Reef nutrition

Sweet Looking Scape... How to Replicate

Baykes

Baykes

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So I recently picked up a 24 gallon JBJ Nanocube, since I am tired of having to deal with acrylic...but thats another story, and I have been looking up scapes that people did with theirs for inspiration. One that caught my eye was this one:

tank_1.jpg


This is the 28 gallon model, so not the exact, but they have a similar amount of space. I just really like the feel and the composition of this scape. My question is, how would you do this? From the thread that I got this from, he said that he used a PVC pipe a lot of zip ties. However from the pictures on the thread that he took from other angles, you cannot see the pvc. Is it possible that he put the pvc through the rock? Also, is there other ways to get this look? I know that @jestersix sells a cement product that you can bond rocks together, would this work to create this kind of scape?

Its going to be a little while before I start getting ready to actually do this, but I would definitely love to hear what you think!

Thanks for your help :)
 
Here's my input.

Yes you can totally have an aqua scape just like that. Isn't it nice? Much better than stacking a bunch of rocks together that ultimately look like.....a pile of rocks.

What do I see in that aquascape?
  1. Negative space (which is a good thing!) there's spots where there are no rocks.
  2. Shelves (great for coral placement)
  3. Shelves in the background and foreground (this gives your aquascape some DEPTH. makes your tank look deeper than it is)
  4. Continuity (he used multiple small rocks and molded them together, which makes it look like one piece of reef)
    • When your rocks are just stacked on top of each other they usually have gaps in between, these gaps quickly tell you they're separate rocks.
Also, the aquascape reaches near the top of the tank. It fills the tank but doesn't overfill? Yada yada something about Rule of Thirds. Ever seen a tank where the tallest rock only reaches midway up the tank? Looks kinda weird.

@jestersix and marco rocks sells those emaco kits. It's like cement pretty much and is perfect for stuff like this! Especially if you just wanna get that near perfect aquascape down.

Did you go to the aquascaping workshop we had a few months ago? @jestersix showed us how to use the emaco kits. Pretty easy! I wish I had a tub.
 
Enderturtle said:
Here's my input.
Also, the aquascape reaches near the top of the tank. It fills the tank but doesn't overfill? Yada yada something about Rule of Thirds. Ever seen a tank where the tallest rock only reaches midway up the tank? Looks kinda weird.
Click to expand...

Personally I think if you are doing an sps/mixed tank your rock work should only come up to halfway up the tank. In a situation like this your aquascape is not only your rock work but also the coral when it grows in. If the rock work goes to the top of the tank you will have no room for your sps to grow.
 
iani said:
Personally I think if you are doing an sps/mixed tank your rock work should only come up to halfway up the tank. In a situation like this your aquascape is not only your rock work but also the coral when it grows in. If the rock work goes to the top of the tank you will have no room for your sps to grow.
Click to expand...

Ian has a very good point. I did not notice this yesterday but the aquascape has one flaw and that is the rock is TOO tall. The rockwork at the top is going to limit coral placement. If you put SPS on the top, it can't grow anymore.

Unless it was his plan to place encrusting corals at the top? leptosiris, cyphastrea, montipora. These usually encrust and dont really grow up.
 
Do what makes you happy. We all have different taste. Some like open space , while others like more rock. I happen to like both directions
 
Thank you all for you input! Unfortunately I had to miss the scaping workshop because of work, but I had seen Jestersix use that emco stuff at last years regiona swap. I had initially thought of using that cement stuff when I saw the scape, but then I read the owner of this tank used pvc and zip ties. I was kind of surprised and wondered if there was some technique that I hadn't heard of or something, and was wondering if anyone had heard of this method. At first I hadn't seen the zip ties, but after a closer look, I can see at least two black zipties on the the rock, one to the right of the clown and one just below it. I think the emaco stuff would be a little cleaner, and probably easier to use.

Also that is a really good point about the scape going too close to the top! I also hadn't really thought of that, and it will definitely have to be something to consider. I definitely want to make sure I have as much real estate as possible for corals. So, to make sure that I got this correct, the main problem with it being so high is two much light, or the lack of vertical real estate or a combination of both. Personally, I would not plan to have any "sticks" Is the assumption that the top is generally used for branching sps and therefore needs more vertical room.

My past attempt at a scape didnt turn out so well, especially since I didnt use anything to bind the rock together, so it really limited the positions I could place the rocks, and was always a hassle with them falling while doing maintenance. However, not that I am thinking of using emaco, I need to put more forethought in the process since once it sets, I wont be able to make small tweaks like I can now :rolleyes:. Thanks again for the feedback:)
 
Another alternative to emarco is the Nyos stuff, especially if your tank is already filled. I just used some this past weekend to secure some rocks to each other and it worked amazingly well. My rockwork only goes halfway up the tank at the highest point since I do want corals to make use of all the vertical space once they grow in.
 
as a newbie...i'm scouring the web for research. I was at an LFS in south SF yesterday and the cat there made a good point about glueing the rocks in larger tanks...if you have a bad fish and need to move rocks around, it's pretty tough to move 20 or 30 pounds. they recommended stacking. any issues there, especially in the case of a medium earthquake?
 
Enderturtle said:
Unless it was his plan to place encrusting corals at the top? leptosiris, cyphastrea, montipora. These usually encrust and dont really grow up.
Click to expand...

Don't Leptodiris and cyphastrea do much better and color up better near at low light levels?

And a +1 to just calling Jester6. He's cheap! And good!
 
Yes, you can put PVC through the rock. Rock drills pretty easily, although breaks and splits even easier, so be careful if you try.
PVC + Zip ties certainly can work. Coraline will cover anything.
West system two part epoxy also works well if rock is good and dry. That is what I use.
Just do not expect much out of the pink underwater epoxy they sell in fish stores. That is mostly clay, and gets crumbly.

For height, I agree you need "something" near the top in spots. At least 2/3.
Best case, that is the top of your SPS.
But if you have a bit of rock up high at the very back, it will look good as the SPS grows
in front of it. And still looks good if you go away from SPS.
 
Geeze people look at the dates before you respond, and only respond to the necroposter :D

Jeff Rehling said:
as a newbie...i'm scouring the web for research. I was at an LFS in south SF yesterday and the cat there made a good point about glueing the rocks in larger tanks...if you have a bad fish and need to move rocks around, it's pretty tough to move 20 or 30 pounds. they recommended stacking. any issues there, especially in the case of a medium earthquake?
Click to expand...
IMO, there is not MUCH of an issue with stacking if you do it right, now the problem with stacking is you are limited to how you can stack it right in the first place, you need rocks with the right shape, flat spots, etc. and you're ever fighting the look of just a pile of rocks or a "rock wall". IMO, you're more likely to have an urchin or a turbo snail knock things over than stuff to knock over in an medium earthquake.

That said, stacking severely limits your ability to make GOOD looking rock structures with existing (i.e. not specialized pieces) rock. Problem fish? Yeah it's going to happen, get a fish trap instead and live with a rock aquascape that looks good, has caves, etc.
 
Jeff Rehling said:
as a newbie...i'm scouring the web for research. I was at an LFS in south SF yesterday and the cat there made a good point about glueing the rocks in larger tanks...if you have a bad fish and need to move rocks around, it's pretty tough to move 20 or 30 pounds. they recommended stacking. any issues there, especially in the case of a medium earthquake?
Click to expand...
Also don't forget to put egg crate at the bottom in case you drop any rock or u plan to get sand shifter. Goby
 
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