Critique My First Aquascape

Jay1661

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First Saltwater Aquarium, this is a 29g Biocube. Roughly 30lbs of dry rock, thinking I should have got a little more.
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SashimiTurtle

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Looks fine, but maybe try and reposition that top rock. It looks a bit unstable to me, not many contact points that I can see. A few things I try and accomplish with scaping; cave(s) for fish to hide in, room to clean glass, no more than halfway up the tank for the main rock structure(maybe one small piece going up to the water surface), plenty of flat places to mount corals. Remember you're the one that has to look at it every day. We just see pictures every now and then.
 

TheZachariah

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Welcome to r2r! Id say I agree w both the guys above. The top rock does look a bit large for aesthetic reasons. More importantly though, it does seem to possibly have stability issues and if that thing tips over then it will be a struggle to say the least:eek: my first tank was actually a 29g biocube as well and I did a fairly similar build. I soon discovered that it was incredibly hard to access certain spots in the tank and impossible to reach others. I knocked the rock stucture over once or twice and damaged some innocent corals in the Process. So to sum it up, i would say to heed the above advice as well suggesting you go easy on your future self and consider how easy/hard the various spots will be with whatever scape you go with :)
 
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Jay1661

Jay1661

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That was my main concern when I was putting this scape together, I was worried about stability. I made sure the top rock was completely stable and would not move no matter what angle I pushed/bumped it from. It is very stable even though it may not look like it. That being said it does look a little unnatural because of that, and it is a tad big. I think I will be going to my LFS this week and look for some alternatives. Thanks for your input guys, really appreciate it!
 

Idoc

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hammer and a chisel... you can break that rock into a few different pieces.
 

Andy G

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Hi and welcome. I would also suggest cutting the rock on the top. Try to create an arc, or look for another rock with a hole on it.

Attached my first set up, when i started with a 13g nano. Is not perfect, but fishes were happy.

All the best!
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Chrisfish

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Welcome to R2R and congratulations on your first saltwater tank, this is a very addicting but wonderful hobby:D
 

Somuchflo99

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Welcome and looks like you need some smaller pieces of rock to add to the bunch or like some have said break that one up a little bit here are my first and final setups in new tank took me a week to finally get to the pic on the bottom and stick with it
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Jay1661

Jay1661

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Just an update for anyone who comes to this post in the future. Ended up breaking out my hammer and chisel. Used some instant ocean epoxy to make the top rock even more secure that it was before. It's not perfect but it's a lot better than it was and I'm content with it.
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azbigjohn

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Only other thing I would mention is its proximity to the back glass. If you could make sure you have room to get your hand and a scraper back there, it will make long-term cleanup a little easier. It looks like you could move it an inch forward without too much problem.
 

BangedUp

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Hi and welcome. I would also suggest cutting the rock on the top. Try to create an arc, or look for another rock with a hole on it.

Attached my first set up, when i started with a 13g nano. Is not perfect, but fishes were happy.

All the best!
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That looks really nice
 

BangedUp

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Just an update for anyone who comes to this post in the future. Ended up breaking out my hammer and chisel. Used some instant ocean epoxy to make the top rock even more secure that it was before. It's not perfect but it's a lot better than it was and I'm content with it.
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Liking the redo
 

Bubbles, bubbles, and more bubbles: Do you keep bubble-like corals in your reef?

  • I currently have bubble-like corals in my reef.

    Votes: 20 33.9%
  • I don’t currently have bubble-like corals in my reef, but I have in the past.

    Votes: 7 11.9%
  • I don’t currently have bubble-like corals in my reef, but I plan to in the future.

    Votes: 20 33.9%
  • I don’t currently have bubble-like corals in my reef and have no plans to in the future.

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