Tips and Tricks on Creating Amazing Aquascapes - Page 12

ReefKeeper64 · 01/08/2013, 02:47 PM

This is one of my favorite threads.

Big E, Do you have a link to or more pictures of this tank? I want to glean as many ideas as possible from it for my build. Thanks!

[/IMG]

joe_himself · 01/08/2013, 07:22 PM

An awful lot of good scapes in here folks, Lots of new ideas.

Patrick Cox · 01/13/2013, 11:33 AM

OK, I'm looking for some input on the direction of my aquascape. My goals are..

1. Minimalist approach.
2. Large sand bed (shallow.)
3. Plenty of swim room for fish.
4. Lots of surface area for coral placement
5. Plenty of room for coral growth and water flow.
6. No rock touching any walls of tank. (May not stick with this one.)
7. 2 viewing areas - front and right side.

Here was my first attempt. The idea is that the fish can swim all around the islands and there is a flow channel in between. Also the top is fairly flat for coral placement.

After looking at this for a while and also looking at other tanks, I thought about adding a couple of additional rocks at the top rear of each island that would lean against the glass to give one more high spot for corals, and then I would also shift the structures so they ran more diagonally left to right. This picture doesn't exactly show my vision but I think you can get the gist of what I am doing. Basically if you were looking at the tank from the front you would see 2 diagonal structures running left to right and from the right side the two structures would almost be coming at you.

So again, thanks for any input on these layouts.

Pat

Patrick Cox · 01/16/2013, 12:46 PM

Well, I am making another change to my aquascape. With what I am looking to do with my corals and the size of my tank, I am thinking that the aquarium will look best with corals spanning the full length of the tank, so I have added a bridge component to connect the two sides of the tank. One other change I am considering is to add another rock to the back of the right structure to give a bit more height, but not sure yet.

Any comments/suggestions appreciated. Again from my perspective, the look of the rock right now is not what is important but rather considering the rock as a platform for corals and allowing adequate flow and negative space.

Sorry for the poor quality of the iphone pictures!

Thanks!

Front:

Side:

knight2255 · 01/16/2013, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bretcummings

Picture w/o lights

I can't believe how similar ours look! Love the bridge you have going on....is your rock a diy concrete mix? What corals do you plan to put on the overhangs?

Here is mine....just about done cycling. Going to put mainly softies up on the overhangs. I like corals with a lot of sway.

[IMG]http://i46.*******.com/144n0l.jpg[/IMG]

Dreamer13 · 01/20/2013, 11:24 AM

Wow, that looks fantastic under lights!

Reefneophyte007 · 01/22/2013, 07:03 AM

My new 200 gallon deep dimension tank. I used Marco rocks prime cuts on the back wall, BRS reef saver rocks coming off the wall, and Pukani rock in the front. I used many pictures from this thread as my inspiration.

20130122_072802.jpg

20130122_072115.jpg

20130122_072023.jpg

20130122_075710.jpg

Big E · 01/22/2013, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReefKeeper64

This is one of my favorite threads.

Big E, Do you have a link to or more pictures of this tank? I want to glean as many ideas as possible from it for my build. Thanks!

[/IMG]

No sorry..........that was a pic from a retail store overseas.

If you go back in this thread to when I first posted that pic, Steve W. breaks down the concepts of that setup. Read his comments for great insight.

ReefKeeper64 · 01/22/2013, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big E

No sorry..........that was a pic from a retail store overseas.

If you go back in this thread to when I first posted that pic, Steve W. breaks down the concepts of that setup. Read his comments for great insight.

Big E, Thanks for the info. I'll read up on what Steve W has to say now.

ChemicalEdge · 01/23/2013, 08:26 AM

I should not have read this thread, now i have to redo mine....

Has anyone used one of those overflow covers that mimic rock, was thinking its a great way to cover it without adding too much extra rock depth. Or will this just cheapen the look of the tank...?

Silkyslim · 01/23/2013, 04:39 PM

I 've had this layout since I set up my tank. Need help rescaping open to advice.

Was thinking about removing the 2 middle rocks both are the size and shape of footballs roughly.

Cell phone pic sorry guys

Lavoisier · 01/23/2013, 05:12 PM

I think removing the 2 middle pieces would give you the look of a "valley," which might be enhanced by also angling the right structure out towards the front.

Reefneophyte007 · 01/25/2013, 11:21 AM

Cave with Marco rocks prime cuts on back wall and BRS reef savers. I found they are very easy to stack. Used a little of the mortar from Marco rocks for the ledge off the back wall and the larger ledge in top left corner.

View from other side of the tank

Front view

Chihuahua6 · 02/08/2013, 06:35 PM

I just set this tank up with the contents of my other tanks. It measures 72x24x20h approx 150 gallons. All star polyps, xenia and anemones are on their own rocks separate from the other structures. This presented a bit of a challenge but I think I got it to blend fairly well. It still needs to be tweaked a bit but so far I like it. Comments are appreciated.

Fish_Hobby · 02/08/2013, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chihuahua6

Comments are appreciated.

Looks very nice, I think 24" front to back is the perfect width.

Quaday · 02/08/2013, 09:58 PM

So tough to make a good scape with a 12 inch width. Suggestions for improvement?

Chihuahua6 · 02/09/2013, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish_Hobby

Looks very nice, I think 24" front to back is the perfect width.

Yes I love the 24" width and the 20" height makes it easy to work on, even with the acrylic braces. I was lucky to find this exact size in a second hand tank. It cost 1/8th of the quote I got to build a new tank in this very same size.

JohnniG · 02/09/2013, 12:54 PM

Good read

livingseas · 02/11/2013, 08:40 AM

So I finally got off my butt and made it happen. What do you guys think?
No water so far.. but its getting there.

zeebies · 02/11/2013, 09:40 AM

Quaday, I'd open up the bottom center of the stack of rocks on the left. I think you could get a little cave in there. Then I might put a spire on top of that stack to give it a little more height. Just a thought. 12" is tough. Good job so far.

Quaday · 02/11/2013, 10:29 AM

Zeebies, I do like those ideas and might try to work them into the scape later today and see what it looks like. My only problem I had so far with this scape was the general lack of caves within the rock work.
I would still like to keep the islands separate so if I open up the bottom left a little I may need to shift the right island a little to the right to maintain the channel between them.
Will experiment with increasing the height of the left island as well.

Occane5 · 02/11/2013, 11:27 AM

Great info. Thanks for putting this together

bpcardona · 02/16/2013, 09:47 PM

This is such a great thread!!! Thanks to the OP.

So I have started thinking about the aquascaping in my new 210g tank. I want to create a canyon style aquascape. I want to have a nice negative space between the positive space created by the rock/coral. I also want this is creat the feeling of depth. So here is my plan. I am looking for comments and suggestions.

There will be 3 island slightly of center. The center island will be tall in the back and fall toward the front. The other 2 island will be lower island curving into the center, creating the canyons. What do you think?

MikeTR · 02/16/2013, 10:14 PM

Just catching up on the last few pages. Had a dream last night that a good friend of mine rearranged my aquascape and added a non-reef safe fish. Completely ****ed me off and woke me up.

slapshot · 02/16/2013, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bpcardona

This is such a great thread!!! Thanks to the OP.

So I have started thinking about the aquascaping in my new 210g tank. I want to create a canyon style aquascape. I want to have a nice negative space between the positive space created by the rock/coral. I also want this is creat the feeling of depth. So here is my plan. I am looking for comments and suggestions.

There will be 3 island slightly of center. The center island will be tall in the back and fall toward the front. The other 2 island will be lower island curving into the center, creating the canyons. What do you think?

I really like it, but if you want depth the rule is high in the front low in the back. Again, having said hat I like the layout you have in the picture

01/08/2013, 02:47 PM	#276
ReefKeeper64 Wanna be a reefkeeper Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Tampa Posts: 1,158	This is one of my favorite threads. Big E, Do you have a link to or more pictures of this tank? I want to glean as many ideas as possible from it for my build. Thanks! [/IMG] __________________ Reef Savvy 110g Tank \| GHL Profilux 4 Controller & Doser \| Royal Exclusiv Skimmer & Dreambox/Sump \| ATI 8x54 Sunpower T5 \| Ozotech Ozone Generator

01/13/2013, 11:33 AM	#278
Patrick Cox Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Lexington, KY Posts: 1,697	OK, I'm looking for some input on the direction of my aquascape. My goals are.. 1. Minimalist approach. 2. Large sand bed (shallow.) 3. Plenty of swim room for fish. 4. Lots of surface area for coral placement 5. Plenty of room for coral growth and water flow. 6. No rock touching any walls of tank. (May not stick with this one.) 7. 2 viewing areas - front and right side. Here was my first attempt. The idea is that the fish can swim all around the islands and there is a flow channel in between. Also the top is fairly flat for coral placement. After looking at this for a while and also looking at other tanks, I thought about adding a couple of additional rocks at the top rear of each island that would lean against the glass to give one more high spot for corals, and then I would also shift the structures so they ran more diagonally left to right. This picture doesn't exactly show my vision but I think you can get the gist of what I am doing. Basically if you were looking at the tank from the front you would see 2 diagonal structures running left to right and from the right side the two structures would almost be coming at you. So again, thanks for any input on these layouts. Pat __________________ 100G Fairly New Aspiring SPS/Mixed Reef - 48" x 24" x 20"

01/16/2013, 12:46 PM	#279
Patrick Cox Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Lexington, KY Posts: 1,697	Well, I am making another change to my aquascape. With what I am looking to do with my corals and the size of my tank, I am thinking that the aquarium will look best with corals spanning the full length of the tank, so I have added a bridge component to connect the two sides of the tank. One other change I am considering is to add another rock to the back of the right structure to give a bit more height, but not sure yet. Any comments/suggestions appreciated. Again from my perspective, the look of the rock right now is not what is important but rather considering the rock as a platform for corals and allowing adequate flow and negative space. Sorry for the poor quality of the iphone pictures! Thanks! Front: Side: __________________ 100G Fairly New Aspiring SPS/Mixed Reef - 48" x 24" x 20"

01/20/2013, 11:24 AM	#281
Dreamer13 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. Posts: 48	Wow, that looks fantastic under lights! __________________ Tank rebuild coming....eventually. Current Tank Info: Embarrassing!

01/23/2013, 05:12 PM	#287
Lavoisier Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Overland Park, KS Posts: 1,030	I think removing the 2 middle pieces would give you the look of a "valley," which might be enhanced by also angling the right structure out towards the front. __________________ "...for it is not necessary that these hypotheses should be true, or even probably; but it is enough if they provide a calculus which fits the observations..."--Introduction (attributed to Andrew Osiander) to On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Sphere by Nicolaus Copernicus. Current Tank Info: 600g DT, 140g sump, 200g Cryptic, 90g Refugium, 3-400w MH, 2 Reeflo Barracudas, and 3 MP60s

01/08/2013, 07:22 PM	#277
joe_himself Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 71	An awful lot of good scapes in here folks, Lots of new ideas.

01/22/2013, 07:03 AM	#282
Reefneophyte007 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Camas, WA Posts: 35	My new 200 gallon deep dimension tank. I used Marco rocks prime cuts on the back wall, BRS reef saver rocks coming off the wall, and Pukani rock in the front. I used many pictures from this thread as my inspiration. 20130122_072802.jpg 20130122_072115.jpg 20130122_072023.jpg 20130122_075710.jpg

01/23/2013, 08:26 AM	#285
ChemicalEdge Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: southewest florida Posts: 14	I should not have read this thread, now i have to redo mine.... Has anyone used one of those overflow covers that mimic rock, was thinking its a great way to cover it without adding too much extra rock depth. Or will this just cheapen the look of the tank...?

01/25/2013, 11:21 AM	#288
Reefneophyte007 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Camas, WA Posts: 35	Finally figured out how to use photobucket Cave with Marco rocks prime cuts on back wall and BRS reef savers. I found they are very easy to stack. Used a little of the mortar from Marco rocks for the ledge off the back wall and the larger ledge in top left corner. View from other side of the tank Front view

02/08/2013, 06:35 PM	#289
Chihuahua6 Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: West Hempstead, NY Posts: 2,124	I just set this tank up with the contents of my other tanks. It measures 72x24x20h approx 150 gallons. All star polyps, xenia and anemones are on their own rocks separate from the other structures. This presented a bit of a challenge but I think I got it to blend fairly well. It still needs to be tweaked a bit but so far I like it. Comments are appreciated. __________________ Leah Amanda Current Tank Info: First salt tank 1985, current tank 150 g acrylic

02/08/2013, 09:58 PM	#291
Quaday Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 94	Thoughts? So tough to make a good scape with a 12 inch width. Suggestions for improvement?

02/09/2013, 12:54 PM	#293
JohnniG Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 620	Good read __________________ 65 gal tank under construction

02/11/2013, 09:40 AM	#295
zeebies Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: NE Coast Posts: 851	Quaday, I'd open up the bottom center of the stack of rocks on the left. I think you could get a little cave in there. Then I might put a spire on top of that stack to give it a little more height. Just a thought. 12" is tough. Good job so far.

02/11/2013, 10:29 AM	#296
Quaday Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 94	Zeebies, I do like those ideas and might try to work them into the scape later today and see what it looks like. My only problem I had so far with this scape was the general lack of caves within the rock work. I would still like to keep the islands separate so if I open up the bottom left a little I may need to shift the right island a little to the right to maintain the channel between them. Will experiment with increasing the height of the left island as well.

02/11/2013, 11:27 AM	#297
Occane5 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 60	Great info. Thanks for putting this together

02/16/2013, 09:47 PM	#298
bpcardona Trying to hard Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Lake Alfred, Fl Posts: 871	This is such a great thread!!! Thanks to the OP. So I have started thinking about the aquascaping in my new 210g tank. I want to create a canyon style aquascape. I want to have a nice negative space between the positive space created by the rock/coral. I also want this is creat the feeling of depth. So here is my plan. I am looking for comments and suggestions. There will be 3 island slightly of center. The center island will be tall in the back and fall toward the front. The other 2 island will be lower island curving into the center, creating the canyons. What do you think? __________________ --Brian--- Tanks: 220G DT - 55G custom sump - 40G frag - 40G QT - Livestock: Clowns - Blonde Naso Tang - Blue Hippo Tang - Diamond Watchman Goby - Molly Miller -

02/16/2013, 10:14 PM	#299
MikeTR Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: SW FL Posts: 351	Just catching up on the last few pages. Had a dream last night that a good friend of mine rearranged my aquascape and added a non-reef safe fish. Completely ****ed me off and woke me up.