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RE: New Live Rocks

Nep2Ns PlumR — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:40:16 GMT

Leaving a little space would be a good idea. If you're going to let coraline algae grow on the back/side glass, green algae won't be an issue. If not, the space will come in handy. The bigger issues would be cirulation and hiding places. Good circulation keeps detritus in suspension allowing your skimmer to remove it from the water column. More hiding places means your fish are less stressed and therefore more healthy. Fish appreciate the ability to move around the tank out of site when they're spooked. Leaving the rock a little bit (an inch or so) off the wall would allow them to do so. :)

RE: New Live Rocks

clownfishkid — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:43:34 GMT

Useing a saw is a great idea. Also useing the cardboard is another good idea. Do you think I should leave a space between the rock and the back glass for cleaning alge or should I just place the flat cut part of the rock right up to the glass.

RE: New Live Rocks

Nep2Ns PlumR — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 04:51:29 GMT

Rather than beating them up with a hammer, consider cutting them in half with a saw!! You can the place the cut face against the glass with the natural face turned out to view. You could further cut one of the larger halves in half (2 quarters) making pieces that can be fitted into the corners of the tank. Live rock isn't very hard and can be sawed in 2 with a regular hand saw. I'm afraid if you smack it with a hammer, you're going to end up with pieces that you won't be happy with.

Take it slow. Having the rock sit out of water for several hours won't hurt it a bit. One thing I've done in the past is to cut out a piece of cardboard the same size as the bottom of the tank and arrange the rock on it before placing it in the tank. I'd try to keep these pieces as large as possible and still get the look that you want. It'll make for a much more stable structure. Be sure to leave plenty of open spaces between the pieces for your fish to hide in and also to allow good circulation. You can always go down to the LFS and pick up a couple of small pieces of say some tonga branch for that finishing touch. :)

New Live Rocks

clownfishkid — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:32:39 GMT

My new live rocks I ordered came in today from Live Aquaria.com. These things are HUGE! They send me 4 pieces. 2 are like 15 pounds, one is like 10, and the last one is about 5 pounds. The 3 large pieces hardally fit in the tank with out touching the front and back glass of my 55g. Tomarrow im going to break out the hammer and chissel. The 5 pounder is nice so i'll leave him, but the others i'm gonna chop up. They are Figi live rocks. I was kinda disapointed in the color of the rocks. There is no red or purple, just green. Thank good ness they were in good shape and I didn't have to recure them. I mixed a bucket of saltwater up this morning so I could scrub them when they arrived. I used half of the water for the first scrub to get the main debre and onther things off. Man was that some dirty water.

I then emptied that water out and poured the other half of water for a second bath. That water was not nearly as dirty as the other. I then put them in my tank 1 by 1 and laid them out to get ideas. Thats when i realized they were way to big and that i was going to have to chop them up. I also did an amonia test and it was 0. I'll do another tomarrow along with a water change. My water really is not that cloudy at all. But any way, critisism is highly appreciated about my actions today.