55g SW tank Journal

[MeggyPuff25]

How would I do that, are the rocks I have good sized??

[Brent]

You could definately make it work with your rock.

Just pile rocks into three (you want an odd number, usually) different piles and play with it, leaving the front of the center open, and nothing directly in the center at all.

[Brandon8521]

you could also make a larger one on one side a small more cylinder type stack on the right side. Just a thought play with it and look up other tanks to give you insperation. Keep posting pics too.

[MeggyPuff25]

Ok thanks for the ideas, here's what Im gonna do, I'm gonna take out the rock and place it on some towels in front of the tank and see what I can build then place it back into the tank. I'll post pics once and if I figure out a design I like. Now off to grab some towels and get a bit wet lol.

[MeggyPuff25]

Ok so re-did my rock scape and the space by the far right pillar will be filled with the LR from my 10g nano. Comments pls

[Brent]

Looks good. (:

[MeggyPuff25]

I wish that really big piece on the far left was easy to break, but we tried and we couldn't break it.

[Brent]

I think it looks good the way it is.

The three pieces of rubble in front aren't really doing wonders for me though...

[Brandon8521]

I think it looks good the way it is.

The three pieces of rubble in front aren't really doing wonders for me though...

+1

Also remember your going to get more rock rubble when you add corals (if you do.)

[Mek0ng]

Ok so re-did my rock scape and the space by the far right pillar will be filled with the LR from my 10g nano. Comments pls

Looks nice, but IMO the cave in the middle looks too man made, unatural, the rest of it is perfect!

Why does it look so yellow though? Is it just the camera or lights? If not run a ton of carbon.

[MeggyPuff25]

I think its yellow from the kind of lights I have and I also stirred up the sand a bit. Once I get the proper marine lights it should look better. For the time being I'm just gonna leave it the way it is until its done the cycle and I put the rest of the LR from my 10g in it. Do you think it will be fully cycled by the 20th?? I will be doing daily water tests to see where the cycle stands.

[Brandon8521]

I started with playsand like you have and let me tell yah the actuall aragonite sand makes it look much more realistic. I was never able to get all of the yellow tint out of the water but never really noticed untill i did water changes and the water i would pour out looked yellow. Most of the time you can get really good deals at your local reefers forums for used live sand thats full of all the goodies you will want. My rocks have started to turn brown with bacteria growth and they now stand out well against the aragonite sand.

Take a day or two and just rearange the rocks as you see fit when you notice something you dont like. Thats what i did with mine and im at a point where i really like my rock work.

[MeggyPuff25]

Some more water test results

Aug 13

Ammonia 0.50
Nitrates 20
Nitrites 1.0


Aug 14

Ammonia 0.50
Nitrates 20
Nitrites 1-2

Im really hoping the tank is fully cycles by the 20th.

[jdak]

The wood panel behind the tank doesn't help the yellow any but i think it's just the lights. Their are two different color lights i believe. My experience with nitrites is they last longer than ammonia. Two to three weeks...

[Pufferpunk]

What if you took that piece you wanted to break & stand it up on it's side as a tall rock? Or the long way front to back?