Went and found Brett's FTS of the 225. Here they are:
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...&postcount=385
So I recognize the pieces on the left island but I'm not sure I ended up with the shelf pieces from the right side island as I don't recognize them in the pile of stuff. I think two people ended up buying rock from Brett after the shutdown so I think they probably ended up with the other person. Which is too bad since that was my favourite part of his old 'scape.
Oh well, life goes on. One thing that I am reminded of though after seeing the pictures is that low rockwork is better. I "thought" that I wanted one island to be nice and high just to give the tank some different visual flow, but seeing the low rockwork convinces me now that I'm probably wrong on that idea and should stick to lower lying rockwork anyhow.
So I hate to say it but I'm not sure that the enormous shelf pieces are doing anything for me. I'm REALLY not good at visualizing something with an aesthetic quality to it, and I'm even worse at connecting reality to a vision (there's a reason I'm not an interior designer - man I envy those with the talent to "make stuff look good.") Some smaller shelf pieces would do better but it would be a HUGE shame to bust the big ones up as they would go really nicely into a big tank somewhere. Maybe I'll sell them if I don't end up using them, we'll see. Between a 50g rubbermaid with rock, a 20g tank holding some rock, the rock from Brett and some rock from Kien it's not like I'm sitting on a huge deficit of rock (in fact I'm thinking I might have gone a little overboard with the rock collecting the last year or so), so the options should be out there in the meantime.
All I know is I want swim-through caves and ravines and a slight island look. I also like the bonzai look to a tank but it's clear to me now that I have NO hope of blending elements from say someone like Kien's 'scaping to someone like Brett's 'scaping (or "Sweet Ride's" tank here:
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...12&postcount=3 ) I mean .. it could probably be done and be an epic win, but, it's WELL outside the realm of what my own talent (or lack thereof) is capable of. Boo. I'll have to leave the visionary work to those whom are better visionaries.
@$%^&%*&!!! Man alive I hate the aquascaping phase of a tank! The temptation to do what I've always done and "just throw the rock in there and let it be what it may, landslides warts and everything" right now is huge and it's taking a lot to fight the urge at the moment.