Hermorah
Community Member
Hello, Welcome to my first build thread. After years of being in the animal hobby. From my first hermit crab in first grade, which was unintentionally murdered with a spoon by my little brother. Till a few years later to a merely 10g freshwater tank with no filter, heater, dechlorinator or even lights and about 20 fish which each would grow more than 5 inches. All the way to keeping fish alive, having a successfully scaped planted aquarium, having a leopard gecko and a lot of stuff in between. To now a reef tank twelve years after having Crabby.
Ok about my tank its 18.95 gallons (71 liters) 27.5"L - 16.14" H - 9.8" D (cm: 70-41-25) but due to a brace it’s only going to have water up to 14.5" (37cm), which makes the water volume 17 g (64 L); I estimate that the water volume with sand and live rock would be around 14.5 g (55 L).
If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's (impatience = redoing eventually). Just do it right the first time, take your time, in the end you will be very glad you did. The real itch only lasts a week. The best remedy for an itch in my opinion is making a scape dojo and adjusting The scape every day to make it better. I did this for about three weeks, and in these three weeks and another two before them I’ve been researching and planning.
My two cents on scaping. When scaping you should consider the rule of thirds, balance, flow and other art guidelines, but in my opinion the one thing that really makes a aquascape aesthetically pleasing is having a story. You need to try and tell something with your scape. Your story could be anything, maybe you’re creating the ruins of a drowned city, a magical jungle (something like in the movie avatar), recreating a reef and imagining the process it was developed and building it from bottom up. You can even replicate some else’s tank or a scene from a documentary or picture.
The story can be as simple as what you’re putting in the tank and creating a natural environment for it. It doesn’t matter what you chose, but having one will give more value to your tank and also give you a guideline of what to do. In my story I knew there had to be caves, shelves for coral and different section so I don’t get bored. So I started scaping and reached the image of a rocky shore that due to many years of rain, the softer rocks have been washed away and the denser rocks have remained in the form of columns. Then water levels have raised, and coral has grown on the rocks.
As I said earlier I was scaping for three weeks, I know it’s overkill but it was mainly a way to make waiting easier. Even though it was overkill I changed something every day. You can’t believe how one tiny detail can impact a scape.
That’s why taking your time and letting it sit for a few days is so important. When you walk away from a scape after focusing on it, your brain is still working on it in the background without you knowing. This effect is especially powerful when you sleep on it. So leave it for at least a day.
Now after making any change you must take a picture. This is necessary so you can recreate your scape and compare it with other ones. They don’t need to be high quality or good, they’re there so you don’t forget. I mean look at mine.
Also imagine the tank as a complete, think about how the corals will grow and if they have enough space. Do this for all livestock and equipment.
When scaping you should consider the direction you’re going to look at the tank at. For me it was from my desk (front) and my bed (right).
Oh and I almost forgot. After positioning the rocks I glued them together using the cotton (didn't use cigarette filters) and super glue technique, so they wouldn’t move.
Currently I’m letting my rocks dry from a bleach cure and hopefully will be sitting up my tank soon. I’m going to use Bio digest start at the beginning. And for equipment Aquaforest reef salt, a 264 G/H (1000 L/H) pump that will pump water into a container holding media and macro algae that overflows into the tank. I don’t have a RODI unit and I’m buying water. For stocking I’m sticking with corals and inverts with no fish. Fish are too much work.
Ok about my tank its 18.95 gallons (71 liters) 27.5"L - 16.14" H - 9.8" D (cm: 70-41-25) but due to a brace it’s only going to have water up to 14.5" (37cm), which makes the water volume 17 g (64 L); I estimate that the water volume with sand and live rock would be around 14.5 g (55 L).
If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's (impatience = redoing eventually). Just do it right the first time, take your time, in the end you will be very glad you did. The real itch only lasts a week. The best remedy for an itch in my opinion is making a scape dojo and adjusting The scape every day to make it better. I did this for about three weeks, and in these three weeks and another two before them I’ve been researching and planning.
My two cents on scaping. When scaping you should consider the rule of thirds, balance, flow and other art guidelines, but in my opinion the one thing that really makes a aquascape aesthetically pleasing is having a story. You need to try and tell something with your scape. Your story could be anything, maybe you’re creating the ruins of a drowned city, a magical jungle (something like in the movie avatar), recreating a reef and imagining the process it was developed and building it from bottom up. You can even replicate some else’s tank or a scene from a documentary or picture.
The story can be as simple as what you’re putting in the tank and creating a natural environment for it. It doesn’t matter what you chose, but having one will give more value to your tank and also give you a guideline of what to do. In my story I knew there had to be caves, shelves for coral and different section so I don’t get bored. So I started scaping and reached the image of a rocky shore that due to many years of rain, the softer rocks have been washed away and the denser rocks have remained in the form of columns. Then water levels have raised, and coral has grown on the rocks.
As I said earlier I was scaping for three weeks, I know it’s overkill but it was mainly a way to make waiting easier. Even though it was overkill I changed something every day. You can’t believe how one tiny detail can impact a scape.
That’s why taking your time and letting it sit for a few days is so important. When you walk away from a scape after focusing on it, your brain is still working on it in the background without you knowing. This effect is especially powerful when you sleep on it. So leave it for at least a day.
Now after making any change you must take a picture. This is necessary so you can recreate your scape and compare it with other ones. They don’t need to be high quality or good, they’re there so you don’t forget. I mean look at mine.
Also imagine the tank as a complete, think about how the corals will grow and if they have enough space. Do this for all livestock and equipment.
When scaping you should consider the direction you’re going to look at the tank at. For me it was from my desk (front) and my bed (right).
Oh and I almost forgot. After positioning the rocks I glued them together using the cotton (didn't use cigarette filters) and super glue technique, so they wouldn’t move.
Currently I’m letting my rocks dry from a bleach cure and hopefully will be sitting up my tank soon. I’m going to use Bio digest start at the beginning. And for equipment Aquaforest reef salt, a 264 G/H (1000 L/H) pump that will pump water into a container holding media and macro algae that overflows into the tank. I don’t have a RODI unit and I’m buying water. For stocking I’m sticking with corals and inverts with no fish. Fish are too much work.
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