Tips and Tricks on Creating Amazing Aquascapes

[ALH]

Originally Posted by herbklee

harsh , but true.
Open up the rockwork and vary the height to provide more depth, focal point and coral placement.

As others have said it is a very dense pile of rocks. Small rocks can be a challenge. You can take the small rocks and connect them into bigger, taller structures with acrylic rods and/or glue. In a tank that side maybe you could have two separate islands of varying height and lots of open work. Takes a bit of work and imagination but I think it could look very nice

[herbklee]

Originally Posted by kevan

Sometimes you wonder how much rockwork means .

This tanks rock work is mediocre but final results are stunning.

rock work is just means to an end
nice looking rock work is not the goal

[herbklee]

Originally Posted by alh

as others have said it is a very dense pile of rocks. Small rocks can be a challenge. You can take the small rocks and connect them into bigger, taller structures with acrylic rods and/or glue. In a tank that side maybe you could have two separate islands of varying height and lots of open work. Takes a bit of work and imagination but i think it could look very nice

+1

[kevan]

less is sometimes more

[Lavoisier]

Indeed!

[aleithol]

...sorry, don't know what happened and can no longer edit my post. Here we go again to get better white-balanced (duhhh!) pictures in place.

The "just about finished" scape for my 150gal reef (54"Lx30"Wx24"H). Approx 160lbs of "pre-cooked" and dried Fiji, Tonga Shelf and Complex Branches. Return is on the right end. Wavebox will be behind that in the right rear corner, pointed down the length of the tank through an open channel behind the back part of the structure. Base pieces have been reinforced to be structurally sound, but minimize low surface area while accommodating a 1.5" sand bed. Tomorrow, a few strategic balls of epoxy and a couple of zip-ties go into place to ensure stability of the top layers.

THANKS to everyone that has contributed to this thread. It helped me a lot over the last several months get to something I like -- larger swimming areas, but lots of grottos with a mix of different height shelves and some shaded areas for lots of future coral possibilities, and something that for me is visually interesting and a bit more realistic vs overly minimalistic or modernistic. (...and yes, the tank is in an unusual location near the floor that suits my situation. More info about that on my personal website or in my build pictures as part of my Flickr Photostream.)

Front Left Corner (Tank is visible on 2 sides; Return is in the upper area of the doggie-door reflection on the far right end)
The Just-About-Final Aquascape by WDW1Fanatic, on Flickr

Front
The Just-About-Final Aquascape by WDW1Fanatic, on Flickr

Top Down
The Just-About-Final Aquascape by WDW1Fanatic, on Flickr

[Slammed01]

Suggestions on a re-aquascape of my 46G Bowfront? After my move 6 MO ago or so

[herbklee]

Originally Posted by aleithol

...sorry, don't know what happened and can no longer edit my post. Here we go again to get better white-balanced (duhhh!) pictures in place.



The "just about finished" scape for my 150gal reef (54"Lx30"Wx24"H). Approx 160lbs of "pre-cooked" and dried Fiji, Tonga Shelf and Complex Branches. Return is on the right end. Wavebox will be behind that in the right rear corner, pointed down the length of the tank through an open channel behind the back part of the structure. Base pieces have been reinforced to be structurally sound, but minimize low surface area while accommodating a 1.5" sand bed. Tomorrow, a few strategic balls of epoxy and a couple of zip-ties go into place to ensure stability of the top layers.



THANKS to everyone that has contributed to this thread. It helped me a lot over the last several months get to something I like -- larger swimming areas, but lots of grottos with a mix of different height shelves and some shaded areas for lots of future coral possibilities, and something that for me is visually interesting and a bit more realistic vs overly minimalistic or modernistic. (...and yes, the tank is in an unusual location near the floor that suits my situation. More info about that on my personal website or in my build pictures as part of my Flickr Photostream.)



Front Left Corner (Tank is visible on 2 sides; Return is in the upper area of the doggie-door reflection on the far right end)

The Just-About-Final Aquascape by WDW1Fanatic, on Flickr



Front

The Just-About-Final Aquascape by WDW1Fanatic, on Flickr



Top Down

The Just-About-Final Aquascape by WDW1Fanatic, on Flickr

Great!
So many interesting spaces yet open for better flow and many areas for coral placement.

[Jwey]

I have upgraded to a 240 and I think I may have a good start.
Thoughts????

[Slammed01]

Moved some rock well everything but the bottom.... and removed 2 medium pieces.

[kjardine519]

This is my newly setup 40 breeder. Tried to do a minimalist setup but I'm sorta in between. Suggestions?

[r-balljunkie]

Originally Posted by tripleS

What about this guys

Less is more sometimes.

open it up.

[OrionN]

Originally Posted by xtm

Please critique my aquascape. What do you think?

I think it looks great. Let the cluster on the L grow more and prune the one on the R down more then you have contrast in size and height. That would be perfect. I think toy with add a little really low on the R side woulf be great also.
Almost perfect as it is IMO

[mitch91175]

Hey guys what are your thoughts on this aquascaping:



If you can tell, I have a center overflow. I want to have a mixed reef. I am trying to have areas for the fish to swing through the rock for shelter from bigger fish.

[airtime23]

^ No offense, but it looks like a jumble of rocks stacked together.

Try to arrange them so that they don't have that stacked look. Try to create more differences in heights and depths. Perhaps two or three discrete "islands" or outcropping of rocks each with different heights. Also, try to create more nooks/overhangs/arches if you can.

Just my 2 cents.

[mitch91175]

Originally Posted by airtime23

^ No offense, but it looks like a jumble of rocks stacked together.

Try to arrange them so that they don't have that stacked look. Try to create more differences in heights and depths. Perhaps two or three discrete "islands" or outcropping of rocks each with different heights. Also, try to create more nooks/overhangs/arches if you can.

Just my 2 cents.

No offense taken. Definitely appreciate the input. I will be getting my sand early next week and will take another stab at it. I wish I had a few more bigger pieces that would allow for better scaping. Right now I have a lot of smaller pieces. My wife didn't like it either.

[kjardine519]

Got anything for me?

[Raptor72]

Just remember to add the rock first and then the sand for stability purposes.

[fairladyZ]

i created a thread earlier but figure might as well post pics here too since it gets more traffic. let me know what you guys think

[kjardine519]

Here's a better pic

[aleithol]

Originally Posted by mitch91175

No offense taken. Definitely appreciate the input. I will be getting my sand early next week and will take another stab at it. I wish I had a few more bigger pieces that would allow for better scaping. Right now I have a lot of smaller pieces. My wife didn't like it either.

Give some thought while it won't likely impact your cycle too much, to removing a couple of pieces and using epoxy or other means to join them together to form a larger piece. That will give you more ability to have overhangs and caves, as well as break up the relative similar-size-appearance of the rocks you have. I did that befor adding water and it helped a lot with providing variation that stacking alone would never allow.

Good luck!

[spoon671]

Originally Posted by kjardine519

Here's a better pic

I like it! Maybe the island on the right could be a little smaller. But it looks good to me..I like the crescent shapes to the islands.

[kevan]

Originally Posted by kjardine519

Here's a better pic

I like nice balance will look good when covered with corals

[imfortney]

Here is what I'm thinking.

Front


Left


Left Front


Front Left


Right (really bad bc the stand I'm building is in the way)


Another left

[Mr_N1ce]

Originally Posted by kjardine519

Here's a better pic

Really like it! Looks very natural with the two different sized islands. Make sure you don't clutter the space in between with stuff later on. Always tempting to put "just one more coral" on the sand.