Aquascaping Ideas

[Thumper]

I need some input on adding live rock to a tank so it looks good. I have a 150 tank and I will be aquascaping with 300 pounds of lr tomorrow, any do's or dont's. This is my first time doing this so any input would be put to use. Will 300 pounds fill the tank up pretty good in your oppinion or will their still be a lot of open space? Trying to get a pic in my head on how to do it but I'm clueless here. HELP,,, lol

 

[phases99]

This may be obvious, but build the most stable base you can and stack the remaining rocks leaving plenty of room between them for good water flow. You can fill in with Corals later. Recommend not to lean rocks against the glass and to leave at least a few inches clearance in the back. Besides that do what looks best to you. Aquascaping is an art and you will probably find yourself rearranging things until you get them the way you want.

 

[JamesR]

300lbs is great! I have a 125gal and about 110 lbs of lr. I'd love to have more, so in the future i'll add some. You can get an idea of how much it is, i still have a lot of room. i like to leave places for fish to swim in/through although some like to have it kind of stacked up towards the back. All your preference.

FYI, keep the rock away from the glass that you plan on cleaning, this way if run a magnet cleaner by, it will clean the glass w/o hitting the rock. makes cleaning easier.

Jim

 

[lando]

Do you plan on having territorial fish? You could build two mini-reefs on each side of the tank and leave a valley in the middle for open swimming.

 

[austinsdad]

With that much rock going in, I'd not worry too much about cleaning the back glass. I lean mine on the back to ensure room out front for viewing and activity. The fish like the back becasue they either can sleep comfortably there or hide if they sense danger.

Make sure you firmly seat the bottom rocks into the substrate, not jusy on top of the sand. This way the burrowing critters don't cause an avalanche.

Like mentioned earlier, ensure there are no dead spots if rock placement restricts water flow. Of course some areas will be slower than others. That's good since certain fish or coral want that some time. Probably gonna have to do some rock placement, check the water flow, and reposition PHs or rock again.

Keep some nice ledges or spots to place new coral pcs too.

Good luck. Send pics as you go along or when you're done.

 

[Thumper]

I'll do it. Thanks guys for the advice. Rock is in route and i should have it within a few hours. I'm currently running a mag 18 but I'm going to see how the water flow is and probably bump up to a mag 24 as soon as I get the rock in place.

 

[austinsdad]

Most likely, you'll need 2 or 3 more PHs (Maxi jets or something) for more flow. Your return alone won't keep all those spots in the tank moving.

I've got mine (3) in the upper corners, facing forward to create a current crash and flow back thru the middle of the tank.

 

[SquishyFish]

3 things that I always suggest. Place the Power heads as you build the rocks..that way they hide in the reef. IMO, nothing ruins the look of a reef more than equipment all over the place.

Two...For added stabilty, you can use Marine Epoxy. Its a "playdoe" type texture that turns rock hard in about 20 min. Its great for locking rocks together. Its white, but the coralline will grow right over it.

Three...If you have the room, keep the scape as open as possible. Empty space is as important as the rock that you put in the tank. Nothing looks cooler than the fish swimming in and out of the rock.

 

[grimlock3000]

Hey Thumper, you going to be posting up some pics of your new rock? I would love to see how the rock is packaged and what it looks like coming out of the box. And of course, everyone wants to see it in the tank too

 

[austinsdad]

For added stabilty, you can use Marine Epoxy.

Be carful not to commit too early to rock placements and glue'm until after you stand back and check out the dead spots with the PHs in place. I have yet to glue any rocks. I tend to lock'm in place like a puzzle, try to push'm a bit, and when they don't fall with a small, but decent amount of force, I figure they're OK and no creature in there is stronger than what I just did and I feel OK.

 

[Thumper]

I'll certainly take some pics of packaging and the rock. My tank is a rr with dual overflows and return lines allready ran. I dont see a real current issue here. I allready have 100 pounds in in now and it flows great.

 

[SquishyFish]

For added stabilty, you can use Marine Epoxy.

Be carful not to commit too early to rock placements and glue'm until after you stand back and check out the dead spots with the PHs in place. I have yet to glue any rocks. I tend to lock'm in place like a puzzle, try to push'm a bit, and when they don't fall with a small, but decent amount of force, I figure they're OK and no creature in there is stronger than what I just did and I feel OK.

True..but when you have rocks that weigh 25lbs each like I do (or more) you want to be absolutely certain that they wont go anywhere.

And I dont suggest glueing all the joints..just the ones that might need a little extra support. Epoxy wont support weight, but it will keep it from shifting so that the base rock can support the weight.

 

[first-timer89]

All I have to say is good luck putting 300 pounds in a 150 gallon without touching the back glass 8O . I think it is just fine to have some resting on the glass. just make sure to have enough water flow back there.

 

[SquishyFish]

yeah...that rocks gonna touch the glass...

 

[Thumper]

It touched on the back but just up on the top. Most of the pieces were real big. I'll post pics later tonight.