E Marco 400 underwater??

[SaucyJuicySteak]

This might be a stupid question but can you use e Marco on an established tank with fish without removing the rocks? It says it will cure underwater. Can I add it directly to the tank, will it effect water chemistry?

 

[AZMSGT]

Yes, it does effect chemistry for a few days also it tends to just waterfall.

I did what your asking. It wasn’t pretty but I managed to secure things. Hind sight I would have used epoxy. What happened to me is my Alk jumped from 8 to 10.5, my PH also jumped. The mortar would basically disintegrate in a downward motion like a waterfall would look. If you use enough it does work and enough will stay together. Also it clouds up the tank allot. If you go this route, shut off all the pumps during the initial cure time. Also run carbon afterwards.

Hindsight, I would pull the rock out. Mortar it together and let it dry for about an hour then let it cure the rest of the way in the tank. Do a little at a time. While the rock is outside the tank just spray it with salt water every 5-10 min to keep it alive.

I had no casualties Coral or fish so that’s a plus.

 

[SaucyJuicySteak]

Yes, it does effect chemistry for a few days also it tends to just waterfall.

I did what your asking. It wasn’t pretty but I managed to secure things. Hind sight I would have used epoxy. What happened to me is my Alk jumped from 8 to 10.5, my PH also jumped. The mortar would basically disintegrate in a downward motion like a waterfall would look. If you use enough it does work and enough will stay together. Also it clouds up the tank allot. If you go this route, shut off all the pumps during the initial cure time. Also run carbon afterwards.

Hindsight, I would pull the rock out. Mortar it together and let it dry for about an hour then let it cure the rest of the way in the tank. Do a little at a time. While the rock is outside the tank just spray it with salt water every 5-10 min to keep it alive.

I had no casualties Coral or fish so that’s a plus.

what if I were too drop the water down to the needed spot, about 6 inches up from sand bed, and secure the needed rocks, let it cure for an hour misting with tank water, then raise the water level back up

 

[chowberg]

I did this. I staggered building multiple smaller arch structures. Each time I did it, I took out the live rock and mortared it together - spray to keep wet when necessary. The rocks were probably out for 30 minutes max. I then let it set it in a heated 40 gallon breeder (filled with water from a water change) over night. I'm sure my levels were off when I put it back in but it didn't affect any of my corals or fish. I did this with 3 rock structures.

 

[Marc2952]

This might be a stupid question but can you use e Marco on an established tank with fish without removing the rocks? It says it will cure underwater. Can I add it directly to the tank, will it effect water chemistry?

It will definitely make your skimmer go crazy. But DO NOT take the rocks out for too long as it will cause a massive bacteria death. I did that mistake and not even a week after rescaping my tank i got dinos which really ticked me off.

 

[AZMSGT]

what if I were too drop the water down to the needed spot, about 6 inches up from sand bed, and secure the needed rocks, let it cure for an hour misting with tank water, then raise the water level back up

Sorry didn’t see your response. I think you could safely get away with it doing things this way. The big thing is the mortar needs 30-60 minutes to get stable and then I would say your good to raise water levels back up.