Lost some rock
 

SO I started cleaning out some rock from the right side of the tank. I think a lot (most/all) my recent problems are due to too much rock. Here are a couple of pics of the new right side after removing about 60 pounds of rock. I still have about 40 to remove from the left side...


The front..
http://www.islandreef.ca/post/open_front.jpg

From the side...
http://www.islandreef.ca/post/open_side.jpg

Hey, I like the new look :cool:

Just wondering whats with the rock on the left of the yellow scroll in the first pic. It looks like a spaceship or something :razz:

Christy :)

I can hear your fish....

"I can swim freely now, the rock is gone" ;)

I thought I heard that too, but I thought I'd just lost my mind!! :razz:

Christy, sorry, don't see the spaceship. Are you mixing it with pop, or straight up?? :biggrin:

Sputnik!

HAHA i see the spaceship. Veryinteresting. Maybe the fish are saying more then you think :eek:

What size is your tank

Just curious Brad, you don't have a DSB (blech :razz: ) but have removed a significant part of your filtration ? ( or was it old rock, as in a "sink"). Do the corals now perform your denitrification? :confused:

The tank is a 150g, 5x2x2

Deb, the rock was acting as a sink for the detritus, and I feel that the remaining rock is more than ample for filtration. I do also have about 1.5 inches of sugar sand on one side of the tank, so that may or may not contribute.
Right now, I have more than a pound of LR per gallon. If I get to the point where I don't have enough rock for filtration, I'll make up for it with water changes.

So less IS more... :biggrin: I like the look, hope it works for you.

Alan, I think it will. I really like the open "swimming room" look, I just kept getting more frags and needed to attach them to something. Next thing I know, the tank is completely packed with rock.
I'll be thinning out the left side this weekend, so hopefully that allows the detritus removal that I'm looking for.

Looken Sweet Brad, It sure does make it look like a bigger tank. I can't wait to be able to get the same look, though I'll have to get a bigger tank to do that. :razz:

Looks good Brad!
I hope the change fixes your problems
:biggrin:

Here is the final rock layout. Corals are still in the sump. That's a whole 'nother ballgame!!

Straight on...

http://www.islandreef.ca/post/straight.jpg

Angled view...
http://www.islandreef.ca/post/angle.jpg

And this is the 45g full of rock I removed!!

http://www.islandreef.ca/post/rock.jpg

Great pics Brad looks as good as seeing it live. Amazing the amount of corals you see
Cheers

Thanks Dennis. I actually got most of the corals placed finally, so I'll have a new pic up tomorrow. (lights went out already tonight)

Brad, can you post the new pic?

Thanks!

Yup, sure can!!

http://www.islandreef.ca/post/newscape.jpg

Damn thats nice! job very well done!!!

Looks like the snail crew got the upper hand on the back glass too.

Tony, the snails did a great job. The turbos got a bit carried away with frag moving, but the algae sure took a beating. I hope now that I have less rock and more flow, less detritus will settle out on the rocks.
Well see how the next month goes.

awesome tank as always brad
how many snails did you end up buying to get rid of your algae problems?
also whats that blue coral just above your yellow tang? :biggrin:

Jesse, I got about 40 astrea and 16 turbos. They cleaned it out in about 2 weeks.

The blue coral is a blue tort. No, I'm not fragging it :razz:

did you end up figuring out the cause of your algae boom? summer heat?

For now I'm blaming the excess rock for trapping detritus and allowing nutrients to build up. The removal of all this rock should then see the algae not come back and overall better health for the tank. I suppose only time will tell though.
Summer heat was not an issue, as I've been having troubles for about 12 months now and I have a chiller.
The sand I removed from under the rock was really disgusting, so I'm sticking to my theory above for now. :razz:

Just an update, after weighing all the rock removed, it totalled 112 pounds. I'm guessing about 140 pounds remain in the tank now.

How did the tank react to half the LR being removed?

pretty good from what I saw today.

Steve

Jack, filtration wise, there seems to be no effect at all. Overall, the fish are much happier and there is less detritus settling in the tank.

Looks good. :cool:

I do have one suggestion, though - It's something that I'm trying in my tank. I've plumbed a couple of supply lines in and under the rock piles to hopefully create an overall "outflow" of water from underneath.
I'm not too concerned about the direction of the nozzles, just that they're not blocked by any one rock.
From what I understand, the rocks are shedding a fair amount of junk.
I dunno, maybe you would want to try that next time you think of altering your plumbing.

Mitch

Mitch- Sounds interesting, can you show any pics? Are these sump return lines or are they closed loop outlets? I'd be worried about sump return lines down low unless there was a siphon break near the water line.

Tony,
They're sump return lines, and I've got a hole drilled just below the water line to break the siphon in case of a power failure.
I might be able to post a pic tonight, if I get back in time after trying to vote Klein out of his comfy seat... :mrgreen:

Mitch