[Fishhead Junkie]

i am contemplating whether or not to remove some of the live rock from my cube. i see other people with 29gallon cubes with all this room in theirs, have their live rock close to the rear of the tank with the front nice and open. i guess my question really is, how badly does it upset the balance in the tank and how stressed out will some of the wildlife be in the tank, like brittle stars that hide all the time, etc etc. i would still try to create some type of cave system for fish to retreat into. i am so afraid i will do this and turn my tank upside down.

steve

[rlcline76]

I'd leave the rock. You need it for breaking down nitrogenous waste. The less surface you have, the less bacteria you have for the job. With everything you have in that tank...you need all of the bacteria you can get.

[clown shrimp]

well u could take out some of the LR crush it up into Lr rubble and put it in the back chamber

[patrick1234]

in my 12 gal about a week ago i took out the live rock put in some lace rock so the live rock is no longer on the sand

[Fishhead Junkie]

hey patrick...whats lace rock? got any pics of your tank?

i did my water change last night, did an extra 3 gallons on top of the 5 i already normally do. i decided while i was scrubbing the algae off the glass to do some rearranging. i kept everything in there for now, piled it up as much as i could in the rear. i even found my flame scallop that had been hiding in the back. still alive and kicking as good looking as ever.

steve

ps..i will either remove a piece or 2 of rock and then maybe see if my LFS will let me swap for some of their other kind of rock that is more tree like and open.

[patrick1234]

http://www.reefbuilders.com/forums/n...-aquarium.html


if you go to this link you will see the rock stacked on it i first placed in that rock and then add the live rock on top so all sides of the live rock are open to the water
but what it is its the rock be for its put in to the sea to become live rock

[patrick1234]

i find i have less die off this way

[Fishhead Junkie]

oh, i remember looking at those pics of your tank...forgot all about that posting. now i remember your swivel chair 360degree viewing stand.

i see you have a nice pincushion urchin in there...is it one of those urchins that looks like it has snowflakes all over it...at least thats how they look to me. i have a very similar one in my tank except he is purplish red...always stealing my lil pieces of rock and zoos..drives me nuts, but nice looking.

i still cant really see the lace rock you are talking about. i hit the LFS tonight to pick up some chaeto for my tank for the fish to nibble on but they were out..had a lil bit of a disaster with a breaker or something and alot of lights and heaters went out...OOPS!! i ended up picking out a few pieces of nice fiji rock with alot of green plant life on it..pretty nice for $8..maybe i even got some hitchhikers for free.

the critters better like the free food!!!

steve