Tank aqua scaping help

[Coralgurl]

Originally Posted by albert_dao

I was qualifying why adding rock to your sump is a worthless pursuit when it comes to bacteria, using bioballs as an example of resource limitation and its effect on the ecological balance of your system.

Not just that, it is a detriment for completely different reasons (detritus build up).

Thank you! I appreciate the feedback and advice!

Going to find some inspiration now!

[Coralgurl]

I have some pretty big pieces of rock that are really hard to work with. Most of the scapes look like they are put together with smaller pieces. Is this accurate and should I try breaking them? What do most people prefer?

[Aquattro]

Mine are fairly good sized pieces. I wouldn't break them unless you have to, it's tough to get them to break where you want.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Coralgurl

I have some pretty big pieces of rock that are really hard to work with. Most of the scapes look like they are put together with smaller pieces. Is this accurate and should I try breaking them? What do most people prefer?

i wouldnt break them either, i prefer larger rocks too

[Coralgurl]

Done....pics once the tank clears.

Kinda looks the same, but more defined I think. I have a bin of rock left over, all the big pieces I haven't placed the corals in a location yet, will do that tomorrow. I tried to get islands but i couldn't make it work. I also need to add more water, currently mixing. There's a bit of space in the middle of the tank that I could fill.

Now to clean up the mess....

[Coralgurl]

So I wasn't completely happy with how things looked today once the tank cleared this morning, so I played around with the pieces of rock I had left over and created an island in the middle.

I'm uploading from my iPad and can only upload one pic at a time, otherwise I lose the text, so may take a while to get the thread updated.

Please feel free to offer any suggestions or criticism. Thanks

[Myka]

I don't like that column in the center, and I think if you removed that then the rest of the 'scape actually looks quite good I think!

Great post Albert! There is at least one advantage to having "more rock than you need" though...there is more capacity for denitration.

I have never been a fan of rock in the sump because of detritus build up even when using a filter sock. However, I think rock in the sump can be beneficial for denitration provided the sump area is siphoned of detritus at least once a month. Many people are not likely to do this maintenance though, so generally it is better idea to just not put rock in the sump.

[Coralgurl]

Thanks Myka. I wish I could get better pics as it really does look better overall than what I can capture.

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by Myka

Great post Albert! There is at least one advantage to having "more rock than you need" though...there is more capacity for denitration.

I don't want to come off as argumentative, but hell, in for a dime, in for a dollar...

Again, no. We still have a problem of Aerobic bacteria density = NH4 + various other organics x surface area***. Aerobic bacteria are the things pulling oxygen out of the water as it diffuses through the rock. Oxygen doesn't just "magic" into oblivion. A 50 gallon tank filled with 200 lbs of rock, all other things being equal, is going to have no less nitrate in it than a the same tank with 65 lbs of rock. Feed carbon, and we'll talk, but short of that, it's just not going to work. Same problem, different pile.


*** for the sake of discussion, let's assume our rock is porous and we have sand -- remember, you don't get to choose where your bacteria go, they do.

God, I feel like the next thing to pop outta my mouth is gonna be somewhere along the lines of "git off my lawn!".. haha