Aquascaping - Where do I look?

[djryan2000]

I will be setting up a 40 gallon breeder tank with a lot of crabs and some fish. I want something more visually appealing than simply live rock or a way to spruce up my live rock to make more small territories for all the crabs and look cool. I really like the look of corals and anemones but can't afford them and don't want to give up on housing the inverts that would inevitably pick at my corals.

 

[MondoBongo]

put together a good aquascape can be one of the more difficult parts of the hobby. it's also a highly subjective endeavor.

what i always advise, is to play around with it. get a bunch of rocks, set them up dry on a table, i usually measure out the footprint of my tank so i know how much room i will have. then start making combinations you think might look cool.

as far as inspiration, i draw a lot from other people's tanks, pictures and videos of wild reefs, hell sometimes even things like bonsai or other type of gardening.

part of the frustration, but most of the fun, is that there's no rules. and you get to experiment until you find something you like. then, if you decide after a while you don't like it, you can always change it!

 

[Sk8r]

Several considerations. 1. everything you put in there is eventually going to be the same color pattern---brown or grey with pink coralline patches. SO forget decor. 2. Build with your rocks, and do it with water, because rocks can handle and balance very differently underwater. Some have air pockets. Fit them together and get them to balance. 3. to avoid crap buildup, you want water to flow through: caves and tunnels and such. To keep my rockwork clean, I set a few 'basement pillars' that support the rest of the rocks, with a gap between rockwork and sand base. Then I build on that, interlocking the pieces and weighting the join with other rock. 4. to prevent 'point load' on the bottom glass by sharp rocks, I lay a base of lighting grid plastic before i add rock. 5. Sand goes down last. NEver base your rockwork on sand: it will shift and can break your glass if you have a bad rockslide.