Stupid aquascaping

[Alysiak00]

First off let me point something out, I HATE AQUASCAPING!

okay, now that thats off my chest. last night i dismantled half of my tank to take out a pajama cardinal that needed a bigger better home. my new dilemma and almost p.i.t.a is getting everything back to normal. Its almost like how if you drop a piece of peanut butter toast, it ALWAYS lands peanut butter side down creating a mess lol.

It always seems that no matter how hard i try, i can never get the tank scape to something i like and to where all the corals can grow out. i think my rock size just stinks lol.

[username in use]

if you need smaller rocks hit em with a hammer.

[Alysiak00]

lol. they're just dumb sizes and nothing is lock and key

[aleonn]

It'll be more work, but you can always drill the rocks and use PVC or acrylic rod supports. You can also ziptie pieces together as well.

[csharps42]

I hate it too, I am getting ready to start over again on mine, seems like some guys just have a nack for it, looks like they have done it all their lives, mine always end up looking like fred flinstones house.

[teesquare]

Just a couple of things to consider:
1. Random. Like in nature - don't try to plan it too much, just put it int he tank. Only caution, is - try not to stack it like brcks allow for flow thru it.
2. You need three points of contact for a rock to be stable. If you have a small amount of hydraulic cement on hand, you can make up for the occasional situation, where you really want a specific rock to go, but can't get comfortable that it will stay in palce.
Just read the directions carefully if you choose to use hydraulic cement to "glue" rocks together.
Good Luck!
T

[Palting]

I have heard there are only 2 times you like your rock. First, when it arrives in a box in wet newspaper, and the second time is when you have it in a box ready for the garbage!

[teesquare]

I don't think I had ever heard that one...I sure have not felt that way.

[Alysiak00]

Originally Posted by Palting

I have heard there are only 2 times you like your rock. First, when it arrives in a box in wet newspaper, and the second time is when you have it in a box ready for the garbage!

hahaha, palting you never cease to amaze me lol.

[Drez]

Originally Posted by teesquare

Just a couple of things to consider:
1. Random. Like in nature - don't try to plan it too much, just put it int he tank. Only caution, is - try not to stack it like brcks allow for flow thru it.
2. You need three points of contact for a rock to be stable. If you have a small amount of hydraulic cement on hand, you can make up for the occasional situation, where you really want a specific rock to go, but can't get comfortable that it will stay in palce.
Just read the directions carefully if you choose to use hydraulic cement to "glue" rocks together.
Good Luck!
T

+1 to the above, random is better, you can plan rise and fall or caves a little but it shouldnt look like nature made it, same way seeded forest in ordered rows looks off

For the second note I find large rocks help, I ended up with a lot of smaller rocks moving up from smaller tanks and from smaller corals and such and they tend to make life terrile, the pile will be very unstable, large rocks will pin the fellows below and I find that helps a great deal, in doing so you end up with lots of natural caves and spots for the fish so win win.

HTH

If its any consolation I hate aquascaping too :P

[Alysiak00]

so atleast i'm not the only one lol. i think when i get my tax return i'm gonna try and find a 75g rr so i can actually use my sump. also i think it'll be a good time to find some large pieces of base rock

[cody6766]

get a picture in mind, think about what your corals need and try to shape things around that. Don't be afraid to glue and epoxy the hell out of everything. It will look bad at first, but coralline will eventually overgrow the epoxy. I use my biggest, most interesting pieces to start and then use smaller pieces to build the shapes i need off of them.

another thing to remember is that your tank will look totally different in 6 months. Set your rock and coral placement with growth in mind. Don't try to fill all gaps (vertical and horizontal) with coral. Instead, provide bases for the coral to mount to so they can grow into those spaces.

[john miller]

Originally Posted by Alysiak00

First off let me point something out, I HATE AQUASCAPING!

I love aquascaping. I suck at it but I enjoy it.

[travisw30]

Is there anything else to use to "glue" your rock together?

[Vandal996]

I was doing the same thing today and went through the JB Water Weld and the Harveys Plumbers putty which are pretty much the same. Neither stick to wet rock in the water very well at all. I wound up getting what I wanted and its stable without glue but I still want to glue it. My tank is running. I just wound up with a bunch of free rock.
Regardless, I had posted earlier and received a response from a commercial diver named Seacups who suggested a product called Z Spar Splash Zone. Do your homework. I'm just passing this along.

[wickedfish]

If you end up doing the zipties/acrylic rods...... get the most powerful drill and best bit you can buy get a good masonry bit set also look for bits that are at least12-16" in length. I made the mistake of using my 18v makita and old bits I used for drilling concrete, bad idea I broke 3 choice rocks from to much pressure.

Remember patience prevails in this hobby. Plan and also research what style you like. Theres a good thread on aquascaping. And in there I saw 6-10 good ones the rest well were not my taste but I think its best aquacaping something. Do a quick search.

Good luck I also like to do it but am souse at best I ended up with 3 pillars with one over hang and a leaning tower of piazza.

[TampaReefer79]

Originally Posted by travisw30

Is there anything else to use to "glue" your rock together?

Marco Rock sells a mortar type kit to use on your rocks, and he's having a black Friday sale. www.marcorocks.com

Originally Posted by wickedfish

If you end up doing the zipties/acrylic rods...... get the most powerful drill and best bit you can buy get a good masonry bit set also look for bits that are at least12-16" in length. I made the mistake of using my 18v makita and old bits I used for drilling concrete, bad idea I broke 3 choice rocks from to much pressure.

Remember patience prevails in this hobby. Plan and also research what style you like. Theres a good thread on aquascaping. And in there I saw 6-10 good ones the rest well were not my taste but I think its best aquacaping something. Do a quick search.

Good luck I also like to do it but am souse at best I ended up with 3 pillars with one over hang and a leaning tower of piazza.

Any help with which drill and bits to use? I JUST bought a Black and Decker 18V drill, will this be good enough? And what bits would I need and where do you find them?

Thanks!

[agreeive?fish]

Key to aquascaping

with tank filled with water dump all rock in tank from one container at one time in a sweeping motion incoperating side to side and front to back random movements

where ever the rock lands is where you leave it because if your like me you will never get a natural look that your happy with if you try to aquascape it your self...it never turns out how you picture it in your mind

[sowellj]

Originally Posted by aleonn

It'll be more work, but you can always drill the rocks and use PVC or acrylic rod supports. You can also ziptie pieces together as well.

Absolutely. This is actually not that much work. I would go through some of the aquascaping threads, make a rough sketch of what you want, then have at is.

I used acrylic rods and zip ties and it went very quickly.

[TampaReefer79]

p.s. Where do you get acrylic rods and the nuts?

[keith sprague]

LOL its funny you started this thread.the other day i almost smashed my beloved tank due to moving a couple SPS.one thing lead to another B4 U know it it took all day to screw with it, man i was PO'd. swore to the wife i was gonna rid of it.but after a couple strong coctails i finally calmed down. you aint alone!!

[keith sprague]

BTW you can cut up plastic coat hangers for your plastic rods if you cant find them any where. they work good.

[Misled]

Originally Posted by TampaReefer79

Any help with which drill and bits to use? I JUST bought a Black and Decker 18V drill, will this be good enough? And what bits would I need and where do you find them?

Masonary bits. Any hardware store.

Originally Posted by TampaReefer79

p.s. Where do you get acrylic rods and the nuts?

http://www.totalplastics.com/

It's how this was done.

[sowellj]

usplastics also has a great site for acryllic. I used rods to build three pillars, then zip ties to construct arches between the pillars.

[wickedfish]

i got mine at some warehouse in I want to say santa fe springs in California they ship I used rods and 4" rounds to make a table, to have the rocks off of the sand. It worked but needed more planning. Um the black and decker isn't gonna cut it. Might be best if you had a complete plan and allow 6 hours for this at least.

I took out all of my rock first along with corals, and inverts, then the pesky "wicked fish."

Placed them in big bins that were filled with the same tank water and a few koralias.
I then vacuumed the nasty floor of the sand it was gross.

I then put the choice rock out in the drive way for mock building. I put all of the rock that was odd or too small in the sump.

I then started to drill and drill get ready to make a milky white mess. And break lots of rock.

Some are extra fragile some are just hard as a well, rock.

By now you killed your bit and are tired.

Now the rods, good luck trying to get them in on the first shot. Oh and making the perfect drill hole where they lock in...But with patience no prob!

I lack this, its a genetic flaw in my family.

Stack your towers and then get them into the tank as fast as possible to avoid more die off. Monitor your PH and ammonia. I had 0 issues and I stirred up my sand, removed 40% of the rock for good and had the rocks out for up to 3 hours. GL my man.