LR placement and ro/di vs buying from lfs

[wontonflip]

Sorta skipping around topics with my posts :) I've resolved to do a refugium to lower my nitrate problem.

Ok...a couple of things. I already posted on the diy section about pros and cons of making my own ro/di, but the idea got shot down LOL which is fine. Right now, with my nitrates being off the charts as it is and having nitrates in my tap, I will need a better source of water to do my partial changes to get rid of my nitrates. I thought of just buying the water from my lfs...over the course of doing daily changes due to my bad water, it would probably cost me about $30. Then I was eventually going to buy my own ro/di. What I'm confused about is do most people use their ro/di as PART of their aquarium, or just to filter out the tap before putting in the tank? Do some people integrate an ro/di into their system?

Next...my lr placement. I'm going to be getting more and more live rock once my water changes are done. I noticed a lot of pictures of peoples' tanks, and I noticed their lr's are heavily concentrated on the base of the tank (maybe they have more surface area space? My tank is a 45 HIGH, so it's quite tall...34L X 10W x28H, roughly). I arranged my lr in sort of a row, stacked them up (see image -- I will be getting more pre-cured lr's once my nitrates are in check). Is there a "rule of thumb" when arranging the lr's? Looks so barren compared a a lot of seasoned tanks I've seen :) I'm takin' it slow!!!

 

[stagofdoom]

With the Ro/DI its needed for a saltwater tank. The tap water has a crap load of chemicals that you dont need/want in your tank.
Check out
www.purewaterclub.com for units.

With the aquascaping, its whatever you want.

 

[Bifferwine]

Most people do not integrate the RODI unit into their system. You can do this, but the vast majority of people just have the RODI unit hooked up underneath their kitchen sink, and run water to a holding container (like a plastic trash can or 5-gallon bucket for smaller tanks), and just "hold" the clean water until it's needed. That way, you only need to make water when you need it (it's not running continuously).

The only rule of thumb when it comes to live rock is 1 to 2 lbs per gallon. How you arrange it is up to you -- everyone has different ideas about what looks nice. I prefer to have a couple "islands" with open space in between, but very little open space at the top (I've found that fish don't really like open space, they prefer to stay closer to the rockwork).

 

[Melonbob]

One thing I'll mention, it looks like some of your rock is touching the glass, I wouldn't go that route unless you plan on letting the sides get covered in coraline. It the rock is too close, you cannot get cleaning instruments around it.

 

[yote]

Its really not good to have the rock so close to the glass.But sometimes it just cant be helped.With your tank,Its going to be tough to keep it off the glass.

 

[Bifferwine]

It is usually inevitable to have rock touching glass. Most people lean the rock up against the glass for support.

 

[wontonflip]

AH ok. I'll do some rearranging. Glad I posted pictures!

How do I know that my rocks have survived this move and my high nitrate levels (I previously posted that I have nitrates of 160ppm, and all other levels are down--an issue I'm working on)? I see at least 2-3 feather dusters per large lr, which I did not think survived the transfer....but there they are.

 

[yote]

You'll be surprised at just how many hitch hikers can handle even a full out cycle.

 

[messiah023]

Wonton,

You will have some difficulty with aquascaping ONLY because of the "tall" tank.
Even with a lot of poundage of rock, it may seem barren to you due to the height of the tank.

I would suggest reading this article about PVC aquascaping.
Scroll down about 3/4 of the way under the title "AQUASCAPING"

You may be able to make a frame and place your rocks on it easier than stacking rock over rock. You will be able to make some good height & nice caverns.

Good luck!

 

[wontonflip]

Yeah, the height thing is definitely an issue. Once I master this, I will be switching to a long tank instead. At least I just installed my new Rio 2500 (the pump I had was old and not very strong...barely made ripples, and I had to supplement with a power head for lower levels)...and BOY I almost had a hear attack when the water just GUSHED out of the return! LOL I got good ripple and good flow all the way down to the bottom. I took my power head out.

If I do the pvc route (I've seen the lfs do it), should I be careful of the feather dusters? Or just do it and don'tn worry about it? I need to get bigger lr's. That's down the line when I get my nitrates down.

 

[yote]

The duster would be fine.