why is aquascaping such a ..

[Flowbot]

This is why I prefer the minimal look, less clutter and it's much easier to scape. If you go with the rock wall look, you'll always be moving rocks and corals around.

[duastina]

It's an endless process, esp when you see some great scapes on here and you go man I should have done it like that but rocks never cooperate, I think I'm going to try to putty some rocks together next time...

[SaltieG]

Aquascaping is a chore that I always dread. The after product is usually nice, but when those rocks don't want to fit with one another and you are trying not to damage coral or kill livestock it becomes a real pain.

[BigGimp77]

Has anyone tried that putty stuff that helps hold rocks together? Is it any good?

[Misled]

So here's what I did. First the rack I built.



Drilled holes in rock and set on the rods.

[sheamurai]

kettlecorn - thank you for this thread.

I see everyone's great tanks and think I am lacking What It Takes to be a reefer...nice to see I'm not the only one that has just a pile of rock in their tank...it really seems like it should be easy but it's so NOT...I'd have to add that just becuase you think you found a perfect spot for your nem, it doesn't necessarily think so - and now its decided it just has to be one inch away from the frogspawn...
arrrgh!

[Vicarious Cynic]

Originally Posted by CebakaLaika

and I still can't stack rocks.

Stacking rocks is the hard part - it all get's easier after this, right?

[smcfall176]

Love the rack ideal. I had a solid wall as most people do but wanted a different look. A friend and I came up with this.

[izzy123]

Originally Posted by KafudaFish

Maybe a leprechaun could help you.

well, i had the same problem..... after starting over for about 532484514254 times, i took everything back out of the tank and asked my 10 year old son who was watching to give it a go...... he did it in about 5 minutes and it looked great!!
maybe we overthink it too much

[Dino]

Originally Posted by BigGimp77

Has anyone tried that putty stuff that helps hold rocks together? Is it any good?

I used the aquamend stuff you can get from HD just a few weeks ago when I redid my rock for the 1,345th time in the past few years. It works, most of the people Ive seen suggesting using it on here suggest using it with super glue gel. Rock>super glue> Aquamend> Super glue> Rock because the aquamend doesn't stick at all to wet surfaces (in fact, another tip when kneading it is to wet your fingers so it doesn't stick to your hands as much) and it does take some time to cure (packaging says 24hrs I think, but it does cure underwater).

I don't know if my experience would say it worked great but all my aquascaping escapades usually are one small step away from total disaster. As evidenced by the last time I did my rock I got it all put together with rods and glue and putty and then discovered it was big and heavy enough I couldn't get it into the tank.

Originally Posted by Misled

So here's what I did. First the rack I built.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...b/DEF_4268.jpg

Drilled holes in rock and set on the rods.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...b/DEF_4809.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...b/DEF_4889.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...b/DSC_2695.jpg

That's pretty cool Jesse!

[KafudaFish]

Originally Posted by izzy123

well, i had the same problem..... after starting over for about 532484514254 times, i took everything back out of the tank and asked my 10 year old son who was watching to give it a go...... he did it in about 5 minutes and it looked great!!
maybe we overthink it too much

That is very funny but makes perfect sense. Maybe I should let my kids do it.

I think one "problem" is people think they have to use every piece they bought. You paid good money right?

One place that is more un-natural than reefs are freshwater planted aquariums. People take a landscape and try to put it underwater.
Is it pretty? Yes. Is it in harmony? Yes. Is it natural? Yes and no.

Many planted people get into reefs and they do a great job because of their ability to see down the road.

I figure I am an average rock stacker but as long as I like it that is all that it matters.

There are a few people on here that are very talented at this and their rock work is pretty much perfect.

[ReefyRoy]

Great timing on this thread! I have a new 150g tank (2'x2'x5') coming in about 2 weeks, and went to my local boulder store (seriously) and bought 100 pounds of tufa rock. The chunks are pretty darn big, with the biggest (2nd from the top right) being about 14 x 14 inches (see Matchbox truck for comparison). I can't decide whether to stick them in the tank as-is, or break them up into smaller chunks, or both.



For what it's worth I also have about 50 pounds of live rock sitting happily in salt water (with a heater and pump) waiting for the tank, but that rock's all the more normal sized stuff.

Any and all suggestions welcome!

Roy

[Sisterlimonpot]

You got them from where and you're going to put them in your tank?

[ReefyRoy]

Local boulder store! Western tufa rock, and he sells to quite a few saltwater aquarists.

[kettlecorn]

Originally Posted by ReefyRoy

Great timing on this thread! I have a new 150g tank (2'x2'x5') coming in about 2 weeks, and went to my local boulder store (seriously) and bought 100 pounds of tufa rock. The chunks are pretty darn big, with the biggest (2nd from the top right) being about 14 x 14 inches (see Matchbox truck for comparison). I can't decide whether to stick them in the tank as-is, or break them up into smaller chunks, or both.



For what it's worth I also have about 50 pounds of live rock sitting happily in salt water (with a heater and pump) waiting for the tank, but that rock's all the more normal sized stuff.

Any and all suggestions welcome!

Roy

I would definitely break them down. What i've learned is that it's much easier to choose and shape rock beforehand than to put it in the tank and trying to make the puzzle pieces fit. For instance, my tanks a 34 gal Red sea max, so it helped to put the big fat huge stable pieces as the bottom for good foundation. Then I stacked medium or long ones on top making caves and caverns and little overhangs naturally, and then the smaller ones fit in the back/side and places the medium rocks left voids. And finally for me, I had 1 bigger piece of rock that was shaped in a "u" type shape which helped to put a lot of the weight on all sides and kind of stabilize everything. It helps to have big, medium, long, short, all sorts of peculiar shapes rather than big chunks of the same shapes.