I absolutely suck at aquascaping
 

I was never artistic person, best I could draw was a stick man. Up until this point in my life it wasnt really too much of an issue, but I think it has finally caught up with me. I absolutely suck at aquascaping. Issue that I have is that I cant visualize what I can do with rocks that I have. I have a bunch of rocks, some small, some bigger boulders, all different shapes, but when I look at them I have absolutely no idea where to start and how to start creating aquascape with them. I kinda have an idea in my head on how I would like scape to look like, but have no idea how to take rocks that I have and mold them into what I want. I am afraid to just start randomly breaking, chiseling and cutting rocks as then I may break something I actually needed to be one piece later on.

Any help or pointers would be much appreciated.

Tank is 110G 5' x 18" wide x 2' high.

Thanks

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2217633.

There is a ton of info on the web

I read that thread and similar one on R2R. My issue is the I just cant look at few pieces of rock and say if I chisel this off, break this piece here, turn this rock around like this, I get this sort of fixture. Thats my main issue. I have lots of ideas on what I would like my scape to look like, just no idea how to get there with rocks that I have.

Aquascaping can take weeks. Play with it,look at it for a few days, change it, look at it for a few days. Take your time and dont rush. Until your 100% happy dont stop.

However also remember that in a yearor 2 it will be covered in so much coral you wont see the rock. So dont worry as much on how it looks, just worry more about maximizing placement for coral

The only piece of advice I can give you is don't glue them down because if you need to get a rock out in the future because it has something growing on it yo don't like or want you won't be able to get it out.

I found that playing around with the rocks on the floor helps a lot. Maybe stack the rocks as they are without breaking them and see what you can get. Once you have a design you like you can reshape as necessary. Sometimes gluing the rocks together can be easier than hammering them to fit.

Try for a space that's the size of your setup as well so you can place rocks as if you were setting them inside your tank. A Garage or spare bedroom if you have one.. that way its out of sight, out of mind, and you can do your daily visit to make tweaks over the course of a couple weeks until you nail it.

https://i.imgur.com/t3kW6pS.jpg?2

I second what Ryancw said. Play around with it and build out some fun shapes :)

There is also a couple YouTube videos put out by BRS on what to do/not to do that have quite a few good tips. if you haven't seen them i recommend checking them out.

I did a mockup on my floor in the approximate dimensions of my tank I have a 95 gallon I had a 150lbs of dead rock had an awesome setup after about a week of resetting my rock in the mockup Found one I was happy with. Made sure it was all stable then put in my tank two weeks later my carefully laid out setup was thrown into the wind when I came into another 150lbs of rock this time it was live.

Ended up with a 300lb haphazard rockscape that I still have in my tank to this day 7 yrs later minus about 50lbs I’ve removed throughout the years.

Thanks for tips everyone. I do have outline of the tank already made, and am using it for this task. I need to spend some time and see how each rock could potentially go with others, and thats my main issue. I just cant visualize things like that haha.

I kinda came up with one structure yesterday. It was complete fluke, but so far I like it (location and angle are not final). It did raise some questions thought that i wanted to inquire about

https://i.imgur.com/qbZyuVt.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ezZaPfg.jpg

Few of the top pieces are barely touching one another, especially flat piece top right. How would you go about making this more secure? Even if I use glue and/or cement of some sort, there are very few points of contact between the 2 rocks. Should I try to build up shelf piece with smaller rocks using glue/cement and then connect to the bottom one, chisel away until it fits more securely, something else?

Since rock is heavy, and I have limited opening on the aquarium top due to acrylic brace, I will need to do this in 3 pieces. Once it is in the tank, should I connect all 3 pieces or leave them as separate? If I leave as separate, worried about one part falling over. If I connect, I wont be able to take out or remove if need be.

Thanks again for the help and tips so far.

Looks great, nice and open. Imagine water flow, crabs and fish bumping them, corals growing and shifting their center of gravity, the tank shaking when people walk by... The question of having the rocks easily removable or very stable is really a personal preference. Personally I lean toward stability, so I glue or cement my rocks. Others do the opposite.

drill holes and ty wrap once they are inside the tank. Or i've heard of drilling and installing acrylic rods. Me personally, i like to cement as much as possible. in your case i would cement two structures together and then try and make a sturdy resting point between the two and if you are still worried, drill for a single tie wrap you can install once inside. Easily cut-able down the road if you can remember where you tied it :mrgreen:


remember when you set the rocks inside the tank, Rocks first, then sand. that will be the main reason your rockwork shifts if it ever does.

i do have fiberglass rods ready to go, so i will drill and use those for sure with some rocks. Others i will super glue and cement together. Bigger issue is that between some of these, there are like 2-3 small points where rocks touch, so nowhere enough room to drill a rod and place, unless I want rod to be visible. Was thinking about zip ties, but heard the will fail and snap over time, especially with salt water. Will play around with it more and see if I can build up few of these to have more contact. Then I can cement them in place.

Thanks

I like to drill the rock and support it with acrylic rod, this makes it super strong. Then I use reef safe epoxy between the rocks to prevent them from pulling apart, you can even push small pieces of rubble rock into the epoxy to help hide it when you are done, after a couple months you won't even see the seam

What brand is reef safe epoxy?

Just the plain old two part sticks from any lfs instant ocean or the fluval one

Oh... that old stuff. I thought you meant real epoxy lol.

Instead of those two, you can use JB water weld or Loctite epoxy. It is same stuff but cheaper than ones made for "aquarium"

Pin and Epoxy
 

I found that if you glue too big of a structure together, it may cause issues if you need to get livestock out etc by HAVING to remove the rock.

This is why my preference is to epoxy , but also pin pieces together so it can be dismantled easier if needed.

yeah this is one of my worries, not just because i wouldnt be able to get rocks out, but I wont be able to get rocks in once I am done with scape as well. I have acrylic tank that has full brace on the top, and just 2 bigger openings. So I have to make sure that whatever I make can actually fit inside the tank through one of those 2 holes lol

https://i.imgur.com/5x0cfPx.jpg (Pic of tank while I was polishing all the scratches)

If you have some pieces that you know for sure you'll be using on the bottom, wet down some sand paper, put it on a flat surface and shave your rock bottom to a flatness that works for you. It'll help with the stability and also give that look of and endless sand depth as rock seems to rise up from the sand bed.

I used 150 Grit that I had lying around.

Thats a good idea, and I have loads of sand paper. I do have tile saw that I used on few pieces with idea to do precisely what you said once I have something that I am happy with. A lot faster than sand paper haha.

This is a very helpful video

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A_k6EDHvrWc

Played around some more with the 1st structure. Got idea of seeing if I can build some sort of asymmetrical cove out of it. Here is what I came up with so far

https://i.imgur.com/7OPstzO.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/LYsI8Rs.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Ia5fLeY.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Qx2ZPeO.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/NgPXIBB.jpg

There are 2" on all sides between structure and panel, so that there would be water movement, and so that acrylic cleaner can be used. Structure is almost 1/2 the tank height wise. One thing I am not sure is about water movement inside the cove. I will be using 2 gyre XF230s, so it should give me enough movement to move detritus as so on.

I also started playing with idea of doing "bonsai tree" structure on the left

https://i.imgur.com/S0uLpo8.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/55IYsXo.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/KHv50ah.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/6m9no4t.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/SNUGtza.jpg

Idea is to add 2 more longer "branches" so one would reach rule of 3rds point top left. Not sure how this will all work out, as i just started.

Any feedback critique, info is more than welcome.

I like it, fills out the space better and has more of a 3D feel than your first go. I'd be gluing or pinning the vertical structure for sure. If you use cement on the rocks be aware that the cement will raise the PH of your water to lethal levels for about 2 month while it is curing, then a 100% water change will be needed. I cure cement in fresh water for 2 months then drain and switch to salt water. Glue will give you faster results.

If I were you I would make sure there is minimum 6inches of space between your rock and the acrylic. You have to factor into account any coral then room nonstick your hand in there to clean the glass. All sides.

This is only true if you use cement not meant for your tank. Use reef safe cement like Fijicrete and you wont have to worry.

http://https://www.jlaquatics.com/aq...1500-gram.html


i just used this stuff and loved it. very similar to fijicrete

Thats precisely what I planned on using :)

Not sure if this is really feasible in most tanks, as it means that out of 18" I have in width, I can only use 6". It also means I would lose a whole foot length wise as well. I read 2"-3" is fine, but truth be told this is the 1st time I heard of 6" (not saying you are wrong, just a 1st for me)

After spending some time and looking at that cove, I decided that I dont like it at all, and that its not doing anything for me. Back to square 1, At least I know what I dont like, so its a start.

That will happen a few more times too. keep at it.

Another thing to try... google images your tank dimensions. ex. 60x20x20 aquascape or 5' aquascape. or just google the rock type your using for ideas.

Less trying to make it perfect and more pleasing what intrigues your taste. Then make sure you have adequate space to allow for flow to go through and done. :mrgreen:

I’m one of those who would never glue scape together. Not being able to move things around would drive me crazy, haha.
There’s a video on BRS about rock scaping that you might find interesting.

Stop and think about it. Your coral on the rock can easily stick 2-3 inches past the rock, more if you get into SPS or LPS down the road. Then add the thickness of your hand while scraping. You can build it however you want, it's your tank, but I'm telling your from experience to give yourself plenty of room for general maintenance on the tank.

As I stated at the beginning no one plans on getting aiptaisa, bubble algae, vermetid snails, really bad cyano, hair algae, a fish that eats your corals, a coral you don't want anymore or a whole host of other problems. Once you glue your rocks together you are stuck with that problem. There are a ton of threads on CanReef or Reef2Reef about reefers having to completely dismantle their tanks because of these problems. Being able to pick a rock up and remove it from your tank the instant you see some of these problems is a life saver. Also not glueing your rocks together allows you to make adjustments in the future because corals are growing together and stinging other less aggressive corals.

If you really feel you have to glue them together then use a little reef safe epoxy that can be easily pulled apart in the future when needed.

Nice structures are cool at first, once your corals get growing the corals quickly cover your structures and those holes that you created magically disappear. Ideally you need your rocks to allow you to present your corals in the best possible way. Think of the rocks as a kind of shelving units to display your art. This is the mistake I have made multiple times in the past.

After taking some time and looking at bunch of pics, came up with few new things. Got annoyed last night, as I was wasting time just standing around and looking at rocks, so took masonry bit, drill, fiberglass rods and went at it. Came up with 2 structures

Right side:

https://i.imgur.com/Fjk5SMT.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/clvL59I.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/npyMG7o.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/xzW4lpT.jpg
https://youtu.be/p4glY8MmGkw

Left side:

https://i.imgur.com/hPpwVUG.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/C5vZesB.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/1kpL075.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/NmHOI7N.jpg
https://youtu.be/LPtnkZrwaOY

https://i.imgur.com/sKITBji.jpg

Right side max height is 12", so 1/2 the tank height. Left side is around 14-15" at the highest point. I started adding random small pieces (being held by rubber bands) as they are too small to drill, and want to see what it would look like. Hope that by adding these to the left side, it looks more like rocks, and not just boulders stacked on top of one another. Feedback, critique, and so on always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks

Acrylic or PVC 'T's
 

I struggle with aquascaping sometimes too, the rock selection these days i find is pretty weak. It's all mined stuff and no nice shapes like you could get 20 years ago. Other times its a total mixed bag from all different parts of the world, making it just not look right together.

I did a rock pile a few times, they eventually start to shift around. they slump after you stack em and become mounds. They also highlight the mismatched rock.

I would do the following to help get some ideas flowing:

1)Group similar styles or shapes together, like Tonga branches, or Filji boulder or whatever you've got there, maybe put all the mined and obviously man made rock into its own pile.

2)try to visualize how you want those individual piles to look. What pieces look best together. Maybe you see some of them making some shelves, and another forming an arch, maybe some of it is totally base rock and not to be used in the main structure.

3)Find your heavy slabs and use them for bases. If its ugly, bury it!
-you can drill small holes through really dense rock with a concrete drill bit pretty easily.
-Slide an acrylic rod through the hole to give you a place to skewer another rock. You can form effective arches and pillars this way without glue!
-If you find a form you really love and don't want it to move around, then get some of that reef concrete stuff, there's all kinds, reefcrest is what i use right now. It loks really fake, but it has great holding power, and its so fool proof to use, if you mess it up, just put it in hot water and it goes back to being flexible again.

4)You don't HAVE to use all your rock. If you make a nice form and there's lots of exposure around it and its really porous rock then you don't necessarily NEED all of it, don't crowd your tank because you feel like you have to use it all.

5)If you feel like you are wasting some of your rock put it in a bucket, and store it, or break it down and put it in your sump for added filtration if you really want to. But hold onto it because you'll likely upgrade or expand one day. This doesn't apply as much to man made rock, but definitely applies for any real imported rock. The shapes you get nowadays are seldom any good compared to the old stuff, so if you've got old school rock its good to keep it.

Too bad about this COVID thing, Aquascaping can be really fun, Like Lego for grown ups. lol

Try having a couple puffs of some sativa, might get those creative juices flowing too :mrgreen:

Cheers!-Ken

Thanks for the feedback and info.

All of the rock is same, Marco Rock. I actually wasnt sure what it exactly was until few days ago. I went into J&L, as I knew they had Marco rock, so i wanted to compare it to what I had. Turns out what I had is Marco as well. I heard a lor of good things about it, but truth be told I am disappointed in it. it is so bland and dense, nothing like real reef rock.

I do have quite a few big boulders, and I did use them as base for both structures. I also did drill bunch of holes and used fiberglass rods in there (orange driver markers) to connect quite few pieces on the right hand structure. I only used about 50% of all the rocks that I have, so I have more than enough. I will smash 1-2 leftover boulders into smaller pieces to see what I get randomly.

Plan is to connect some of the pieces together with cement, but 1st I need to figure out what scape I actually like and want to keep.