Aquascaping tips and tricks

[KodiakBear]

Just thought I'd start a thread for anyone willing to show and describe what methods they used to build their aquascape.
Did you just stack the rocks on top of each other hoping it would be balanced and secure? :bouncebox
Did you use mass amounts of superglue?
PVC and cable ties?

How about the foundation: who used egg crate, vice who sat the rocks right on the glass?

Just trying to see what all the different methods are and how well they worked for everyone. If you have pictures, please post them too.

 

[KodiakBear]

With my lil' 45 gal tank, I didn't really know much of anything when I started aquascaping, so I threw in the LS and started stacking rocks one by one as I bought them. Occassionally I had to pull all the rocks out and rearrange them to make room for a newly aquired arch, or shelf piece. For the most part, they're just stacked on top of each other. I tried to find ways the rocks would naturally fit together. A couple I took hammer and chisel to in order to make better seating surfaces, and one has about a dozen tubes of superglue gel adhering it to those around it. I'm really just counting days until it all comes tumbling down.

 

[BigAl07]

Good thread KodiakBear. I started a poll a while back about egg-crate and was surprised at the FEW people that are using it under their rock & substrate. I am pretty sure I'll be using it under my 90G in a couple of months.

In my current tanks my wife was the "artist". I sat back and watched her place and replace and replace rock until it was "right". Then we slowly took it apart and used epoxy in key areas to make it more solid. Keep in mind this was for a pair of Nano (1@10g and 1@12g) tanks so nothing really HUGE or elaborate.

I'll be tagging along watching this one progress.

Allen

 

[KodiakBear]

You're lucky. My wife sat back watching and taking pictures as I stacked the rocks where she told me to. She was the designer, I was the construction crew.

Mostly interested in this topic since I'm getting ready to set up a 120gal tank. I just know there HAS to be a better way of aquascaping that what I did for my 45!

 

[BigAl07]

:LOL: I was just "Supervisor"

Allen

 

[kathywithbirds]

Mike stacked them in a pyramid fashion, no glue or anything. Since then I've added a LITTLE more rock, I tried to place/wiggle together/match up as best I can.

When we get the 75, I'm going to arrange, look, rearrange (10 million times probably) then epoxy everything together.

So what's the plus with eggcrate? Does it provide better anchoring surface?

 

[BigAl07]

One thing is it sort of protects the bottom from the rock and it provides a good "tie down" point if you need to do something "substantial" with your rock. I can see needing it if you're doing something that's sort of off balance and you need to "zip-tie" some things to it.

Allen

 

[KodiakBear]

 

[burning2nd]

stack in a way that its not gonna fall.... and if you cant get the rock to sit nice and stable i would tie it down.. (zip tie??!??) or pvc pegs

i cant imageing what i would do if i had a rock slide bust thur my tank..... Ill go off the deep end for sure.

 

[KodiakBear]

i cant imagine what i would do if i had a rock slide burst thru my tank..... Ill go off the deep end for sure.

I agree completely, and I'm not a very good swimmer!

 

[reefman420]

i actually had a rock slide like three weeks ago!!!i was on my knees staring into my tank.if the rock wasnt towards the back i think it would have busted thrue!

 

[Melanie]

I just stacked it in there with no rhyme or reason. No egg crate on the bottom. No epoxy. No zip ties. No PVC. I'm a rock slide waiting to happen.

 

[GeeWizzItsMe]

LOL melanie! I love your aquascaping! I also am a rock slide waiting to happen...

 

[lcstorc]

Mine is kist kind of put together in a grand balancing act. Since it is a peninsula tank and you can see from 3 sides there are lots of arches which helped keep things stable. I did have a rockslide once and while the tank was fine I lost a chevron tang that was not able to get out of the way in time.
The 90 I am setting up now has eggcrate on the bottom and lots of rock but it isn't really scaped yet. I need lots of hitching posts for the ponies and some great tonga branch to provide some of them but right now it is more or less a pile waiting for me to do it right.

 

[Jake]

Mine is placed on the glass bottom and strategically stacked. Push / wiggle / check. No glue / ties / etc. When I had my sifting goby he would burrow holes in the sand and rocks, so I was glad the base pieces were solid on the bottom glass.

 

[BigAl07]

I'm going to bring a new sheet of egg-crate home from work tomorrow and start cutting it to fit snugly in the bottom of my new 90g tank.

Allen

 

[framerguy]

my bases are on the glass then everything else is wedged in place and hope for the best. LOL. No problems yet. We're getting a new tank after we get back from vacation in october and my plans are to build a egcrate wall and tiewrap the rocks to form a drop off on the left side. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[BigAl07]

my bases are on the glass then everything else is wedged in place and hope for the best. LOL. No problems yet. We're getting a new tank after we get back from vacation in october and my plans are to build a egcrate wall and tiewrap the rocks to form a drop off on the left side. I'll let you know how it goes.

I really like the "Rock Wall" idea. I saw it recently and it looked SHARP! Keep us posted along the way.

Allen

 

[kathywithbirds]

hhmmm... with that egg crate thing...

Mike got hisself a garden eel and I'd like to get a sandsifting goby (one day). Would the egg crate pose a problem for either of them? The eel really goes down deep, I'm going to have to really work to provide some deeper areas for him to burrow in. I wasn't going for a DSB, the eel will not make for letting the sand stay still for the denitrification. BUT he needs some depth. I was going to go for "hills and valleys" with the substrate and maybe the eggcrate might help with that.

 

[BigAl07]

hhmmm... with that egg crate thing...

Mike got hisself a garden eel and I'd like to get a sandsifting goby (one day). Would the egg crate pose a problem for either of them? The eel really goes down deep, I'm going to have to really work to provide some deeper areas for him to burrow in. I wasn't going for a DSB, the eel will not make for letting the sand stay still for the denitrification. BUT he needs some depth. I was going to go for "hills and valleys" with the substrate and maybe the eggcrate might help with that.

Kathy I don't see how the eggcrate can hurt because if it wasn't for the eggcrate he'd be hitting the glass.

Allen