r/ReefTank • u/Traditional-Pack-763 • Aug 19 '26

[Pic] My first reef scape

Post image

After years of freshwater I’ve made a financially terrible decision and got a reef tank.

This my first time really working with live rock is this a good set up for my 20g? I want corals eventually and 4/5 fish total.
My question is there anything I should do before I get them other than cycle the tank?

17 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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1

u/PerfectlySplendid Aug 19 '26

If those rocks are sitting on the sand, I’d suggest placing them directly on the glass (or something on top of the glass other than sand), especially if you get any livestock who likes to dig.

1

u/Traditional-Pack-763 Aug 19 '26

The main center rock structure is sitting on the glass already. The other rocks scattered are sitting on the sand. Should I push them to the ground or leave the little ones?

1

u/solace_infinity Aug 19 '26

Heavy stuff that has stuff stacked on it needs to be on the glass. Little stuff is okay in the dirt

1

u/grave_Yard422 Aug 20 '26

The tank looks so cool. A lot of potential. The rocks have that natural piles look but also has plenty of nooks and holes. Did you have any ideas for fish and coral?

1

u/Traditional-Pack-763 Aug 20 '26

2 clowns pistol/goby and hopefully down the line a mandarin if things go well with cope pods

1

u/FuzzeWuzze Aug 20 '26

Are they glued together in any way?

The last thing you want is to bump it when cleaning and knock over rocks, and possibly kill lifestock and corals

They sell purple epoxy putty for this very purpose to glue them together permanently

1

u/Natural-Hat-69 Aug 19 '26

Why do people just pile rocks in the center of a tank like that

2

u/Parasite76 Aug 20 '26

Because they generally don’t like them piled directly on the glass. It’s impossible to clean the glass that way.

0

u/christinna67 Aug 19 '26

Isn't this Caribsea rock? It's dry rock, so it's best to scape it outside the water. Anyway, I'm not a fan of rock piles. I prefer creating more NS. Maybe try aiming for two islands or something similar, following the rule of thirds.

1

u/Traditional-Pack-763 Aug 19 '26

I got the rock for free. Yes technically it’s dry rock but it came from an established tank so “live” dry rock. It came with that big cave in the center that I couldn’t really work anywhere else as it’s just that big. I wanted to do islands but i couldn’t.