Aquascaping: Rocks to the Top

[oo bubbagump oo]

So, out of all these tanks I see online, I see ones with rocks spread wide and low, some are wide and high towards the back. You get my drift, there are endless possibilities when it comes to aquascaping. I really have no straight-forward question to ask.
It would be fantastic if some of you can state your "beliefs" on aquascaping, certain "types" and their pros and cons. Is there a science to this art? I am pretty sure this will help alot of people out.
Justin

 

[reefnut]

Good question and I have no idea lol I have mine low and spread out for no particular reason.
When I was placing the rock I was trying to leave as any flat spots for corals as I could (again no real reason) and it turned out to be a low wide pile of rocks .
Here is a pic

 

[attml]

IMO, your aquascaping should be partially determined by the type of tank you are going to keep. If you are thinking SPS then I would recomend a staired, pyramid design so that the colonies have a little room to grow but have a stable footing. If you are planning on plate or favities type corals leave some nice open sandy areas. If you are doing zoos or ricordia you might want to have some intresting shapes that they can grow around. The posibilities are endless from there - look around online for tanks that you really like and mimic those as best you can.

 

[flamehawkfish]

Any suggestions for FO tanks, with swimming room and holes and crevices to go into? I guess a pvc frame or some kind of epoxy is necessary for those types, but man, I would love to replicate so many designs I have seen posted on here, so I guess I am trying to compliment the entire BOARD, so many neat pics of tanks!

 

[fishtanker]

here's my 125gal FOWLR, i'll be putting more rock on the right and left corner for a kinda "twin peaks" look. the tangs love the space in the middle

 

[marvida]

The book "Reef Secrets" has a good section on aquascaping. It covers things like species, biotropes, etc. It has some good construction info too. I personally like a nearly solid wall look. It really depends on what you're going to put in your tank.

 

[overanalyzer]

I personally think on reefs you need some clearance above hte top - but like so many others havestated - it depends on what you are going to keep.
I am setting up my big tank to be a reefthat slopes downwards to an area of open sand. Then I am hoping to put some sea grass in the open sand area and get it growin nicely before I get a tang to mow some of it down ..... I will also have some laggon/sea grass animals in the tank and some reef style critters and corals as well.
Good luck and research what you want to do!

 

[flamehawkfish]

Sweet tanks! Thanks for advice and idea!

 

[lesleybird]

Originally posted by FlameHawkfish
Any suggestions for FO tanks, with swimming room and holes and crevices to go into? I guess a pvc frame or some kind of epoxy is necessary for those types, but man, I would love to replicate so many designs I have seen posted on here, so I guess I am trying to compliment the entire BOARD, so many neat pics of tanks!

Yes, find a fish store that sells the honey comb rock.....I think it is limestone rock from the Bahamas. I don't really know what they call it, but you will know it for the many large holes and caves in it when you see it. It is a dry, dead rock. My fish love to swim through all the caves and holes in these. I use them for base rock and place a few live rocks on top to seed the non-live rock. Lesley

 

[broomer5]

My 75 tank
Sort of piled up, lots of holes for fish to swim through and some spots for corals.
Open areas out front for sandbed corals.
Four fish - that's about it.

 

[oo bubbagump oo]

Uh oh dead thread. Here's a fix, update!

 

[krishj39]

I'll contribute what I can! 90 gallon tank, 140lbs of LR, lots of caves and such. Huge advantage is lots of places for corals, also the fish feel very secure, because there is TONS of room behind the rocks and in the rocks to hide out. They could honestly live their whole lives back there and be totally happy. The result is that the fish are happy to be out in the open all the time because they know they CAN fully hide if they need to.

 

[escape2thewater]

awesome tanks! Mine is only a month old and still cycling but I just re-did my rockwork tonight i'll show a before and after. My purpose was to make more caves and stuff for fish/circulation. Theres actually 3 diffrent aquascapes i've had for any lenth of time so far, heres the first:

 

[escape2thewater]

Then after a few more try's it looked like this:

 

[escape2thewater]

Then after a couple weeks I decided to go at it again!
Kyle
BTW - its still a little dusty from the sand, I just moved the rocks an hour ago or so!

 

[krishj39]

I definitely like that third arrangement the best. Good job! That whole technique of having two piles of rocks on the ends of the aquarium is really cool, but I think it takes a huge tank before it can really be done and look good and be practical.

 

[oo bubbagump oo]

Kyle, better syphon that cyano out bro.
Justin

 

[spsfreak100]

I've stuck with this aquascape. I tend to have an open space in the back of the tank, while in the front it appears to be almost like a wall. I enjoy having verticle areas. When you place an SPS frag on its side, it often gets random growth in different directions. I have 150lbs of liverock. Please excuse the Yellow M. capricornis. It came out yellow in the picture.
Graham

 

[krishj39]

SPS, I always like looking at your tank. I love those yellow and orange zoos! Where did you get them? At a LFS, friend or internet?

 

[spsfreak100]

Originally posted by krishj39
SPS, I always like looking at your tank. I love those yellow and orange zoos! Where did you get them? At a LFS, friend or internet?
Thanks! I got the zooanthids at the LFS when I first got the tank. There was only around around 15 polyps on the rock when I bought them.
Take Care,
Graham