Scaping . . .

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Ok Newbie Alert coming now!!

I am planning My next tank. I was at the LFS yesterday and peeking in the main window at their Monster Tank. The rock is laid in a way to where it's high on both sides but sort of dips low in the middle... step way back and it's almost in the shape of a Hammock. It looks like the rock is UP against the glass on both sides. I have always tried to keep rock-to-glass contact to ZERO but in several pictures I see people have rock directly against the glass. am I wrong about this? I am planning this same type of scaping for my upcoming tank and I want to have all My "ducks in a row" even before the tank is ordered.

any ideas?

Allen :)
 

sasquatch

Brunt of all Jokes~
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I guess if your into moving rock fairly often you can pile it against the glass, I find it just become a muck magnet, the flow is really cut and is a great place for nuisance algae to get a toe hold
 

Triggerjay

Well-Known Member
mine is currently against both ends, and the full back,... and I cannot get to it very well to clean... The 125g, All rock will be in the middle...

Jason
 

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
So if I want to have it "Free Standing" and NOT leaning on the glass ANYWHERE (makes scraping MUCH easier) I would need to look into the acrylic rods right? what would I anchor the rods into? Create some kind of sub-base structure? Where do you GET acrylic rods from? what does the base need to be?

Allen
 

Dentoid

Smile Maker
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My rock is against the back glass, but I made sure that I could get my mag float by the LR on the sides and the front. All the tanks I see at my LFSs have tons of LR piled up to Jesus! They don't care or know something we don't.
 

mps9506

Well-Known Member
So if I want to have it "Free Standing" and NOT leaning on the glass ANYWHERE (makes scraping MUCH easier) I would need to look into the acrylic rods right? what would I anchor the rods into? Create some kind of sub-base structure? Where do you GET acrylic rods from? what does the base need to be?

Allen


Having done the acrylic rods and pvc farme stuff for making rock structures, I have to say my lazy butt will never do that again. You can make a decent free standing aquascape without the rods, unless you plan on making really cool looking overhangs and structures from your live rock, most of the time it isn't needed.
But trying to piece together a jigsaw puzzle of live rock, drilling holes in the exact spot you need the rods to go, then threading the rods in and then lifting the huge pieces of live rock in the tank, sounds easier than it is :)
I personally feel people look to heavily in aquascaping with their live rock, ideally you want people to not notice the live rock and allow corals to grow in and the corals are your attention getters.
But if you go that route, you don't need to anchor the rods into anything, the largest rocks on the bottom should provide sufficient weight for you to support the structure. In addition since you connect them to rocks behind them as well you counterweight any rocks that are forming overhangs to prevent things from falling.
I have also tried making a PVC "rack to support my live rock off my Barebottom tank with the pvc acting as a manifold to provide extra circulation under the live rock. That didn't turn out as I intended because detritus still built up in certain areas under it, and I found the pvc incredibly difficult to hide, even after the coralline grew onto it, it just didn't match the tank.
 

Dentoid

Smile Maker
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I agree with Mike, why bother unless you have a monster tank. Just pile it up in a esthetic fashion. The ocean is random and always changing, why shouldn't the reef tank. Reefs tanks are like snowflakes, no two are the same!:D
 

Triggerjay

Well-Known Member
The tallest structure in the photo is a pillar I made for the 125g... it is currently in the 55g, but it is made from a peice of acrylic, 12x10 with a hole drilled into it, and a rod glued in it. I just drilled holes in the rocks, and slipped them onto the rod. It is kind of hard to tell from the pic though, what is the pillar, and what is not.. I will try to remember to snap a pic of it when I take it out of the tank to move into the 125g.. It turned out ok.. I wish it came out with more horizontal space to place corals though...:
7-30-07030.jpg


Jason
 

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Awesome pic Jason! Thanks for the image!

What I am trying to create is rocks tapering down from both sides (like a hammock). I don't know if the rock pillar will work or not. I'm not afraid to start drilling into rock and stuff but it needs to be sort of "bowish"... does that make sense?

Allen :)
 

Dentoid

Smile Maker
PREMIUM
Awesome pic Jason! Thanks for the image!

What I am trying to create is rocks tapering down from both sides (like a hammock). I don't know if the rock pillar will work or not. I'm not afraid to start drilling into rock and stuff but it needs to be sort of "bowish"... does that make sense?

Allen :)

Like an atoll?
 

Triggerjay

Well-Known Member
are you meaning with overhangs on each end? if not, and they are going to sit on the bottom, I would use rock putty... If they have overhangs, you may be able to use the "pegging" method.. here is a vid:
Reef Videos
click on Carls 150g reef under the select a video...

Jason
 

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
No it's like the tank is a "Window" at the entrance to a cave sort of.... both sides of the tank have high rocks that slowly tapper (bow) down in the middle. I'll try to get a pic of it this weekend.

Allen :)
 
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