Is there a science to Aquascaping live rock?

ChitownRomeo

ChitownRomeo

Active Member
I have tried over and over several aquascapes but none of them look right. Is there a certain way to do it? I tried making caves, tried to give the fish alot of swimming room and such. Ugh just can't find one that looks right. I have seen alot of nice scapes. Just don't like mine at all.

f1jyhj.jpg
 
whippetguy

whippetguy

Well-Known Member
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It's more of an art than science. Most of us go through multiple scapes over a few months before we settle on one. You're coral placement will add to the looks as well, and as you add them you'll change it up.
 
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larrypueblo

Member
might need a little more rock, i find it helps 2 have as many assorted size and shapes as possible then sale what u don't need.
 
Doogle

Doogle

Well-Known Member
Drilling holes in the rock and using acrylic rods to connect rocks together in shapes that defy gravity, lol.bonsai rockscape
I also like unusual branchy rock but its hard to build a wall with it. But it looks cool.
Then the boring rock wall that I have and too many of us that are not creative enough to do something original, oh well, the coral covers it up eventually.
 
RedSeaReefer

RedSeaReefer

Member
*1 ^ also try getting some flatter pieces to make some bridges across lumps. Don't forget the ol' rule of thirds meaning the 1/3 lines in the tank are good places to pull the eye and make a focal point. Play with positive and negative spaces. :) I like the way it looks though. The long tanks are always super busy when they get stocked!! Awesome stuff!!
 
wscttwolfe

wscttwolfe

Active Member
Looks like your tank might be long enough to have 2 separate rock piles, one bigger than the other, with a sand channel between the two piles running diagonally. That's usually a cool look
 
theplantman

theplantman

Active Member
+1 to breaking up the wall and doing multiple piles, create some valleys and unusual angles to give it some depth and also try varying the height so your eye has different aspects to look at. From the photo, you have some great pieces to work with and it appears to be colored very nice. Have fun with it, ultimately, the only one that needs to love it is you.
 
lbiminiblue

lbiminiblue

Well-Known Member
I don't think yours is too bad, i regret mine as well for giving it too much of a wall appearance. Maybe you want a wall coming right at the tank front and splitting it in half and islands on either half? like this? .....l...... You probably want it to pop out more at you.
 
PIMPALA

PIMPALA

Well-Known Member
I like the islands look because I really like the natural sea floor look to an aquascape, rather than just a big pile/wall of rock. I'm also not a fan of unusually stacked rock with holes and caves under every single rock, where it looks like it might topple over at any second (even if its connected securely) because you just never see that kind of rock formation in real life in the ocean.


If I had your tank, I'd probably make a 2 or 3 island setup. one bigger tall island, and one smaller one, with a nice little clearing in the middle for some cool LPS or a clam. Or I might try a 3 island setup with 2 large islands opposing each other, and a smaller island right in the middle to make it interesting.



make your islands in the tank now, but next time, set them up, and build them together with epoxy outside of the tank before you put them in there. you can get much more interesting shapes when you can build it on your kitchen table, and epoxy them however you want.
 
lbiminiblue

lbiminiblue

Well-Known Member
well i beg to differ you do see some pretty bizarre shapes out on the sea floor, including rocks at perfect right angles....lol but you have a point. the Island look is really nice if you have nice, tall, arching pieces with a main cave through them. Plus without connected rocks you might be able to keep aggressives together- they'll flock to their own islands. With his tank, I would have TONS of islands and such...
 
PIMPALA

PIMPALA

Well-Known Member
I agree with the shapes.

what I personally dont like, is just boulder shaped rocks stacked on stacks, just for the sake of having odd shapes. One of my favorite LFS always does their tanks this way, and while when filled in with coral, always looks awesome, it sure is awkward when you first set it up, and its bare.


this may offend a lot of people, but this is my least favorite type of aquascape:


(from the LFS)

456945_346472448725005_654078940_o.jpg
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
Almost all the previous posts explain what you can do, but do not explain what you are trying to do with an aquascape design. I recommend this article on the subject (offsite) - A guide to aquascaping the planted aquarium

Yes, it's about FW planted tanks, but pay special attention to the shape and placement of the key elements. If you view the system as a reef with live rock in place of FW rocks, and coral in place of plants, you'll get the idea of what goes into a good aquascape.

Once you get this, your tank will become a lot more than just a rock wall or a pile of rocks.
 
reefer gladness

reefer gladness

Well-Known Member
Good suggestions above, I like the 'thirds' idea in a longer tank and also appreciate some space. Maybe some open sandbed around the 1/3 marks or separate rock formations.

Don't be afraid to take some of those larger pieces out and take a chisel and hammer to em to create some different shaped rocks. Some of the aquarium rock formations (like the LFS shot Jason posted above) just look too artificial but that's just my opinion.
 
ChitownRomeo

ChitownRomeo

Active Member
reefer gladness said:
Good suggestions above, I like the 'thirds' idea in a longer tank and also appreciate some space. Maybe some open sandbed around the 1/3 marks or separate rock formations.

Don't be afraid to take some of those larger pieces out and take a chisel and hammer to em to create some different shaped rocks. Some of the aquarium rock formations (like the LFS shot Jason posted above) just look too artificial but that's just my opinion.
Click to expand...

Yea I was thinking bout that. I think i'll break the big one in half and leave a open space in the middle.
 
PIMPALA

PIMPALA

Well-Known Member
Oh, and to be fair to the LFS, that was their first couple of weeks into that tank. it looks a lot different (better) now, and they have added a TON of rock and coral
 
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