Need help with your aquascape?

[Ardeus]

I

Can you help me out
Still have a lot to do before i stock it

Would try to create 2 structures and no bridges. Try to create each structure like it was a plant, each reef plate like a leaf: each at a different height and angle.

 

[Ardeus]

Here's my 220 gallon. Hoping to get some opinions but mostly advice on coral placements. What would you do with it ?

It depends on the type of corals. I would avoid adding lots of corals with too much volume, because they will close the gaps.

Here's a suggestion for some minor changes to the rockwork

 

[Ardeus]

Looking for critique on mine as well. I don’t have anything glued down, and I have a large piece outside im trying to break because I’m not a fan of the shape. But for now, these are the ones I’m trying to employ in my scape.

I would go for 2 structures, 1 large and a really tiny one, a single small rock. Make the larger structure look as cohesive as possible, it should look as a single rock.

 

[Ardeus]

Absolutley great thread! great work guys and very good eye Ardeus! Here's my 4ooltr more or less frag tank for my son to set up 1000ltr 6'x 3' x 2 deep !
What can I do to improve this?

I wouldn't dare to mess too much with it.

The easiest thing to do is just to get the corals on the sand in groups instead of scattered.

If you're feeling brave, divide it into 2 structures, 1 bigger than the other but don't split the tank right in the middle.

 

[CDavmd]

I've always enjoyed the aquascaping portion of a build....in fact I think I've set up more and more aquariums simply for the aquascaping part lol! So the time as come to begin the slow process of playing with rocks. It will probably take me a couple months before I'm happy. I've always preferred an minimalist tank with room for corals to take up the space. So here is my first pass for my 425XL build....I'll let it sit for a couple days and come back to it and most likely start over ( my usual process) until I'm satisfied.....honestly never happy but satisfied.;)

Soooo......looked at it day after day. Started getting that itch...the right sided canyon was too regular- not natural. Fooled with it again and finally got something I was totally happy with. Left it alone again for a few days. Still happy so time to put it in the tank!

....as always happens- no matter how well I mark the rocks, take pictures and draw the outline; I can never get it exactly the same when I get it upstairs in the tank. The appearance in the tank is also always a bit different. Anyways...started with my foundation based on the pictures/drawings/ marked rocks and came close. A little tweaking here and there, leave it for a couple days, come back, more tweaking and I think I found what I wanted. Put some sand and a few pieces of random rubble in to finish the look. All in all I'm reasonably happy with the scape. Feels natural, not too much rock, and plenty of room for coral growth.

Let me know what you think.

 

[Ardeus]

Are you sure you don't want to make it a FOWLR? It's almost a shame to cover it with coral :)

I am very curious to see how it will develop.

 

[CDavmd]

Are you sure you don't want to make it a FOWLR? It's almost a shame to cover it with coral :)

I am very curious to see how it will develop.

;Happy:D;Joyful Thank you!

 

[Jon_S_1966]

Hello Ardeus. I want to thank you in advance for your help. What you have done for so many is so valuable to everyone.

I am just getting into salt and reef tanks. I had some basic fresh fish tanks way back but not going to date myself. I went by a local store thinking about doing a salt/reef system and ended up buying an used tank without a lot of prior research and reading. The LFS guy suggested about a 100 gallon for a nice tank to start since not too big or too small and can go for long time with it. They had this nice tank which I bought on his recommendation thinking this will be great. I bought a challenge as I started researching.

It is a 110 gallon show tank at 48"w x 18"d x 30"t. Wow long reach to the bottom and aquascaping presents unique challenges with the height and narrowness. I am looking to do mixed of many sorts but starting easy with just fish and working up as I go.

I read through this long amazing thread and started over with my mock up since it looked like a rainbow shaped rock pile. This is where I got to and like it and am looking for thoughts on it. With the tank depth, it is too hard to play with inside the tank.

Thanks again for all your assistance especially to us amateur newbies.

One picture is my bad overlay roughly to scale. Presently there would be about 5" clearance from sides and front to glass and about 2" in back.

The bottom holes will be sealed. All plumbing is external behind to top. Using a shadow overflow for return to sump.

 

[Ardeus]

Given the tank dimensions you did a very good job.

Since you have provided plenty of free space to the sides, I am guessing you are still going to try increasing the space between the 2 structures or rotating the smaller one 180 degrees. It will always look interesting anyway you choose to orient it. As it is it looks very good.

 

[Jon_S_1966]

Given the tank dimensions you did a very good job.

Since you have provided plenty of free space to the sides, I am guessing you are still going to try increasing the space between the 2 structures or rotating the smaller one 180 degrees. It will always look interesting anyway you choose to orient it. As it is it looks very good.

Thank you for your comments. I tried to work with what came up repeatedly for comments. I can move both out a bit. I am thinking cutting sides to about 4" to get at least two more inches between the structures. The reason for the orientation that does not show real well in the photos is the two structures sort of mimic each other like a fissure that has spread apart.

I am thinking about pushing the right end of the structure back some so front is not as parallel to the glass. At the same time pull the right structure forward and maybe a slight twist with the increased gap to create a bay feel. At least the right structure is small to work with at that depth.

One item I would seek input on is putting something under the rock structures before placing them. I am considering plastic egg crate. I have seen one person post here with it. It seems to be a can do but not necessary thing. I am concerned about sliding with the height of the structure or something falling with the height.

All thoughts welcome.

Jon

 

[DavidDB]

 

[DavidDB]

Need your advice about my plans - wish I had found your service before I got this far. Above are a couple of pictures of 115 gallon aquarium (now empty) that I am trying to aquascape for a reef tank. It is part of a room divider between living and dining area and is over 30 years old, and I am trying to restore it as a marine aquarium although it is not plumbed for a sump. Hope you can see it here as reflections may mess up the images. It is tall (27 1/2 inch water column) and narrow (19") and 53 inches long, with wood around it, custom made, glass. I liked the look of "floating reef" but could not do it easily as the tank is visible from both sides. Had some acrylic structures built that I plan to attach marine rock, or old coral pieces I can find on the beaches, to try to make it look like it is "floating", and to get the level of corals up so they will not be more than 20 inches below the water surface. Will seal the base to the bottom glass and then put about 1" of sand over it. Have one set of acrylic about twice as long as the other and a gap of about 4 inches between them, with a third level connecting the two structures. Have about 4 inches all around the acrylic structures for flow and cleaning glass. Each level is 6 inches above the other, so top acrylic is at 12 " above floor, and roughly 15 inches below the surface of the water when filled. Challenge for me will be to find/cut right corals/stones as I am in Oman and no real access to vendors of dry rock. Also I catch my own fish by snorkeling nearby. I carried from the USA my setup including 2 Al Hydra 26 HP lights, one Tunze Comline DOC 9012 Skimmer, two Tunze Comline multifilter 3168's, for circulation two Rossmont Mover M1900's and one Rossmont Waver WR-2CH "All in one". Planning to keep the pumps/filters on the two sides of the tank where they will not be so conspicuous.

 

[Ardeus]

The problem with the acrylic structure is that they will always create an artificial looking rock layout because of the perfect horizontal lines it creates.

I tried the same concept at one time, but I gave up imediately.



That being said, the worst time are the first weeks before the acrylic is covered in algae.

In a tank that narrow and high the obvious solution would be reef branches.

 

[DavidDB]

Thanks Ardeus, very good comments. I have seen some reef branches in pictures and they do look good. I do not have a source nearby for that kind of thing so I would have to make something myself. (Unless I can find it underwater somewhere)
Regarding the horizontal lines, one thing I have considered to make the acrylic less of a straight line is to glue pieces of rock or coral around each edge and down so there would not be an obvious straight line at the bottom. The tops I was going to cover with rocks or coral that would not be very flat, but only a few inches high so there would be a gap with the upper level. I have never worked with this kind of thing before so I am not sure how easy it will be to cut the rock/coral with a hacksaw. I was also planning to "glue" a thin layer of sand on the top of the base plexiglass so that water flow would not make "bald" spots. Will try silicone and maybe some acetate stuff to see whether that works OK. Appreciate your advice and any other advice on attaching things to the acrylic structures.

 

[jordonm]

Hi, i'm considering changing a lot of my rock work and possibly restarting the tank, have you got any thoughts for me please?

 

[NY_Caveman]

I really like it. Different structures, different heights and interesting shapes.

 

[BPF42]

I would really appreciate your feedback on how I have set-up the rocks in my Red Sea Peninsula 500 tank. Both the front and back set of rocks have caves that are not easy to see in the pictures.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I would really appreciate your feedback on how I have set-up the rocks in my Red Sea Peninsula 500 tank. Both the front and back set of rocks have caves that are not easy to see in the pictures.

Nice rocks. I might switch the center and right rock structures (viewing at image one).

 

[NY_Caveman]

I would really appreciate your feedback on how I have set-up the rocks in my Red Sea Peninsula 500 tank. Both the front and back set of rocks have caves that are not easy to see in the pictures.

Very rough. Not Photoshop.

 

[808Reefer]

I’m only 4 months into this hobby. I free scaped it I didn’t scape it outside of the tank, honestly I didn’t know what to do with these rocks they are pretty unique . What do y’all think ? Too much ?