Update on aquascaping

Well I think this is were the tank will stay. I like this better than the 2 islands. I need a longer tank to make the islands work. I just made a cave out of a large flat piece of rock I had in my rift valley tank(FW), and combind the two islands with a wall in the middle. So it has a big u in the middle for a more open look. I didnt want to just have a big mess of rock everywere, I like to have open swimming room. But I still think Ill have enough rock for good coral placment some day.

Michael

 

A couple things I see with your tank that I would change, but this is just my opinion and I am not saying what you did with your set-up is wrong, just trying to offer advice is all.
With your live rock, you have too much of your benthic/sand bed covered by the rock which decreases the likeliness of oxygen transfer from the living bacteria living in the substrate. I would try to free up some of the sandbed or place the liverock on top or eggcrate!
Next, I would try and open some more holes in the live rock and not stack the rock so tidy if you will. You want to have alot of space in between your rock work for fish, inverts etc. to be able to get inbetween to eat uneaten food, and waste. Moreover, you will be able to have water movement to remove detritus from accumulating! I don't want you to take this the wrong way, that is why I contemplated posting this reply. I am just, I guess, offering constructive feedback and reiterating the words of SPRUNG, DELBEEK, BORNEMAN and others pioneers in the reef world!

 

Ha, dont feel bad. That is why I post stuff on here, so I can get input about what I do. I do like what you said, and I was thinking of doing that very thing. I was reading what Matt had said about getting alot of flow under the rock work. I just dont know about stacing the rock, I dont like the look of the rocks just in a pile, lol. But I do agree with the caves for the fish. With the maxi-jets throwing the sand everywere, it is hard to keep it off the rocks. But you know im gonna have my hand in the tank again, lol. Let me see if I can get more rocks off the sand, and see how that looks. Thanks for the input, and dont feel bad. It is better to handle this stuff now, then with corals, and a bunch of fish, ha. Ill give it another try tonight, and see what I come up with.

Michael

PS: the rock covering the sand mite be why i had black on the rock that was under the sand. that is in the live rock forum.

 

this is how I had my african cichlid tank set up, so it is just natural to set this tank up this way, lol. but to thank of it, i did have a problem with build up under the rock. thanks for pointing this out, i dont want to have to fight nitrates forever!!

 

Hey There,

I like the design. I liked the idea of islands a little more, but that looks sweet. Just make sure you get good water flow behind/around the rocks. I really don't think they are too close. Fish are "wiley" and will sneak into spaces you never thought they would. Also, many fish like a calm area to sleep. I wouldn't worry about the sand under your rocks. In all honesty there shouldn't be much sand under them anyway. You should always make sure your base rock is put flat on the glass before adding sand. The small amount that is left there won't cause any problems. Overall, I think you've done a great job. If you were closer to me I'd give you a beautiful purple rock to start seeding your coraline algae. Keep us posted as always.

 

LOL, I need that purple rock!! I liked the island idea too, but It just didnt grow on me in my tank, . I made sure and pushed the rock all the way to the glass, but used some sand to make the rock set flush. I still mite get in the tank and move a few things around. Who knows I mite get creative again, and see if another island idea will work. I hate this part of the tank. In my nano, you can only put rock in one way, lol, but with this tank I have to many options!!!!

 

This is the way I have my 55 aquascaped. I have 2 large rocks on the bottome and then two very small pieces on each end then the rest are sitting on the top of them. I make sure I leave plenty of holes for fish to feel secure. I have also left the back open for water movement. Didn't know if it would help. It took me 5 times before I got it where I like it.

 

That is good for flow. Im on number 4 now on redoing the rocks. Were did you get all the large rocks. That would make it harder to aquascape, or I would thank so.

 

Really like your aquascape Otty .... I am just getting started getting things ready to set up my 125 gallon, so I am glad to see some aquascape pics....

 

My two largest pieces weight around 23 lbs each. I wanted two large pieces at the bottom so I could stack three or four other rocks on top of them. I made about 4 different trips to get LR because I was looking for certain shapes and I wanted them cured. Keep trying you will step back one time and say "Yea that looks cool" then you just add fish and frags.