Too much live rock? bad design? .... what do I need, or what can I do?

[darklight2ooo]

So here is my issue, and maybe a general discussion as well.

I have a 55 gallon tank with a 30 gallon sump. I got my water tested last week and everything is perfect conditions aside from I need more iodine. *fixing that* The tank is pretty old but i could have taken better care of it. It has 4 fish, a pistol shrimp and a lot of clean up crew. Just to give you all a little idea of what is in my tank..

I am not satisfied with how my tank looks overall, aside from the algae problem i also just don't get the feel that its a reef...

So my question is would my tank look better if I took out some of the live rock, added a little more space for everything? They are pretty much piled up in the tanks middle leaving lots of dead spots too from what I can tell. I also just bought 60 pounds of fine white sand to add to the tank. I currently have crushed coral *about 15 pounds* plus I accidentally added blue pebbles. I am debating if i want to remove the blue pebbles or just add the new sand.

What do you guys think? any tips, suggestions, preferences. Anything would be appreciated.

 

[Squirmteben]

My suggestion--for whatever that's worth--would be to build upwards more. Coral reefs in the wild often grow vertically, not horizontally, which is why you will see a lot of "island" themes in reef tanks. If you built one side up, you could remove more rocks from the outer sides, possibly giving a more visually stunning look while adding more horizontal swimming space. You also would be able to keep your rocks.

 

[darklight2ooo]

My suggestion--for whatever that's worth--would be to build upwards more. Coral reefs in the wild often grow vertically, not horizontally, which is why you will see a lot of "island" themes in reef tanks. If you built one side up, you could remove more rocks from the outer sides, possibly giving a more visually stunning look while adding more horizontal swimming space. You also would be able to keep your rocks.

Ive considered that. I think it might look rather good. Would that create a lot of dead zones with flow though?

 

[rainydave]

I wouldn't take out any rock, but instead just re-scape with what you have.
If you have the room you could build two islands.
Or check out TJL's build thread. His aquascaping is awesome.

 

[Squirmteben]

+1 on two islands

I'm no expert on flow, but I think dead zones are especially a problem where the sand is, not so much rocks on top of each other. Also, if dead zones are a major problem, get more power by adding or upgrading powerheads.

 

[IPisces]

What I have done on my tanks is, place a powerhead at one end low in the tank behind the rock to keep stuff from settling in the back. Then I have two more at the top pointing in towards the middle front of the tank.Then build the rock up against the back wall. I really think you need more rock. IMO you need about three more good size rocks. It will help with controlling the algae too.
Using a few smaller rocks on the bottom to keep the bigger rocks up off the sand so water can flow under them. Then build up from there.
Try not to stir up the sand too much when your doing it. But dont be afraid to rearrange it, step back see what you like about it and what you dont and rearrange it again. Take the opportunity to shake off the detritus from the rocks, pull some of the algae and do a small water change. I think aquascaping is one of my favorite parts of the hobby.

 

[blk822822]

Yea I would have more rock. Are you runnng a skimmer? looks like you have alot of algae growing on your back wall.

Does your sump have a refugium or just a sump.

 

[darklight2ooo]

I decided to go with 2 islands.. already looks much better! I just have sump, its 3 chambers, with a skimmer in the first chamber. then a 6 inch sand bed then a return pump.

When i moved everything it got really really cloudy. there was a ton of sediment in the sand. is that normal?

 

[IPisces]

Yes that is normal, however you should siphon the top layer of sand when you do water changes. That will cut down on some of that sediment and help cut down on the algae too.

Look forward to pics of what you have come up with now.

 

[darklight2ooo]

Ill take some photos tomorrow. Thanks for all the advice! Also just a quick question. It seems as though my fish are thoroughly freaked out. They hate that new open space and spend all their time trying to hide in the rock crevices.. Will that change with a little bit of time? Yesterday it seemed as though my tang was actually bumping into things too :|

 

[IPisces]

LOL...You just turned their whole world upside down. Yeah, they will be freaked out for a while. It will cause some stress, so try to let them be for a while. But yes they will get used to it shortly. Not to worry.

 

[darklight2ooo]

New problem

AcK!!! so I added new sand to my tank. I should have looked up how to do it because i did it wrong. I just dumped it in and it made a mess! not only that but a day later i found out it had buried a lot of my creatures! I dug my sea urchin out.. (it looks dead) and I cant see any of my turbo snails, even though i dug around for them. All my fish are still alive although freaked out. and it is take a while for the sand to settle. :| like days...

any advice other then I messed up!? Should I turn off my wave makers?

 

[IPisces]

Well, lesson learned. What kind of sand is it. Very fine sugar like or larger 1-2mm size?

 

[macdawg]

my sand is very fine, when i aquascape it clouds up pretty bad, last time i had to remove my rock for a little bit until the silt settled back down, i think i am going to get larger argonite, for my top layer, fine sand is to unstable, but it does settle, then just clean it of with a turkey baster, but go slowly cause it will just cloud up again, good luck my friend