Aquascaping, Fish in, or Fish out?

Hugh Mann · Aug 14, 2020

At last! This weekend is the weekend my display tank finally comes together again!
After Velvet destroyed my tank in April, I am finally able to put everything back together.

Anyways, I have to aquascape my 55 gallon display. Currently has a Marine Betta and maroon clownfish. I'm guessing it's probably much less stressful on the fish to take them out into a holding tank for a few hours while I muck with the rocks and let things settle down before putting back in, than trying to do it with the fish still in there?

Drain 50% of the water into a bin with the heater with hides, fish in bin.

Aquascape until I am satisfied. Wait for any debris to settle down/filter out.

Fish back in.

Sound like a good plan?

Rjmul · Aug 14, 2020

Hugh Mann said:
At last! This weekend is the weekend my display tank finally comes together again!
After Velvet destroyed my tank in April, I am finally able to put everything back together.

Anyways, I have to aquascape my 55 gallon display. Currently has a Marine Betta and maroon clownfish. I'm guessing it's probably much less stressful on the fish to take them out into a holding tank for a few hours while I muck with the rocks and let things settle down before putting back in, than trying to do it with the fish still in there?

Drain 50% of the water into a bin with the heater with hides, fish in bin.

Aquascape until I am satisfied. Wait for any debris to settle down/filter out.

Fish back in.

Sound like a good plan?

Good plan.

Gablami · Aug 14, 2020

My opinion is it’s more stressful to catch the fish and remove than to just leave them in a hiding spot and aquascape to your hearts content. I’ve rearranged rocks plenty with fish in tank. If you’re planning on a 100% rearrange, then maybe remove fish. Otherwise just leave them.

Hugh Mann · Aug 14, 2020

It's pretty much a 100% rearrange. I have a couple pieces of rock in there, but another 75ish pounds I will be putting in, along with a bit of extra sand.