first time aquascaping

[apinkmanatee]

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I've got a question...it's about time for me to get my live rock and start cycling. I've been researching aquascaping for a while now but I still feel really intimidated and scared I'm going to mess up. Anyone have any tips for me...like where did you get the best live and dry rock, do I need to keep the live rock wet the entire time that I am setting it up in the tank, how do you build rock structures (glue, putty, pvc pipes), any books that were especially helpful to you? Anything you got would help. Thanks!!

 

[Gboy66]

Hi, i got my dry rock from reefcleaners.com. Great place. Then only get a little bit of live from the lfs. Keep it wet to keep it nice and live with less die off. Add the live after you already have the dry in the tank and scaped.

Take the dry rock and putty it with an aqyarium safe adhesive to make it how you want. My bro and i did this in a night, took 5 hours. D: we then added the live on top..

 

[apinkmanatee]

Hi, i got my dry rock from reefcleaners.com. Great place. Then only get a little bit of live from the lfs. Keep it wet to keep it nice and live with less die off. Add the live after you already have the dry in the tank and scaped.

Take the dry rock and putty it with an aqyarium safe adhesive to make it how you want. My bro and i did this in a night, took 5 hours. D: we then added the live on top..

Wow that looks great. Can you come do mine?

Thanks for the tips. So helpful. I read somewhere that you should only put 10 lbs of live rock in at a time. Is that just for established aquariums? Also, is it possible to buy live rock and keep it for a few days, wet in a bucket or something? Or does it need to be put in the tank asap?

 

[Gboy66]

Wow that looks great. Can you come do mine?

Thanks for the tips. So helpful. I read somewhere that you should only put 10 lbs of live rock in at a time. Is that just for established aquariums? Also, is it possible to buy live rock and keep it for a few days, wet in a bucket or something? Or does it need to be put in the tank asap?

Lol! Thanks so much!

Yes that would be for established aquariums. Too much live rock could cause a mini cycle with all the die off.

I'd say you vould do it, but you would want to keep the water in the bucket at a nice temp so that not alot of die off occurs. Keep in mind that this could kill your hitch hikers..good and bad.

 

[Sniperhank]

If you haven't cycled, just throw it all in. Any die off will help your cycle along. It is possible to keep live rock, but I'd just throw it all in. Also, you don't have to glue all your rock together. Mine is just stacked together. It's really up to you. If it is your first time and you aren't sure of yourself, I'd suggest stacking so you can redo it a couple times until you are happy with it and have good flow.

 

[apinkmanatee]

Oh another question I forgot to ask...liveaquaria lists supplements needed for the live rock...calcium, iodine, trace elements, etc. Do I need to be adding those to the tank?? How do I do that, how do I know how much to add, what do I buy??

 

[mr_X]

No. Rock is simply rock. It doesn't need any of those things.

 

[apinkmanatee]

Phew. Thanks everyone.

 

[Keimaxbode]

I'm going to say this because for me it was confusing when I started not long ago, but I may just be slow. The rock isn't actually live. What is alive are all the critters that live on and in the rock. And it's those critters that die, not the rock, when it is taken and kept out of water for any length of time. Sorry again if you already knew this. Also when people say they are selling live rock that they took out of their tanks two weeks ago, it is no longer live rock. Experts please jump in and correct if I am still confused about this. I'm not sure how long it would remain live if left in water without heat or flow though.

 

[mr_X]

Not 100% accurate. What makes live rock live is bacteria. Aerobic bacteria on the outside of the rock and anaerobic bacteria on the inside.
All the critters are just hitch hikers.

 

[Keimaxbode]

Thanks, Doug! Guess I was still confused