question about reAquascapeing

[emmabrown]

Hi Guys
for my 200g tank thats been running for about 10 months now - I am now realizing that the scape I did is not going to work.
so I tried to do one of the negative space aquascape but I made the swim holes for larger fish to small and not many hiding spaces when I add more fish and eel

so with that said I would like to take out about 65 present of the rock and add new Caribsea Life Rock. at this time I only have 5 smaller fish in the tank
I plan on taking about 10 present of the rock that was removed and add it to the sump

I can add some of the new rock to the sump prier to adding it to the display - but I know one of the pieces will not fit as its a very large cave like pice

so basically with the above said will I have any problems with doing this - I do not want to cause harm to the fish or tank - I am trying not to have the tank go through a re cycle

I can also add bacteria to the tank after the new scape

please let me know your thoughts on how I should go about doing this

thanks

 

[HankstankXXL750 Verified Sponsor]

Hi Guys
for my 200g tank thats been running for about 10 months now - I am now realizing that the scape I did is not going to work.
so I tried to do one of the negative space aquascape but I made the swim holes for larger fish to small and not many hiding spaces when I add more fish and eel

so with that said I would like to take out about 65 present of the rock and add new Caribsea Life Rock. at this time I only have 5 smaller fish in the tank
I plan on taking about 10 present of the rock that was removed and add it to the sump

I can add some of the new rock to the sump prier to adding it to the display - but I know one of the pieces will not fit as its a very large cave like pice

so basically with the above said will I have any problems with doing this - I do not want to cause harm to the fish or tank - I am trying not to have the tank go through a re cycle

I can also add bacteria to the tank after the new scape

please let me know your thoughts on how I should go about doing this

thanks

Do you have any other way to cycle the rock, ie. Plastic trash barrels, Rubbermaid totes, etc. if so you could put the rock with a power head/pump/air pump and “cure” the rock first. I moved everything I had out of a 110g and reset in a 200g. Then I redid the 110 with some of the original rock, but purchased so dry rock. I ended up with a hair Algea problem in the 110. Never had it in it prior to the change (guess I either got lucky or did something right the first time). I’m coming close to defeating it now, but it has been a battle. I believe it was a combination of the dry rock and nitrate/phosphates getting high.

 

[Waters]

With only 5 small fish in a 200 gallon, I personally wouldn't be too concerned about removing 65% of the rock and replacing with dry rock. You should have plenty of bacteria on the remaining live rock to support your livestock. To be safe you can throw the removed rock in a bucket of saltwater and keep on hand in case of any emergencies. You can also add some bottled bacteria if you want. Just test water and keep an eye on it.