Aquascaping

[Dustint21]

What do you think? Mostly SPS, but I will have some LPS. Tryin to keep plenty of swimming room for the fish.

[boret]

Are the rocks secured in any way? Like epoxy or drilled and acrylic rod through, etc... I would be concerned that once the corals start growing the rock might tip over. Otherwise, great rock work. Looks like Stonehenge.

[Dustint21]

Lots of aquamend! LOL! They will be ok. Im just thinking about adding a bit more rock. Thanks for the reply!

[boret]

If I were you I wouldn't. Leave space for the corals to grow. It might look empty now but once your SPS start growing you will really appreciate the extra room. In a year or 2 you won't even see the rock.

Just make sure you have enough space to glue the frags and that you leave space behind the rock for optimal water flow.

I only see one powerhead... are you adding more? It would be interesting to see the rock with the final powerheads in place to see the flow.

If you don't mind constructive criticism, i am not too crazy about the left rock... it looks too fake.... plus you have two caves where nothing that needs light will grow. It will also be difficult to mount a coral to grow forward.

[Dustint21]

Thanks! This is why I posted! The tank is 24'' deep, so plenty of room behind the middle island. I have 2 Modded Tunze 6025's, 1 Hydor #3, Mag 9.5 return, and hopefully the DIY wavebox will be done this evening.

[boret]

With a wavebox, definitely a flow test with the rock is a must. You will have a quite large volume of water moving inside the tank so you want to make certain the rock is well footed.

[Plankt0s]

I've always like the look of adding barnacles to an aquascape.

[Paul B]

I would just not have the three rock masses exactly equil distances apart. I would move the center one a little to one side and also make them different heights, Just my opinion

[jahleon]

I think I agree with Paul B. It might look more natural and less placed. But if you have faster growing SPS weighted to either side of the center rock, that would make it look a little less symetric right? So maybe these comments are premature. Your caves look great though!

[Dustint21]

I will change it up some after I finish the wavebox and post a new pic!

Thanks for the help!

Dustin

[Beefer]

I really like the formation on the left. I would move the center formation an inch or two to the right, so it doesn't look totally centered. Looks good though!

[r-balljunkie]

left and right look acceptable. not feeling the middle.

i have two separate formations in my tank. it is hard to tell, but there is minimal rock in my setup.....lots of coral.

end of the day, looks good...except middle IMO. you dont have anywhere to really mount the corals, need more slope, esp. left side of middle stack
dont mean to spam my pics all over your post, just trying to give you some ideas.

c

[xtm]

Hi, I hope you don't mind some constructive criticisms

Not rules, just suggestions. ok, the 3 rock formations look really unnatural and symmetrical. You want to employ the rule of thirds.. with a strong foreground and a mild "toned down" background. Your rock formations are very predictable.. it reminds me of those orange cones on the road. 1......2.......3

You want something that "builds up".. start with a low rock that eventually leads to a pile of rocks. In photography, this is similar to "leading lines" which is very pleasant to look at. Remember, you don't want symmetry! Nature is very random.

And finally, with a shallow tank like that, you want to "get low" as much as possible to allow swimming room, growth, and most importantly, flow on top of the structure. I'm personally not a fan of caves, but that's just me.

Again, these are not rules... just humble suggestions. Aquascaping is an art, and there's no rules in art - just guides

[username in use]

+5 for no symetry. Everything always looks better off center and in odd numbers. From rock work, down to a school of chromis looking better if theres 3/5/7 as opposed to 4/6/8.

[Dustint21]

Ok sorry it took so long... here are new pics. What do you think?

Im thinking about flipping the middle flat rock over so the middle cave isnt so big and fake looking.





Thanks for looking!
Dustin

[r-balljunkie]

looks much better. i like it over the previous. there is more room for your powerheads to move water, and i am partial to caves.

GL


C

[Dustint21]

Thanks Man! Your tank looks great BTW!!!


Dustin

[OwenInAZ]

That definitely looks better and more natural than the first one. I'd be interested in seeing what takes up residence in that big cave on the left.