cleaner shrimp, some snails, and couple blue-leg hermits. Everything has been running fine, but I have decided that I want to redo the rock scape. How do I do this without harming the current inhabitants? Should I try to remove the inhabitants temporarily and place in a small bucket with some of the tank water and proper flow? Then after moving rock around should I run some carbon in case I stirred up anything yucky from underneath the rocks? Should I also do a water change after I finish re-scaping? Thanks!

thegrun · 07/03/2012, 12:06 PM

Moving the rocks around should not cause much of a problem except for the corals that are covered by the new arrangement. You will stir up your sandbed which will release detritus but if you make a 15-20% water change and run carbon afterwards you shouldn't have any issues.

Toxic45 · 07/03/2012, 12:11 PM

The little guys should be okay. I'm pretty sure that snails and little critters are okay out of the water for a bit, so even if some are stuck inside the rocks they should live. I'm just thinking about it in terms of the ocean. For instance if the tide goes out, you have to imagine that there are tons of crabs and snails that are stuck out of the water for a bit, right? I think one of the biggest things you'll encounter is that when you move stuff around it's going to dislodge and kick up tons of crap (literally) and it'll be hanging around in your water until it settles after a couple hours. I had to pull out a lot of my rock recently to catch one of my fish and all my inverts and other fish were happy after things calmed down after a few hours. I did do a large water change though afterwards, just because the tank was due anyways.

Toxic45 · 07/03/2012, 12:20 PM

I also hope you aren't as obsessive as I am about your aquascaping. After getting my fish out and having to put the rock back I got so frustrated because I couldn't get it juuuuuust right lol.

Cloudburst2000 · 07/03/2012, 03:44 PM

No, I'm not that obsessive about it, but I haven't liked the rock work really since I set it up. I just haven't had time to fool with the tank though. I'm off work this week so I have time to work on the tank. Figured this would be the perfect time to work out any kinks with the tank before adding fish. I have a couple fish that just went into quarantine (tailspot blenny and hector's goby) so I want the tank fixed before they are ready to move in which will be about six weeks or so.

So I'll move the shrimp and what I can find of the CUC over to a bucket filled with tank water. I have an extra powerhead to keep the water flowing. I'll prepare some water to a do a water change also as the tank is ready for a water change anyhow. While I have the tank apart is there something I can do to catch the last gorilla crab? He's the only one that hasn't fallen for the leaning glass trick.

07/03/2012, 11:41 AM	#1
Cloudburst2000 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Lexington, KY Posts: 1,485	Changing rock around... I am not exactly new. I have been in the hobby for close to three years now, but I am new to rearranging my rock work after set up so I wanted some pointers/guidance. Anyhoo, I set up a 16g Nuvo aquarium about three months ago with TBS live rock/sand. It's been running that way ever since. I have the critters that came with the TBS rock minus some gorilla crabs I removed (still think I have one left to snag) and the cucs that came with it (gave them to my bro-in-law). From TBS water, I have a brittle star, peppermint shrimp, some large sponges, gorgs, a handful of snails and hermits, and a few small corals that came on the rocks. The only thing I have added has been a skunk cleaner shrimp, some snails, and couple blue-leg hermits. Everything has been running fine, but I have decided that I want to redo the rock scape. How do I do this without harming the current inhabitants? Should I try to remove the inhabitants temporarily and place in a small bucket with some of the tank water and proper flow? Then after moving rock around should I run some carbon in case I stirred up anything yucky from underneath the rocks? Should I also do a water change after I finish re-scaping? Thanks!

07/03/2012, 12:06 PM	#2
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	Moving the rocks around should not cause much of a problem except for the corals that are covered by the new arrangement. You will stir up your sandbed which will release detritus but if you make a 15-20% water change and run carbon afterwards you shouldn't have any issues.

07/03/2012, 12:11 PM	#3
Toxic45 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 73	The little guys should be okay. I'm pretty sure that snails and little critters are okay out of the water for a bit, so even if some are stuck inside the rocks they should live. I'm just thinking about it in terms of the ocean. For instance if the tide goes out, you have to imagine that there are tons of crabs and snails that are stuck out of the water for a bit, right? I think one of the biggest things you'll encounter is that when you move stuff around it's going to dislodge and kick up tons of crap (literally) and it'll be hanging around in your water until it settles after a couple hours. I had to pull out a lot of my rock recently to catch one of my fish and all my inverts and other fish were happy after things calmed down after a few hours. I did do a large water change though afterwards, just because the tank was due anyways.

07/03/2012, 12:20 PM	#4
Toxic45 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 73	I also hope you aren't as obsessive as I am about your aquascaping. After getting my fish out and having to put the rock back I got so frustrated because I couldn't get it juuuuuust right lol.

07/03/2012, 03:44 PM	#5
Cloudburst2000 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Lexington, KY Posts: 1,485	No, I'm not that obsessive about it, but I haven't liked the rock work really since I set it up. I just haven't had time to fool with the tank though. I'm off work this week so I have time to work on the tank. Figured this would be the perfect time to work out any kinks with the tank before adding fish. I have a couple fish that just went into quarantine (tailspot blenny and hector's goby) so I want the tank fixed before they are ready to move in which will be about six weeks or so. So I'll move the shrimp and what I can find of the CUC over to a bucket filled with tank water. I have an extra powerhead to keep the water flowing. I'll prepare some water to a do a water change also as the tank is ready for a water change anyhow. While I have the tank apart is there something I can do to catch the last gorilla crab? He's the only one that hasn't fallen for the leaning glass trick.