I Decided to Build a Rock

[archipelago]

Boring, old, crusty scape:

Fun, new, exciting scape

Made a video so you can really see the rock. It's tough to get a good understanding of the depth of the rock from just the photo.

 

[archipelago]

...

 

[Fish Fan]

I'd be pretty psyched for the old, boring 'scape. Looking forward to the new, exciting 'scape

 

[smitten with ocean life]

i love looking at different scapes! very nice!

 

[naterealbig]

Following

 

[maroun.c]

Which sides is the tank seen from ?
Looks very nice

 

[archipelago]

I'd be pretty psyched for the old, boring 'scape. Looking forward to the new, exciting 'scape

Thanks for the nice words! I'm really excited to see the finished product

 

[archipelago]

Which sides is the tank seen from ?
Looks very nice

Thank you!

Aquarium is in a corner, with the left side (w/ overflow) and back up against a wall. So, viewable from the front and right side. I did my best to design the rock so that it would look great from the front, top, and sides.

Hardest part about the whole ordeal was keeping the rock at or below the 13" point.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along! The old aquascape had a unique look to it, so I am curious to see the new one!

 

[archipelago]

Following along! The old aquascape had a unique look to it, so I am curious to see the new one!

Ah, thanks! This one is actually much better than the last couple I tried. I've had some Haitian rock stowed away a while, for this very reason. Coincidentally, I got a bad outbreak of bubble algae so I nuked the rock in straight 3% H2O2, and only ended up putting 2 rocks back (the 2 on the left). I had one rock in the sump (all the way to the right), grabbed a 'decent' looking piece from the shelf and threw it in. I was going to try to arrange it but ran out of time, and that's what I left myself with.

I've actually grown a little fond of it - it draws the eye through and across the display. Which is what I'm hoping to achieve with the scape I'm building now - but much more dramatic.

 

[archipelago]

Here's the original sketch I did, trying to envision what I wanted.

 

[AlyciaMarie Verified Admin]

Love the concept you're going for! Following along.

 

[archipelago]

Love the concept you're going for! Following along.

Thank you!

 

[archipelago]

Before I started this small project, I ordered some supplies - bulk CA super glue gel, BSI curing accelerator, E-Marco Mortar, and Marco dust (I think shaping and blending the pieces together makes A LOT of difference in the final result) to conceal the joints. I woke up super-early this morning and realized that I ordered the purple mortar from BRS, instead of the 'natural'. Using the purple is a hard 'no', and I'm starting to twitch because I can't work on it... There's got to be some locallly. If not, I'd actually contemplate overnighting a bucket from BRS...

Oh, here things were just getting started:




Lots of dry sitting here, imagining how the eyes will be drawn to the lines/curve/structure shape and flow - and of course the perfect pieces...

View attachment 4235924

 

[archipelago]

Ended up picking up a product called Rock Lock by CaribSea. It does the job of E-Marco mortar, except no polymer to measure and mix, it has a 2-minute set-up time, and it's rock hard in less than an hour.

Here's what she looks like as of this morning.

 

[archipelago]

Finished it up today

 

[archipelago]

Dropped it in the tank yesterday. It looks much taller in the tank than i visualized - even though I was using a moch tank with PVC. Fish absolutely loving it.