Anyone have tips for aquascaping?

[shortbusldtang]

Hello, I have an 80 gallon tank and a hundred pounds of live rock. I"m wondering if anyone has tips on the best way to stack the rocks. I'im planning on introducing corals later. Any feed back would be great. Thanks.

 

[scopus tang]

Generally its recommended to start stacking rock on the bottom of the tank (some lay down a layer of eggcrate to prevent the rock sitting directly on the bottom of the tank). Start with three smaller pieces in a triangular pattern at the bottom of each pile and work up from there. Rock may be drilled and ziptied together (ties cover quickly with coralline algae and become virtually invisible) or center drilled to allow a acrylic or plastic rod to be inserted down through the pile. Hopefully that helps.

 

[alienhybridx]

a good way to aquascape is to create small "islands"
another way is to create a "C" shaped formation sort of like a cove maybe creating caves
there is no limit to how you can aquascape nowadays as long as you create something while keeping it simple yet spacious with lots of hiding spaces you will be fine !
to get some ideas just type Aquascaping tips in google

 

[shortbusldtang]

Never even thought of google ... Good idea

 

[spanko]

I believe the most important thing to remember is that you need to have good flow around and through the rockwork. After that you have a blank canvas to work with. Ledges, caves, flat spots are all desireable for future additons of coral, motile inverts and fish.

 

[shortbusldtang]

Thanks to all Again you were helpful

 

[txmedic1]

make sure that all the rock is very snug against eachother. you dont want them toppling over and hitting the glass/acrylic of the tanks. once i know where i want the rock to sit, i try to wedge it between the other rocks, and tap it with the heal of my hand to make it snug.
some people actually peg their rock together (drilling 2 adjacent holes and putting a "peg" between them to join the rocks. the peg is usually 3/8" hard air line), some use water proof epoxy (i use aquamend to peg my coral to rock), and i've even seen the rock tied together with fishing string ( its actually almost invisible underwater).
some of the bigger snails (mexican turbo's and conch's) are known for knocking over rocks. good luck!

 

[trish&dave]

Don't make the mistake I made and put it too close to the glass. You need to be able to get a scrapper or magnetic cleaner in between the rock and glass. Especially on the sides of the tank. Some people let the back fill up with coraline. I just put mine too close on the sides.