28g to 55g upgrade

[rebelyeller89]

Hello all, I'm nearing the point of being able to fill my new tank and get this show on the road. I have an existing 28g nanocube, all the rocks from it will be moved to the 55g. I also have 30 pounds or so of rock that came with the 55g, which were in rough shape because it seemed like he just let the water evaporate out of the tank, so they were covered in salt. These rocks have been soaked in rodi water for about a month, then I began cycling them with a rock from my tank for another month and some change. On top of that I have 30 pounds of dry rock I received from reefcleaners yesterday. At this point I'm wondering if anyone can give me some tips for aquascaping with some dry and live rock, I have a few coral so I can't keep the rock out of water. The idea of trying to it all in a full tank gives me a headache, but I don't see a way around it. Also, will adding the sand after I aquascape harm the corals?

[Sniperhank]

Adding the sand afterwards shouldn't do much harm as long as the sand wouldn't be settling on the corals themselves and laying there for a long period of time. To avoid this I'd suggest adding the sand to the system by pouring it into a piece of PVC pipe so it can go directly to the bottom without causing a sandstorm in the system.
As for the scaping the system, get the dry rock in there and make it look nice to your eye then move over the stuff with coral on it.

[rebelyeller89]

Thanks, I guess that's what I'll do. The other rocks that have been cycling separately, how long could they be out of the water without harming the bacteria? Also, am i correct to assume the new tank shouldn't experience a cycle?

[Sniperhank]

Well, you can ship rock wrapped in wet newspaper and it is fine. As long as it is kept wet it should be fine. If this was me, I would have got everything set up into the new tank and then moved the old over. The beneficial bacteria would come over in all of the old rocks and would have been just fine.

[54seaweed]

scaping comes from you imagination it will come to you as you do it , One thing you need to remember is to make caves hiding spots , be sure to leave places for water to flow through out the rocks so you have no dead spots, use your creativity to build your master piece , I'm sure you don't want a large pile of rock as that's just so boring

you want something that you will enjoy looking at also be sure to leave nice surface area's for coral



this came out of imagination it took me about 10 attempts before I was happy with the out come , I left it just kept looking at it as I saw something that I didn't like I moved it around , 3 years later I saw something I didn't like so I added a big centerpiece rock on the bridge , this pict was taken before I changed it up some I'm not saying pull every rock and start over , it will come to you even if you have a spotter behind you telling you it looks good there or not,

the best part is theirs no wrong way it's what you like , even if you sit and draw a few sketches of the outline of the rock you want to achieve ,

remember if you get frustrated walk away a few minutes stand back stair at it get a idea of what don't look right than fix that section , remember Rome wasn't built in a day

[54seaweed]

even with wet news paper try not to leave rock exposed to air more than 4 hrs
anything past this window you may encounter a minor die off causing a mini cycle that may last 4 to 8 hrs .

[rebelyeller89]

Thanks guys. I'm wanting to do a nice archway in this tank, since I have a bigger footprint to work with. I plan on using fiberglass rods, and figured it would take some time to get everything assembled even if I have a game plan before I start. I was shooting for the live rocks being out of the tank for no more than an hour while I try to get them situated. If I plan on putting the sand in after I fill the tank, then the tank could be partially filled while I work, and I could dip live rock in the water as needed...

[Sniperhank]

If you aim to tie rocks together with fiberglass rods, you should aim to do all of this with what dry rock you have currently simply to make your life easier.