Reef ideas

[The Bungulo]

Iv'e had a 30g freshwater tank for quite some time now, almost 2 years. It was a huge success. Pretty soon i'm adding a reef tank. I need ideas! I'm going to get a Red Sea Reefer XL 425, with some snails, inverts and fish. Fish; 3 cardinals, a Kole Yellow Eye Tang, two clowns, a gramma basslet, and a couple damsels. Since the Reefer doesnt come with everything, I need best recommends for equipment, such as heater, powerheads, and lighting. I think it comes with a skimmer.

For the reefscape, a central island looks very nice. any ideas on how to set that up with shelf rock incorporated? Any reefscaping tips?

 

[dbl]

Congrats on the upgrade. Take a look at the thread below for plenty of aquascaping inspiration.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tips-and-tricks-on-creating-amazing-aquascapes.97209/

 

[The Bungulo]

I was literally just reading that. With the central island, i want to have a large dip in the middle, or have something like a large drop off at one side, and a small cliff on the other. How can I pull this off? Can i shape the rock without killing the creatures in the LR?

 

[dbl]

You can remove the rock and cut it as desired to reshape it, if that's what you're referring to. Just due it as quickly as possible and then get it back in water. Yes, you might have a little die off, but if it's well established rock, it should be minimal.

It almost sounds like your going for two islands/towers, one being taller than the other. If I'm anywhere near correct, take a look at my build thread. I redid my aquascape last year and ended up with that type of look.

 

[The Bungulo]

how can i reshape it? hammer and chisel? can i do in a bin of water?

 

[dbl]

I've found a hammer and chisel to be the easiest. Yes, if you have a large enough bin, fill it with saltwater and do it in the bin if that provides enough working room for you.

 

[The Bungulo]

ok. what should I do with the leftover frags? should I incorporate them into the rockwork?

 

[dbl]

We may need to back up here. I was thinking you were wanting to redo/change/alter your rock work. Now you mention left over frags. I'll assume you mean coral frags.

So, my suggestion is if you're going to take rock out to cut it or alter it somehow, you should remove any attached corals first. Either that, or avoid the corals as much as possible as you chisel the rocks. Safer to remove if possible.

If you end up with coral frags, yes, you can reattach them to your newly scaped rock. Or put them on a frag rack and sell them to your buddies.

 

[The Bungulo]

sorry for the misconception, but i meant rock fragments. This is going to be a new setup, not an alteration.