Rock work critique please

[stingeragent]

I'll plus + to the above. It's just like the old 1 in of fish per gallon rule. I like the new scape much better. Think I would change the rock on the top right. Since it's at a very steep angle, you may have a hard time putting coral on it. You could lay it flat, and put the left side of it on the middle piece (same rock that is holding up your bridge on the other side). Then youll have a wider area on top, create another bridge, and the bottom, back corner rock will also be open to put something on as it appears flat on top.

 

[JMorris271]

1-2 pounds of rock per gallon is an old rule-of-thumb; and like many rules-of-thumb essentially useless (or at least unprovable). A quick perusal of the available rock will reveal rock of various weighs and porosity. Since the determining factor for biological filtration is surface area, defining requirements in terms of weight is just silly.

My own anecdotal observations with most rock is that a satisfactory bio filter can be achieved with far less rock than people think they need. In the unlikely event you end up needing more, rock or biomedia in the sump works fine. Personally I don't do it for a bunch of reasons, but certainly one can.

Wow and Wow. I sure do wish I had learned this before purchasing 150 lbs of dryrock.:sad2:
It's sad that so many people are being misinformed about this.

 

[thegrun]

While I think 1.5 lbs per gallon is overdoing it if your rock is fairly porous and yours is, but I still like the safety factor of keeping close to 1 pound per gallon of rock. I now try to keep as much of this rock in my refugium for a more open display tank, but aquascaping is very much a personal preference subject. I may be old school, but I would be a little nervous with less than 100 pounds of rock in your system.

 

[JMorris271]

OK. I'll see what I can work into my 40 gal fuge. The porous stuff is lighter so more space is needed it which competes with space to put 2 reactors. So I think maybe the carbon/gfo could go into the return chamber but that means another pump in the return.

Where did 'old school' rules come from anyway?

 

[JMorris271]

I'll plus + to the above. It's just like the old 1 in of fish per gallon rule. I like the new scape much better. Think I would change the rock on the top right. Since it's at a very steep angle, you may have a hard time putting coral on it. You could lay it flat, and put the left side of it on the middle piece (same rock that is holding up your bridge on the other side). Then youll have a wider area on top, create another bridge, and the bottom, back corner rock will also be open to put something on as it appears flat on top.

Thanks. Thats a real good idea but I really like that jaunting rock there.

 

[Ruskin]

Personally it looks like you have a lot of very large rocks. If that's the look you want then by all means stick to it. But if it were me I would break a couple of the larger rocks up with a hammer (its easier then it sounds) and have some smaller pieces to play with. That way you can get far more creative with what you have.

Old school rules are just our hobbies way of progressing. We thought it was the way to do it till we learned more and had a better understanding.

 

[JMorris271]

Reworked a suggested move. I like it better and will be able to place more
coral





Good water movement this way I hope.



All the rock that's left

 

[stingeragent]

In pic 2, that rock you moved looks like an imperial star destroyer

 

[JMorris271]

At long last. I have the rock in my tank. It is not exactly as planned but close enough and ready for sand.

 

[JMorris271]

I had to shake my previous arrangement up to add 20lbs of TBay LR.
So far I am pleased with what I got but haven't noticed any critters. I hope all the good ones were not in the water I threw out.. I managed to keep my tunnels and provide nice area for placing frags.
Can I have your views again with this new setup.
Thanks

 

[stingeragent]

If it works for you that's all that matters. I liked your last out of water setup the best, but I agree , can't always transfer it to the tank and keep it 100% looking the same. If you do decide to change it up a bit, I'd work on it now before you have coral attached to the rock. That makes it more difficult. Since you do have live rock now, if your wanting to do some re-arranging, and don't have room in the tank to put rocks temporarily while you move others, get a small rubbermaid tub with saltwater in it next to the tank, and you can put spare pieces in there until you get it just how you want. Regardless of if you rescape or not, a spare rubbermaid tub, spare heater, spare powerhead are 100% needed to have on hand for the future, whether you have a leaky tank and need to move stuff quick, or an emergency QT, or re aquascaping, upgrading your tank to a bigger size, etc. The equipment also gives you a backup in case your tank heater or a powerhead goes out. I've used my rubbermaid tubs, spare heater, power head, on at least 5-6 different occasions within the last 18 months. If your buying on amazon or something where you can get cheap prices, just by 2 of each. You will eventually be glad you did.

 

[JMorris271]

Am I following the rule of thirds here? I am trying to open it up some more but can't get elevation without making it look like a stack of rock without rods. and done ant to resort to that.
Man, this is hard.

 

[davocean]

Am I following the rule of thirds here? I am trying to open it up some more but can't get elevation without making it look like a stack of rock without rods. and done ant to resort to that.
Man, this is hard.


View attachment 332791

If it were my tank, I'd keep what you have on the very right as is, I'd take rock from the center, and place that up on the left for a higher elevation.
That could be done w/ epoxy if you don't like the idea of rods(but I personally would do a simple rod or two for stability, it's not hard to do)
So low on right, open center, high on left, I think that would look nice.

 

[JMorris271]

All of this rock in there is dry. I still have 20 lbs of TB LR to work in. My problem is I have no substantial pieces . Its all baseball size. I'm going to try to buildup in front of the overflows without screwing things up.
I'll pick up some putty and try to do what you suggest Dave.

 

[davocean]

I think there is a lot to gain from open/negative space, why I suggest pulling rock from center, and add to left for variation in levels.
This also helps provide different levels of light, so you can place the light needy high, and keep low light needy like euphyllia lower where it seems to have best color IMO

 

[JMorris271]

If it were my tank, I'd keep what you have on the very right as is, I'd take rock from the center, and place that up on the left for a higher elevation.
That could be done w/ epoxy if you don't like the idea of rods(but I personally would do a simple rod or two for stability, it's not hard to do)
So low on right, open center, high on left, I think that would look nice.

I see what you mean about the height. It looks like a lot of what I see when snorkeling. Pardon the no shirt but I had to reach in the tank pretty deep.
Any comments please.

 

[njreefguy]

I'd try and get that flat piece on the right flipped over. Looks like it could be a really nice shelf if you use it right. Let it over hang out towards the front. I also don't see the other shelf piece from earlier pics, but I would do the same with that. I also think a touch more height on the right which will happen if you rework that shelf and then just a couple of small pieces out front in the sand partially buried with interesting features showing out of the sand