RE-Aquascape after 7 months ????

**oger696** · 10-22-2010, 02:47 AM

Hey guys its been about 7 months now since my tank cycled and now would love to do a bit of a re-aquascape but is it possible

ive read some limited info about a possible induced mini-cycle caused by stiring up the substrate ... not sure if that will harm everything tho ?

I have some Aqua-stik Epoxy and acrylic rods i was going to use .. my thoguhts were id remove a desired piece of Live Rock from the tank and put it into a bucket of water that i got from my main tank then drill it / re-shape it and use the epoxy on it ....

If that is possible to do could i leave it in the bucket overnight let it cure abit ... i can add a circulating pump if required

All of this is pointless tho if i will kill all my corals and fish that is my first and foremost concern atm

Your Responses are greatly appreciated ; )

john

**Amphibious** · 10-22-2010, 07:44 AM

That depends a little on the size of the tank and how long the rocks are out of water. Anytime LR and air meet there is the possibility of a die-off and that could produce a mini-cycle. Any cycle would be small and short in duration doing it the way you described. I would have a water change all mixed up and ready to go just in case. Other than that, I personally would do it the same way.

Dick

**oger696** · 10-22-2010, 08:45 AM

Excellent thankyou for ur response you have given me some confidence to go ahead with it .... now my next largest concern would be is it ok for me to leave it on the bucket overnight ? or will i have too much die off ? reason for it is i would like to give the epoxy a chance to set before re introducing it

**Amphibious** · 10-22-2010, 09:23 AM

You should be fine adding the circulation pump. Just remember to test for Ammonia for several days after. If you detect any Ammonia do a water change and continue testing. If you do get an Ammonia spike, no matter how small, you likely will get a Nitrite rise, too. Keep fresh SW ready to do a water change. I suspect you will not experience any of this BUT if your going to make an error, error on the side of caution.

Dick

**oger696** · 10-22-2010, 10:09 AM

Thank you again for ur advice i appreciate it alot all systems go ; )

**oger696** · 11-17-2010, 03:44 AM

Finished my re-aquascape and i have to say im stoked !! lol it looks far far better i am much happier .. also seems ive managed to avoid the mini cycle aswell i tested for nitrate on 2nd 3rd and 4th day after with no change always about 2.5 ppm .. will upload some pics soon as i remove my crab trap .. ( with a crab in it of course )

**Amphibious** · 11-17-2010, 06:57 AM

Congrats on the re-aquascape. Just for your information it wouldn’t be NITRATE to worry about in a mini-cycle. It would be Ammonia and NITRITE. Big difference there. But you might have escaped the cycle in this case.

**oger696** · 11-17-2010, 06:48 PM

right ! my mistake i thought that nitrate turns into nitrite then ammonia .. i shall go do some tests as soon as i can then thanks for that ; )

**Mostly Rock** · 11-17-2010, 10:03 PM

Quite the opposite. The reason Amphibious said to make sure to test for Ammonia is because Ammonia will spike before Nitrite, then Nitrite will spike before Nitrate. Ammonia and Nitrite are extremely toxic to everything in the tank (except for some strains of bacteria, but we won't get into that.) If you see an Ammonia spike and do an IMMEDIATE water change (20% on up, but not over 50%... I think, Amphibious or Carmie Jo would be able to clarify.) then you can keep your inhabitants out of the danger zone. Most of us have gotten away with letting things like that slide once or twice, but that was pure dumb luck... If you got away with it once or twice, that doesn't mean you will forever. Banking on luck causes crashes. The best way to ensure a successful reef is to test, test and test some more, and always err on the side of caution. When in doubt, do a water change and ask lots of questions. It sounds like you are doing really well, let's see some pics!

**oger696** · 11-18-2010, 03:31 AM

OMg how embarassing my apologies to all .. thank you mostly rock for enlightening me ... ive just tested my ammonia wich is about half way between 0 and 0.25 i recon and nitrite is about 0.05 ... should i do a water change now ? i do my 10% changes on sundays ... its thursday now ..

Ill get those pics up soon hopefully tomoro i almost caught the gorrila crab last night i was watching it ... its too dam big for the standard bottle opening .. ive had to cut a bigger hole today hope that works tonite .. then i can pull the bottle out and take some snaps ; )

**Amphibious** · 11-18-2010, 06:40 AM

Originally Posted by oger696

should i do a water change now ? i do my 10% changes on sundays ... its thursday now ..

Since Ammonia and Nitrite are VERY toxic I would not wait till Sunday. Do a water change now and keep testing at least once a day, twice would be better, until you get those numbers down to zero.

Originally Posted by Mostly Rock

I think, Amphibious or Carmie Jo would be able to clarify.

Our clarification wouldn’t be any clearer. That was an accurate explanation, Mike.

**oger696** · 11-18-2010, 07:36 AM

Alrighty thnx guys im doing a 20% right now ; )

**oger696** · 11-19-2010, 02:35 AM

crabs out thank lord ; ) heres some pics as promissed its a bit boring atm ive removed a few corals and cleaned it up a fair bit going to move more away from soft corals to sps now might take a while to get the lived in look again : / got some new lights so should be sweet ; ) ... new lights arnt in yet so it still looks poo .. i got LED's so should look sweet alot better then the pc's that are in it now ...

**oger696** · 11-19-2010, 04:42 AM

when you say until thier down to 0 .. do a water change everytime i test and theres ammonia ? up too twice a day ?

**Amphibious** · 11-19-2010, 08:28 AM

Possibly. I’m suggesting you test twice a day because if Ammonia is not being consumed as fast as it is being produced you will have a problem. If you detect Ammonia in the morning and do a water change, testing in the evening will give you an indication of whether it is still being produced in a quantity greater than your population of bacteria can consume. Your tank is well established and I suspect it will be over the hump shortly. With Ammonia and Nitrite you cannot be too cautious. Both are killers.

**oger696** · 11-19-2010, 08:59 AM

ok thanks for that i think i got it now ...test in the morning .. if theres still ammonia do water change... then test at night time ...and if ammonia same or higher ...water change again until it starts going down right ; )