My first 45g Updated DIY intank fuge and pictures

hello all i just received my marco dry rock and will be scapeing here in a little bit camera is charged and pictures are going to be taken and put up after the scape cant wait to see my dull tank transform

 

updated pictures on my first atempt at a scape any opinions or suggestions on if i should do anything diffrent? also is this high enough?
(Left to right) 25lbs of dry rock from marco rocks unpackaged only 2 pieces of rubble, rocks being washed, before i put in new rocks, new scape, and i thought this was appropriate on the window of my truck.

 

I like the 2nd scape. Salt life is taking over, every single truck in Florida has them. I take that back every vehicle has them, even in areas nowhere near saltwater. So annoying, im a Guy Harvey man myself.

 

i do agree that every vehicle has them and it is pointless if your inland away from water but im on an island surrounded by water. the 2nd scape is how i think im going to leave it till i get more dry rock and hopefully build it up higher. how do you feel about having the rocks touching the glass? none are right now but i was thinking about building up in the back corners of the tank

 

Yeah i live 2 min away from the beach. I am saltlife, but i just refuse to give in to the sticker craze. lol as long as they are secure, i.e not going to fall or move what so ever if a snail, or crab were to walk on it or as long as it isnt super heavy. then i dont see a problem. i used to have a piece resting on the glass before.

 

Guy Harvey FOREVER!

 

i dont have them glued or ziptied but what i have in there now seems to be secure they pieces fit together pretty nicely

 

What are your thoughts on stocking? That should have an impact on how you scape as well. Give a thought to some caves & tunnels up higher as well to give the fish something to go in and out of. My wrasse for example is very active and goes back and forth in and out everywhere but tends to trend mid tank level.

Next step is giving thoughts to securing your rock work. Inverts like crabs and especially urchins and apply enough pressure to move some rocks. Gobies, jawfish and others also dig under the rocks and can shift the weight. You can probably get away with not securing every single piece together but you should consider some epoxy or something to at least make a few large heavy pieces just for piece of mind.

 

im stuck on what kind of fish i want to stock. i would really like a dragon wrasse, along with a grouper but i know the tank is to small for a grouper. There are plenty of tunnels in and out of the rocks i made sure of that and i pushed them down into the sand pretty good. as for using epoxy how does it work and can it be done while water is in the tank?

 

It's good to have big open areas in and behind the rocks for fish to hide. You can use zip-ties, rods (I used cut up plastic coat hangers) and epoxy to make pillars and bridges etc... It also greatly reduces the amount of rock you need to make the tank look full. There is reef epoxy you can buy that is safe to cure under water. Most epoxy is safe once it dries.

I used loc-tite for my rocks, as it was relatively cheap, but I cured it out of water. Based on the MSDS, it looked questionable whether or not it was truly safe drying under water. Also, Macro rocks has a cement kit I think, but obviously that is more money. I believe Aquamend epoxy from HD is safe to cure under water, but someone else should probably confirm that.