Several questions and such.

[roadster3043]

Greetings.

How should I layout the live rock in my tank?

What can I use as a base for starting out the layout?

Do I need to leave some space between the live rock and the back glass and how much?

What about the overflow, should I cover it with the rocks or leave it in plain sight?

What can I use for water flow and how should it be placed in the tank?

How can I achieve areas with more water flow and less water flow for the specific needs of future inverts and corals?


My tank is 46gal bow front all glass with a Marineland Tidepool1 sump and 40lbs of live sand. I know I have to remove the bio wheel when I add the live rock so it won't generate nitrates, do I need to add or remove anything else from it(bio balls, filter pads, etc.)?

When I have the tank completely cycled, what do I need to add to my tank's water for maintaining the soft corals and hard corals and invertebrates?

What kinds of food should I need to have to feed all at once(fish and inverts, etc.), either prepared or DIY?

Forgive me for all the questions, but I'm thirsty

Thank you.

 

[michealprater]

How should I layout the live rock in my tank?

That is personal opinion. Most people like to include lots of holes and caves for fish to hide and swim through.

What can I use as a base for starting out the layout?

I like to use base rock (dead rock) some people make a structure out of pvc. What ever you do , make sure you place it down through the sand onto the bottom of the tank so it will be secure.

Do I need to leave some space between the live rock and the back glass and how much?

That is a personal preference. If you want to keep your back glass clean you need to allow enough room to fit your hands. Lots of people like to let their back glass become encrusted with coraline algae, if you do then you can place the rock against the back glass if you would like.

What about the overflow, should I cover it with the rocks or leave it in plain sight?

Once again, personal preference. If you do place rock around it, make sure you do not obstruct the flow of the water.

What can I use for water flow and how should it be placed in the tank?

Most people use powerheads. I prefer maxi jet brand, but Ive also heard good things about hagen pumps too. Most of them either hang from the tank ledge or stick to the back glass using suction cups.

How can I achieve areas with more water flow and less water flow for the specific needs of future inverts and corals?

You could purchase a wavemaker. I have heard good things about Red Sea's Wavemaster Pro. Or you could just buy different size powerheads. I beleve you figure the proper flow for your tank by taking the volume (gallons) times 6. So if you had a 50 gallon tank, you would want to pump 300 gallons per hour. Powerhead are rated by gallons per hour or gph. So you would want one or a combination of pumps that totaled 300 gph.

My tank is 46gal bow front all glass with a Marineland Tidepool1 sump and 40lbs of live sand. I know I have to remove the bio wheel when I add the live rock so it won't generate nitrates, do I need to add or remove anything else from it(bio balls, filter pads, etc.)?

The tidepool minus the biowheel should be fine. Ideally you would want about 90lbs of live rock. But 45lbs would be addiquit to start with, then you can always add more rock later, as long as it is fully cured.

When I have the tank completely cycled, what do I need to add to my tank's water for maintaining the soft corals and hard corals and invertebrates?

There are various additives you can use, but most are contriversial. 10% weekly water changes work the best. Remember, with coral lighting is very important.

What kinds of food should I need to have to feed all at once(fish and inverts, etc.), either prepared or DIY?

It really depends on the exact species you plan on keeping. Most things have different diets.

Forgive me for all the questions, but I'm thirsty

Not a prob, thats what were here for, so keep em coming

Good luck!

 

[roadster3043]

Thank you for your prompt reply and all the information.

That is a personal preference. If you want to keep your back glass clean you need to allow enough room to fit your hands. Lots of people like to let their back glass become encrusted with coraline algae, if you do then you can place the rock against the back glass if you would like.

water flow wise, would it be affected if I place the rock against the back?

Most people use powerheads. I prefer maxi jet brand, but Ive also heard good things about hagen pumps too. Most of them either hang from the tank ledge or stick to the back glass using suction cups.

Should the powerheads flow be pointing at a particular direction? Like opposite corners of the tank?

If I buy for example 2 maxi jets 1200, 2 maxi jets 900 and 2 maxi jets 600 how should I place them in the tank?

I was thinking of making a cross out of PVC with holes drilled pointing to the front of the tank so that the live rock can get some flow from behind using two maxi jets 1200. Or would this be better with an external pump?

Thank you.

 

[fishfreek]

That seems like thats an awful lot of powerheads for a 46 gal tank. the 1200's are rather nice powerheadas with close to 300 gph flow each.

I would start out with maybe two 1200's and after they are running and your tank has live rock in it and the rock is how you like it then reassess your need for more.

Each tank is different and where one tank might only use 2 Ph's another might need 3 or 4 because of the way the rock work is setup.

Dont stack the live rock like your building a rock wall or like bricks. Make sure you leave room inbetween the rocks for water and inverts to go. Doing this makes natural caves and paths for fish to move in and about the rock work also.

This helps provide water current around the rocks so you dont end up with any stagnant water where flow might be restricted.

The only main guideline when doing rock aqua scaping is to make sure that the rock is secure so it does not topple over onto delecate inverts or into your tank walls.

 

[roadster3043]

Thank you guys.

Would it be a good idea for example to make an outline of the base with rocks and then start placing rocks from the outline to the back of the tank and then begin to move up with the rocks?

TIA