Changing rock work on a mature tank

[nathan212178]

I’m not sure how to word this but I want to reshape my current rock build to a more open build, as everything is laid against the back of the tank, i beleive that there is a lot of debri hanging there and I am unable to reach it. I want to possibly break the rock as well as most of them are just base rocks to create a more spacious build for more corals, but I don’t know if I do this will kill everything due to the disturbance of the sand and amount of waste held over time, and since it’s a 20 gallon I’m more scared it will have a bigger chance at tanking the livestock, so my question is what procedure or what should I do or follow to avoid any problems?

 

[MysticBlue]

Personally what I do is pre cycle some more rock not a lot at all like a piece or two then once it’s ready add it and take out the other rock. Now you need to keep it wet with a squirt bottle that has some tank water in it the hole time it’s out of the tank. BRS has some good videos on the subject

 

[EricR]

I reworked my rock scape a while back in my 40 gallon tank, including breaking up some of the rocks, and didn't have any problems. (Just kept it wet in containers of salt water and only had rocks out on the garage floor for short periods of time while breaking them up)

I'd say:
- have new salt water ready to replace any you take out
- keep rocks submerged in easy to move containers of old water from your DT
- break them however you want them swish them around good in the old water before putting back in DT

*ideally, do small portions at a time, as in don't take ALL of your rock out for any long period of time

 

[nathan212178]

Personally what I do is pre cycle some more rock not a lot at all like a piece or two then once it’s ready add it and take out the other rock. Now you need to keep it wet with a squirt bottle that has some tank water in it the hole time it’s out of the tank. BRS has some good videos on the subject

I’ll take a look at it thanks! And I’ll be using the same rock as I already have too much of it already lol

 

[aSaltyKlown]

I did this a few times on my EVO. Once finished I'd do a large water change to get remove anything that was disturbed. I never had any issues. As mentioned keep a spray bottle with SW handy so you can spray the rock that is out of the tank now and again.