45 upgrade begins tonight

[themartins]

Freshwater fish are off to a good home tonight.

Here's how we're planning on starting.
1. empty out fresh water & decorations
2. paint background with blue Fusion spray paint
2. purchase and add in 40 - 60 pounds new sand
3. add in new saltwater
4. set up and run HOB filters (Emperor 400 & 280), heater (Eheim Jager) 125W, and powerhead (Aqua Tech 170gph)
5. purchase and add in 50 pounds base rock (Reef Cleaners)
6.) add in liverock from our established 10 gal.
7.) move in the clownfish pair and snails from the 10 gal.

Questions:
1.) What is the best way to have the rock off of the bottom glass, but to keep it stable enough for goby/pistol shrimp burrowing?

2.) Do you have any aquascaping tips or suggestions for us?

 

[Sniperhank]

I have egg crate under sandbed for support. This would hamper the goby/pistol though. Just put the rock on the glass and add the sand IMO. You could glue pvc or acrylic rods to the rock for support if you want extra security.

 

[themartins]

We definately will want to eventually add in goby/pistol sshrimp pair so we'll do as you suggested. Will we have to worry about pressure points from the rocks resting directly on the glass?

 

[Sniperhank]

I would just be smart about it. Most rocks aren't too jagged, so you wouldn't have to worry too much about it. I'll use the fiji rock you can find at petco as an example. All pretty flat on atleast one side. I would set up a stable foundation, add your sand, and then build up. This will make sure things are stable.

How I did it in my tanks is just like that. Set up the foundation, added sand, and then built up making a solid foundation by using the back glass and other rocks for support. I was lucky to have some large pieces to use as foundation and support for the smaller rocks. Their weight was quite helpful. If you don't understand what I'm talking about, there is a FTS of my tank in UPGRADE 55 gal build. Any questions feel free to ask.

 

[themartins]

That sounds good and makes sense. That's pretty much what we did with our 38 gal., placing the largest rocks with flat bottoms in first - but they are placed on top of the sand rather than on the tank bottom.

Here is our beginning list of fish/inverts. Please let us know of any of your favorites along with any suggestions on what to include or avoid.

fish:
Occelaris pair (from 10 gal.)
Yellow Watchman Goby
Lawnmower Blenny
Royal Gramma (love their colors)

Any other suggestions?: bangaii cardinals, chromis, dartfish, dragonet, different basslet/gramma - Any fish must get along with others and be coral and invert. safe

Inverts:
red banded pistol shrimp
2 cleaner shrimp
1 or 2 peppermint shrimp?
1 scarlet reef hermit crab
1 porcelain anemone crab (is this considered reef safe?)
3 banded trochus snails (from the 10 gal.)
1 Florida cerith snail (from the 10 gal.)
3 Nassarius snails (from the 10 gal.)
1 Nerite snail (from the 10 gal.)
6 dwarf cerith snails (from the 10 gal.)
6 dwarf planaxis snails (from the 10 gal.)
lg. featherduster (We'll wait on this until the tank has been running for a few months)

Do you have any other suggestions on what we should add or avoid for our clean up crew or other inverts?
zig zag periwinkles, flame scallop, or nudibranch?
Also wondering about a sea cucumber down the road - Are there any that are safer than others?
clam? - If we get the neccessary lighting. crocea, maxima, derasa, squamosa - any suggestions?