Ruined! :( Caribsea Life Rock

[Faccia di Pesce]

Well my first attempt at aquascaping ended in a disaster. I think I would make a better butcher than an aquascaper lol!

I bought 40 LBS of Caribsea Life rock. And then bought on arch for 50 dollars from a local store. The rocks form the 40 pound box were extremely large as was the arch. I only have a 40 Gallon Breeder. I tried to shape and glue some of the rock together with E-Marco. I came up with the pic below. But when I put it in the tank it seemed to be extremely large. So I tried to play around with it and the arch broke and fell and shattered half of it. Ugh!

Back to the drawing board. I might just get the Life Rock Shapes and use that with what I have. The arches seem smaller than what I just broke. I am guessing I'm not the first to butcher an aquascape project.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Dang, I feel for you. I HATE aquascraping

 

[Daddy-o]

Get a hammer and chisel, then crack the rock into sizes shapes you want, and glue the rock. You can do it!!!

 

[Fishingandreefing]

That scape actually looks pretty good. Smaller tank is easy and I like those rocks which what I am using in my 73. If I restart my 120, will likely to use these.

 

[Faccia di Pesce]

Get a hammer and chisel, then crack the rock into sizes shapes you want, and glue the rock. You can do it!!!

That is exactly what I am doing . Need to order more E-Marco which stinks. No place in NY to buy it so have to ship it.

 

[Tumey]

I think what you have looks great!

Ya the one on the right’s a bit chunky but like @Daddy-o said, get a hammer and chisel then give it some strategic whacks.

 

[ADAM]

Another You can use a fiberglass/plastic rod to mend the arch as well. Likely want a masonry drill bit or buy a cheap "regular" bit to drill into the arch rock. Carefully drill into the rock a little on either side and place the support rod/pipe into the rock with some of the e-macro bonder between the rocks also. Should help a lot to support the joint, especially down the road if you need/want to move it around some.

*Aquascaping is the one thing that really tries my patience in this hobby....I likely would have started another tank by now if not for the thought of trying to 'scape it!

 

[KWT]

Keep working it til you are happy, don’t settle just because. You won’t be happy later

 

[Daddy-o]

That is exactly what I am doing . Need to order more E-Marco which stinks. No place in NY to buy it so have to ship it.

Go to Home Depot and get hydraulic cement

 

[Faccia di Pesce]

Another You can use a fiberglass/plastic rod to mend the arch as well. Likely want a masonry drill bit or buy a cheap "regular" bit to drill into the arch rock. Carefully drill into the rock a little on either side and place the support rod/pipe into the rock with some of the e-macro bonder between the rocks also. Should help a lot to support the joint, especially down the road if you need/want to move it around some.

*Aquascaping is the one thing that really tries my patience in this hobby....I likely would have started another tank by now if not for the thought of trying to 'scape it!

Thanks.
I hate aquascaping lol.

 

[Faccia di Pesce]

Go to Home Depot and get hydraulic cement

really? That won’t hurt the fish?

 

[Faccia di Pesce]

Go to Home Depot and get hydraulic cement

This?

DRYLOK Fast Plug 10 lb. Hydraulic Cement 00924 - The Home Depot

DRYLOK Fast Plug is a fast-setting hydraulic cement that sets in just 3-5 minutes, preventing water from flowing, even under pressure, through cracks and holes in concrete and masonry structures. It's

www.homedepot.com

 

[Daddy-o]

I use Quickcrete but that should work. It will get warm and set quick (chemical reaction) Let it sit for a couple days then soak in water for a couple days/weeks to leach.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Live and learn. You are developing your skills for the future, so that is a positive.

 

[Daddy-o]

We use these for our coral. Homemade with cement

 

[xlayedoutx]

I’ve got a 40B as well. I used 40 pounds of Caribsea life rock, a 20 pound box of shapes and I bought another arch from my LFS. Use all but maybe 3 pieces.

 

[vlangel]

Well my first attempt at aquascaping ended in a disaster. I think I would make a better butcher than an aquascaper lol!

I bought 40 LBS of Caribsea Life rock. And then bought on arch for 50 dollars from a local store. The rocks form the 40 pound box were extremely large as was the arch. I only have a 40 Gallon Breeder. I tried to shape and glue some of the rock together with E-Marco. I came up with the pic below. But when I put it in the tank it seemed to be extremely large. So I tried to play around with it and the arch broke and fell and shattered half of it. Ugh!

Back to the drawing board. I might just get the Life Rock Shapes and use that with what I have. The arches seem smaller than what I just broke. I am guessing I'm not the first to butcher an aquascape project.

Take heart. Aquascaping is really hard when you first do it. One gets better at it with practice.

I used to really struggle. Then I got a job maintaining tanks for a LFS and some of the tanks I had to re-scaped every time I cleaned them. It was rough in the beginning but slowly my eye for it developed and so did my proficiency. Actually now aquascaping is one of my favorite aspects of doing a new tank.

 

[Faccia di Pesce]

I’ve got a 40B as well. I used 40 pounds of Caribsea life rock, a 20 pound box of shapes and I bought another arch from my LFS. Use all but maybe 3 pieces.

do you have a pic?

 

[RC Corals]

Break it up, glue as you want, and it will all end up looking the same eventually either by Coraline or by corals covering it.

 

[AquariumSpecialty]

This may help you with your struggles...

Fauna Marin Aqua ScapeFix

AquaScape Fix is an easy-to-use, reusable, high performance glue for freshwater and saltwater aquariums. Made from a unique composition, AquaScape Fix is safe for all aquarium inhabitants and is perfect for mounting coral frags and rockscaping. To use, simply take a small portion of AquaScape...

www.aquariumspecialty.com