Is Marco Rock premium shelf rock the best dry rock?

[gcarroll]

I have got so many questions about my rockscape, I wanted to talk about it in a more visible place. There is not much talk of aquascaping and so many of us are intimidated in the advanced techniques used to create stunning aquascapes. I feel that this rock is a breakthrough in cool aquascapes and you might want to give it a try.

So this year at Reefapalooza Orlando the Marco Rock booth displayed their new “Premium Shel Rock.” Needless to say I was blown away by the display.

I had always hated shelf rock prior to that day but had started to warm to the idea of rock like the 2 Little Fishies Stax. Problem is, those stax rocks seemed to be tailor made for nano tank aquascapes.

This new Marco Rock was more for larger tanks. Since I am slowly building my 250g tank aka: Dry Tank of the Month, I felt this was the rock for me. I had my friend Joe Caparatta from Unique Corals come over to help (ok, he did it all) aquascape and after about 2 hours, he created this?

This aquascape is nothing crazy. Anyone could achieve this. No crazy overhangs supported by acrylic rods and such. Just stacked rock then cemented in place. I think it’s a great alternative to the big boulder shaped rocks that we are so used to.

The Marco Rock can be found here: http://www.marcorocks.com/shelf/

Similar rock can also be found under the Reef Savers brand at BRS: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-reef-saver-shelf-aquarium-dry-live-rock.html

 

[DansReef.co.uk]

Dry rock for me is a must in any aquarium and i will never look to use 'live rock' again. Marco or Real Reef are hands down my go to.

Sadly in the UK we don't seem to have stax or this new type and so if we want plate rock it is RR or nothing!

 

[Sir Chris]

I've been to multiple events and they're always there I find them very interesting but not as a full scape Nice filler flat rocks or if you wanted to make your back glass rock it's perfect But nature isn't straight.... so a shelf or 4 ya. Not a scape

 

[gcarroll]

Dry rock for me is a must in any aquarium and i will never look to use 'live rock' again. Marco or Real Reef are hands down my go to.

Sadly in the UK we don't seem to have stax or this new type and so if we want plate rock it is RR or nothing!

Is there no distributor for 2 Little Fishies in the UK?

I've been to multiple events and they're always there I find them very interesting but not as a full scape Nice filler flat rocks or if you wanted to make your back glass rock it's perfect But nature isn't straight.... so a shelf or 4 ya. Not a scape

Please show an example so I can see where you are coming from on your line of thinking. Not that I can change mine now that it is cemented in place. Heck, in 3 years you won't even see it.

 

[CDavmd]

Agreed! Marco prime cuts and cherries are awesome. I recently completed my scape using Marco and some reefsaver which are basically the same.

 

[CDavmd]

I have got so many questions about my rockscape, I wanted to talk about it in a more visible place. There is not much talk of aquascaping and so many of us are intimidated in the advanced techniques used to create stunning aquascapes. I feel that this rock is a breakthrough in cool aquascapes and you might want to give it a try.

So this year at Reefapalooza Orlando the Marco Rock booth displayed their new “Premium Shel Rock.” Needless to say I was blown away by the display.

I had always hated shelf rock prior to that day but had started to warm to the idea of rock like the 2 Little Fishies Stax. Problem is, those stax rocks seemed to be tailor made for nano tank aquascapes.

This new Marco Rock was more for larger tanks. Since I am slowly building my 250g tank aka: Dry Tank of the Month, I felt this was the rock for me. I had my friend Joe Caparatta from Unique Corals come over to help (ok, he did it all) aquascape and after about 2 hours, he created this?

This aquascape is nothing crazy. Anyone could achieve this. No crazy overhangs supported by acrylic rods and such. Just stacked rock then cemented in place. I think it’s a great alternative to the big boulder shaped rocks that we are so used to.

The Marco Rock can be found here: http://www.marcorocks.com/shelf/

Similar rock can also be found under the Reef Savers brand at BRS: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-reef-saver-shelf-aquarium-dry-live-rock.html

Love that scape! Looks awesome!

 

[gcarroll]

Love that scape! Looks awesome!

Thank, I love yours also. Trying to figure out How i can do my nano with something like that!

 

[Retro Reefer]

Nice looking rock.. looks super easy to scape with.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I have got so many questions about my rockscape, I wanted to talk about it in a more visible place. There is not much talk of aquascaping and so many of us are intimidated in the advanced techniques used to create stunning aquascapes. I feel that this rock is a breakthrough in cool aquascapes and you might want to give it a try.

So this year at Reefapalooza Orlando the Marco Rock booth displayed their new “Premium Shel Rock.” Needless to say I was blown away by the display.

I had always hated shelf rock prior to that day but had started to warm to the idea of rock like the 2 Little Fishies Stax. Problem is, those stax rocks seemed to be tailor made for nano tank aquascapes.

This new Marco Rock was more for larger tanks. Since I am slowly building my 250g tank aka: Dry Tank of the Month, I felt this was the rock for me. I had my friend Joe Caparatta from Unique Corals come over to help (ok, he did it all) aquascape and after about 2 hours, he created this?

This aquascape is nothing crazy. Anyone could achieve this. No crazy overhangs supported by acrylic rods and such. Just stacked rock then cemented in place. I think it’s a great alternative to the big boulder shaped rocks that we are so used to.

The Marco Rock can be found here: http://www.marcorocks.com/shelf/

Similar rock can also be found under the Reef Savers brand at BRS: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-reef-saver-shelf-aquarium-dry-live-rock.html

I really like this. My first thought was it looks like a freshwater tank done with slate. My point being these shelfs are much thinner than any I have seen before for reefs (Tonga shelf, Stax, etc.). That may just be an illusion though in your large tank. It certainly will have lots of spots for corals and interesting areas for swimmers.

Using this kind of rock often lends itself to long horizontal areas that can be a bit boring. In this tank I believe you (and Joe) have really used the flat rock well to create different heights, angles and protrusions. Really a great example of how to use shelf rock.

Did you use the E Marco 400 cement on it? How did you like what you used?

 

[Maximus]

Greg, how many pounds did you use? I’m really liking this product from Marco:

http://www.marcorocks.com/products/shelf/marcorocks-shelfscape-60/

 

[gcarroll]

I really like this. My first thought was it looks like a freshwater tank done with slate. My point being these shelfs are much thinner than any I have seen before for reefs (Tonga shelf, Stax, etc.). That may just be an illusion though in your large tank. It certainly will have lots of spots for corals and interesting areas for swimmers.

Using this kind of rock often lends itself to long horizontal areas that can be a bit boring. In this tank I believe you (and Joe) have really used the flat rock well to create different heights, angles and protrusions. Really a great example of how to use shelf rock.

Did you use the E Marco 400 cement on it? How did you like what you used?

It might be deceptive. The tank is 27" high. The highest point of the rock work is 16" high. There are 5 layers of rock there so the rock may be thicker than you imagine.

Here is a video of the aquascape that gives a bit better detail.


The cement used was the E Marco 400 cement. It works but you really need to work fast. Mixed in several small portions

 

[gcarroll]

Greg, how many pounds did you use? I’m really liking this product from Marco:

http://www.marcorocks.com/products/shelf/marcorocks-shelfscape-60/

We estimate that we used about 200 lbs For scale the tank is 62" x 36" x 27" if that gives you a better idea.

 

[CDavmd]

Awesome Vid! Really gives the feel of the scape. I like it a lot...can’t wait to see how corals will display on it.

I found that this rock stacks in a very solid manner. Doesn’t budge. Just for insurance I played with both emarco and Nyos cement. I really didn’t like the feel. I ended up using Jurassic Gel (huge tube of thick glue) and insta set spray. Just squeeze out in key contact locations and joints followed by a few sprits of the spray and rock solid clear invisible bond. I can lift the entire 20 pound island and it comes as one.

 

[gcarroll]

Awesome Vid! Really gives the feel of the scape. I like it a lot...can’t wait to see how corals will display on it.

I found that this rock stacks in a very solid manner. Doesn’t budge. Just for insurance I played with both emarco and Nyos cement. I really didn’t like the feel. I ended up using Jurassic Gel (huge tube of thick glue) and insta set spray. Just squeeze out in key contact locations and joints followed by a few sprits of the spray and rock solid clear invisible bond. I can lift the entire 20 pound island and it comes as one.

Interesting, I had never heard of this stuff prior to you posting this. Very interesting product. I'm definitely going to have to get some of that. Might come in handy when I rescape the 25g with the leftover rock.

 

[CDavmd]

Basically superglue. It’s just a huge tube which makes it easy to apply. The spray is awesome. Causes an instant cure. I’m really happy with the results.

 

[Hannahrain]

Nice, I really like it.

This is my 60 gallon cube that is still cycling, I used all regular Marco rock except for the 3 small live rock pieces in the front.

I only used 1 piece of the shelf rock which is the horizontal piece across the middle.

By the way any FL people who are interested in Marco rock, WWC in Orlando has it, that's where I bought mine.

 

[shred5]

I bought marco shelf rock and it looks nothing like those pics above.

I saw the video of them from Macna or Reefapalooza and emailed them about it and no response.

Basically prime cuts is Marco rock cut in half. It is nice but nothing like the stuff they showed. The stuff in the pics above has the same look as sand stone, I know it is not sand stone but it has that airy layered look. It looks much flatter where prime is only flat on one side.


There is a difference between the prime cuts on their site and what is shown in the video which is the premium maybe?

I might order some to see what it is like. It does look nice.



I really like real reef rock shelf. You can get it in massive sizes too. It is pre-cycled and shipped wet.

In the pic below is one of my builds and the rock in the middle comes withing 4 inches of front glass and is over 2' long.

 

[gcarroll]

I bought marco shelf rock and it looks nothing like those pics above.

I saw the video of them from Macna or Reefapalooza and emailed them about it and no response.

Basically prime cuts is Marco rock cut in half. It is nice but nothing like the stuff they showed. The stuff in the pics above has the same look as sand stone, I know it is not sand stone but it has that airy layered look. It looks much flatter where prime is only flat on one side.


There is a difference between the prime cuts on their site and what is shown in the video which is the premium maybe?

I might order some to see what it is like. It does look nice.



I really like real reef rock shelf. You can get it in massive sizes too. It is pre-cycled and shipped wet.

In the pic below is one of my builds and the rock in the middle comes withing 4 inched of front glass and is over 2' long.

That scape turned out really nice. how are those large pieces supported on the back glass? Is that the same piece of RR rock in the pic with the mallet?

I also have some Prime Cuts. All the pieces that touch the bottom of the tank are Prime Cuts. Now that you mention it, my rock does look like sandstone. Here on the west coast we don't see it much other than on TV so I really couldn't place it. We have a lot of access to Real Reef Rock since it is made here in So Cal but I just wanted something different. Something a bit more porous.

 

[shred5]

That scape turned out really nice. how are those large pieces supported on the back glass? Is that the same piece of RR rock in the pic with the mallet?

I also have some Prime Cuts. All the pieces that touch the bottom of the tank are Prime Cuts. Now that you mention it, my rock does look like sandstone. Here on the west coast we don't see it much other than on TV so I really couldn't place it. We have a lot of access to Real Reef Rock since it is made here in So Cal but I just wanted something different. Something a bit more porous.

Yea that is the piece of real reef rock next to the mallet. It was chiseled down in the picture to make it fit.
Yea real reef rock is a little dense.
The rock is supported with black acrylic basically in a c shape, a 3 sided square to create a shelf.. Bottom is under the sand so you do not see it. I also put a strip of silicone because the weight caused it to pull away from the back and bend the vertical piece of acrylic just a little.. With a black back ground and it being shaded you can not see it, you really have to look close.

 

[BAUCE]

Dry rock for me is a must in any aquarium and i will never look to use 'live rock' again. Marco or Real Reef are hands down my go to.

Sadly in the UK we don't seem to have stax or this new type and so if we want plate rock it is RR or nothing!

I said this before I did my last tank. Started with all dry rock and it took literal years to establish and be suitable for SPS. Maybe I was doing something wrong but I think I remember Mike Paletta having the same problem with one of his tanks. My rock has been set up in this tank for 5+ years now and is great but it took a really long time to get to this point.