High Tide Aquatics

Any BAR Reefscape Pros?

Invictus

Invictus

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Hi All,

Looking for open rockscape options for my Reefer170 (24.5x20x20). I'm looking for a fish friendly branching design like the one below. I would just immediately pull the trigger if it wasn't $280.

I'd love to get some thoughts on whether the cost here is justified for the polished simplicity i'd be getting, or if there are any other options I could consider locally.

For the record, I did piece together my own rockscape for my first tank, but this aesthetic i'm going for seems way out of my league to build.


aquatic-sealife.com

Art Reef Rock Tree V3 AR121

Art Reef Rocks Loui 220 Structure now on the site Plus get the best prices on the internet guaranteed with our Price Match Program
aquatic-sealife.com aquatic-sealife.com


Art Reef Rocks.png
 
I would say that scape is not worth it, it does not look very natural. The joints should be filled in more to give the appearance of it being a single piece. It is not the difficult to build a structure, you just need a good amount of rocks to choose from.
 
iani said:
I would say that scape is not worth it, it does not look very natural. The joints should be filled in more to give the appearance of it being a single piece. It is not the difficult to build a structure, you just need a good amount of rocks to choose from.
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The pieces are fitted by slotting acrylic rods down into the holes, allowing you to lift out individual shelves to work on them outside the tank, or to shift them with other shelves up and down. That's why there are slightly unnatural looking gaps between certain pieces. Function over form, if you will.
 
There's CaribSea liferock trees but it's similarly priced. The ArtReef Rocks almost looks like they are molded pieces rather than actual rock.

It's do-able DIY, but you have to ask yourself, do you enjoy the process of designing and building your own scape vs. pre-made? It's going to take a lot of time to chisel rocks into the shapes needed, bore out holes for the rods, and cement together the pieces. You'll probably spend at least $100 on rock and material alone. If you won't enjoy the time and process, then $280 could be worth it.
 
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Invictus said:
The pieces are fitted by slotting acrylic rods down into the holes, allowing you to lift out individual shelves to work on them outside the tank, or to shift them with other shelves up and down. That's why there are slightly unnatural looking gaps between certain pieces. Function over form, if you will.
Click to expand...
Ok, that does make sense then.
 
These rocks are basically a fancy frag tank setup. So you can move corals around.


That being said, if you want the large overhang look and are using dry rock for the majority of the structure, it's the perfect use for the superglue and sand technique. Long overhangs on thin rock will break the rock before the joint.

Tidal Gardens did a great video about it.
 
Invictus said:
Hi All,

Looking for open rockscape options for my Reefer170 (24.5x20x20). I'm looking for a fish friendly branching design like the one below. I would just immediately pull the trigger if it wasn't $280.

I'd love to get some thoughts on whether the cost here is justified for the polished simplicity i'd be getting, or if there are any other options I could consider locally.

For the record, I did piece together my own rockscape for my first tank, but this aesthetic i'm going for seems way out of my league to build.


aquatic-sealife.com

Art Reef Rock Tree V3 AR121

Art Reef Rocks Loui 220 Structure now on the site Plus get the best prices on the internet guaranteed with our Price Match Program
aquatic-sealife.com aquatic-sealife.com


View attachment 46739
Click to expand...
Try contacting our club sponsor Johnny (JesterSix) jestersix@gmail.com if you're looking for a custom setup.
 
Obviously a personal choice, but I like rock from a reef as opposed to man made. I like it to be just a little soft so you can work with it in the future, for example cutting under a coral through the rock. The man made stuff I‘ve seen is so hard it may as well be concrete in your tank. I also like the porosity of real rock for 100x surface area for bacteria.
 
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