Cycling, aquascaping, help!

[Hely'sreef1]

Hi folks. First of all I apologise for my lengthy ramble but am feeling pretty overwhelmed right now!
About a year ago I pursued a dream to start a marine reef tank.
I got a 30 gallon with sump, skimmer and all the basics. I devoted my life to my tank and loved every minute of it.... it is thriving with beautiful corals as well as a small yellow tang, a bangaii and 3 clowns. I have mainly LPS, zoas and a nepthia and thought hey I can do this!!!
So...decided to go bigger. I bought an 80 gallon a couple of weeks ago. Had to pay a professional to help me move my current tank and install the new one. He also filled it with fresh saltwater.
I bought 80kg of cured live rock and popped it all into my tank to start cycling.
After a few days I took all the rock out to try and figure out my scape design.
I started with my base layer and also built a few tunnels, caves etc using putty. Was a tricky job as I'm only 5 feet tall, my sump cabinet is quite high and my display tank is 30 inches deep. Was going up and down ladders - a nightmare! After a couple of hours I was concerned about the rock being out for so long so carefully piled the remaining rocks back into the tank on top of my arranged structure. Unfortunately the putty hadn't set properly and it slightly collapsed on one side so now part of the puttied rock is too close to the glass.
Another drama - 2 floods from the skimmer (just trying to break it in, not trying to take any nutrients out) so had to top up quite a bit with RO water. The salinity in the saltwater was very high anyway, I try and keep my salinity to 1022 in my current tank.
A week down the track I haven't seen any increase in ammonia or anything else but I do have a nasty brown algae all over my tank. I haven't put the sand in yet (not using live sand) - originally was thinking of going with bare bottom. Now I plan to just place sand in visible areas only.
I desperately want to get this right to provide a perfect new home for my precious livestock but am worried that taking out the live rock again will kill it off and affect my cycle (if I even have one).
Can anyone give me hope or advice as to how I should deal with this massive job? I'm not very handy with power tools etc so am really trying the putty route.
Please help!

 

[jeff williams]

Hi folks. First of all I apologise for my lengthy ramble but am feeling pretty overwhelmed right now!
About a year ago I pursued a dream to start a marine reef tank.
I got a 30 gallon with sump, skimmer and all the basics. I devoted my life to my tank and loved every minute of it.... it is thriving with beautiful corals as well as a small yellow tang, a bangaii and 3 clowns. I have mainly LPS, zoas and a nepthia and thought hey I can do this!!!
So...decided to go bigger. I bought an 80 gallon a couple of weeks ago. Had to pay a professional to help me move my current tank and install the new one. He also filled it with fresh saltwater.
I bought 80kg of cured live rock and popped it all into my tank to start cycling.
After a few days I took all the rock out to try and figure out my scape design.
I started with my base layer and also built a few tunnels, caves etc using putty. Was a tricky job as I'm only 5 feet tall, my sump cabinet is quite high and my display tank is 30 inches deep. Was going up and down ladders - a nightmare! After a couple of hours I was concerned about the rock being out for so long so carefully piled the remaining rocks back into the tank on top of my arranged structure. Unfortunately the putty hadn't set properly and it slightly collapsed on one side so now part of the puttied rock is too close to the glass.
Another drama - 2 floods from the skimmer (just trying to break it in, not trying to take any nutrients out) so had to top up quite a bit with RO water. The salinity in the saltwater was very high anyway, I try and keep my salinity to 1022 in my current tank.
A week down the track I haven't seen any increase in ammonia or anything else but I do have a nasty brown algae all over my tank. I haven't put the sand in yet (not using live sand) - originally was thinking of going with bare bottom. Now I plan to just place sand in visible areas only.
I desperately want to get this right to provide a perfect new home for my precious livestock but am worried that taking out the live rock again will kill it off and affect my cycle (if I even have one).
Can anyone give me hope or advice as to how I should deal with this massive job? I'm not very handy with power tools etc so am really trying the putty route.
Please help!

Well if your worried about the live rock go to Home Depot and buy a few steralite storage bins or a brute trash can mix some salt water and place your live rock in it to store it while you fix the aqua scape if it's going to be a few days or more in the container add a power head and a heater and the rock will be fine. After correcting the aqua scape I would them start the tank as if it were new again and let it cycle. Watch your ammonia levels if anything died off on the live rock your ammonia will spike and the nitrogen cycle will begin.

 

[cgdcinc]

Just remember that we all go through these times when things seem to get out of control. The best thing to do is just slow down and try to make the best plans you can. Ask as many questions as possible and come up with what you think is the best answer. This hobby is an endless pursuit of knowledge. It is the rewards that fuel the pursuit of learning. It never stops in what we do.
Take your time. Get things exactly how you want them and the end result is going to be an amazing ecosystem that you will get to stare at in amazement for a long time! [emoji4]