Aquascaping difficulties

[Jeffy Jr]

Hey everybody new to the forum and the hobby. Looking to get some insight on aquascaping as it turns out to be more difficult than I once imagined. Plus, I had everything laid out on the floor like I wanted but replicating that in the tank was another issue.

The tank is 75 gallons with 75lbs of rock from BRS. I'm not sure at this point how I should continue. I'm not totally unsatisfied although I'm not sure if I will be happy with it later. Considered breaking up some of the larger pieces (which I was not expecting to receive pieces as large as I did, not complaining just caught me by surprise) although I'm afraid to do that as you never know how they will break.

Any input, negative or positive, would be appreciated. Also, I apologize for the crappy pics, going to try and get some better ones with a different camera later on.

Thanks!

 

[eho72]

Try not to do the wall look. Have some peaks and valleys.

 

[mdb_talon]

Personally I would seperate the rock into a couple of different mountains and add more depth from front to back in some sections and none in others.

 

[Jeffy Jr]

Thank you for the opinions. I originally wanted two islands with a passageway in the middle with a cave on the right side with the front facing the right side. But I also want to incorporate the 'holes' in the rock so smaller fish, snails, etc could go through.

I think I need to get away from trying to use all the rock initially and then I can always break the other pieces down some to build it up a little more. As stated before though, just concerned that I will be unhappy with the pieces when I break them apart as there is no guarantee as to what kind of shape or sizes you will get.

 

[GhostCon1]

If you carefully chisel it, you may get lucky.

 

[Jeffy Jr]

Guess I'm going to try and chisel out some 'arch' pieces to eliminate the large rock/chunk pieces and go from there.

Thanks guys!

 

[DZs]

Do you like pillars? If so, you could stack a few of them on top off each other.

I too was/is dealing with large pieces. 8"+ plus. I agree... aquascaping is difficult. (I like the right side, but the left side was bugging me) I just redid mine last night with helpful insights from a fellow reefer on this board.

 

[Husky_1]

You can always create arch pieces as well. If you use some aquarium putty and epoxy they can come out quite nice.

Here are some examples of structures I made from the different angles

Here were some of my inspirations, I dont know the original source of these photo's so I apologize in advanced:

 

[DZs]

Beautiful pictures of those tanks! :inlove:

 

[Jeffy Jr]

Alright so I have one large rock I'm still looking to split up although I am MUCH happier with the setup. I know some like fewer rocks and some like the tower/pillar setup, although, I happen to like cave/'swim-through' areas. I plan on making one side taller once I split the rock also.

Again, sorry for the pics (charging a better camera as we speak).

LMK what y'all think.

 

[Jeffy Jr]

Alright so I through a small light on just to cast shadows and light the tank up some. Apparently I need to work a good bit at taking pictures of the aquarium...lol. Anyhow here are the most up-to-date pics I have right now.

Better? Worse?

Left | Middle | Right

 

[Jeffy Jr]

Here is the total shot of the tank.

 

[firereef]

Alright so I have one large rock I'm still looking to split up although I am MUCH happier with the setup. I know some like fewer rocks and some like the tower/pillar setup, although, I happen to like cave/'swim-through' areas. I plan on making one side taller once I split the rock also.

Again, sorry for the pics (charging a better camera as we speak).

LMK what y'all think.

Honestly my friend, don't try too hard to aquascape. Trying to hard makes it look too forced. Use your imagination and let it come naturally. Try different looks and choose which looks more natural. The ocean reef isn't put together so be creative hope this helps. It did for me.

 

[euromomtx]

How about making some structure taller and some not quite as tall.
The dry rock is pretty easy to work with. The Reef Saver stuff is fairly dense and won't split into too many tiny pieces if you hit it with a hammer and chisel.
Very easy to drill.
The Pukani is more porous and it takes a little more care to drill or break it.
I have enjoyed working with nylon rods and nuts to create something I liked.
Now I just have to figure out how to get it into my tank without dropping it and cracking the tank! lol

 

[happyclam]

Honestly my friend, don't try too hard to aquascape. Trying to hard makes it look too forced. Use your imagination and let it come naturally. Try different looks and choose which looks more natural. The ocean reef isn't put together so be creative hope this helps. It did for me.

+1. Besides that, once you get all the corals in you won't be able to see any of the original rockscape.


love the scape euromomtx! I hope you set up a build thread.

 

[Husky_1]

Here is what I did, I laid all my rocks on the floor, and gave my wife and idea of what I would like to see. Then we both worked in building the basic structures. It literally took us 5 minutes to come up with a design. Of course then it took some time to attach all the rocks together, which was my job.

Doing everything on the floor is much easier than in the tank.

As for your current design, here are my suggestions:
- You are getting closer, I really
- For me, there are still too many places for fish to hide
- Think about keep the rock height the same as you have now, but instead of all caves add a couple valley's/canyons
- Do everything in 3's, or at least odd numbers.
- Make sure that whatever structures you make will withstand a lot of movement, you will hit things around when cleaning and sand will shift.
- Think about what you want the corals to look like when they grow in, how big they will be, and how the rocks will interfer by having basically a shelf with caves.
- Most of all, dont worry about what others say, if you love the way it looks, then by all means keep it that way.

 

[Jorsan]

Euromomtx, a curiosity: how many pounds do you have inside the tank in the photo?

 

[Saltyllama]

Honestly bro, you will change your rocks at least 10 more times before you are done. The only time I stopped moving rocks is when they were too covered in coral to do anything with.

Tank looks good. I personally would leave it how you have it, then get some live rock and add the mountain peaks where you want them. That way you can keep your caves and then add higher peaks for coral that demands more light.

Good luck!