How much LR is enough?

[Poolrad]

I have 50 pounds in my 46g bowfront all LR no base rock, I was considering another 20 pounds of Tonga branch..

Anyone think 70 pounds is too much? Too little?

Anyone with a 40-55 tank have a pic of LR placement? Mine is sporadic and I just don't have a good talent at placing my pieces...

 

[StripesTheEel]

it all depends on what you are wanting to do with the appearance of your tank.. theres no real algorithm to say how much u should or shouldnt have..

for a tank that size though i'd look at roughly 100lbs..

 

[RLG2182]

I have 120 pounds in my 60. 20 pounds in my sump. Not too much... just arrange it nicely.

46 I would do 90-100 pounds IMO.

 

[Poolrad]

My biggest problem right now is arranging it nicely. I just have it as a ridge line from left to right across the tank. Space in front of it and behind..

I really suck at placing rock, anyone have recommendations? I was thinking about building a volcano like mound in the center of the aquarium and working outward to the glass. Right now with my ridge setup it touches the glass on the left & right sides of the aquarium...

 

[seaham358]

IMO 1 lb per gallon is the min I would go with. It all depends on the looks you want and if the rock is dense. I have 60 in my 55 and It fills the tank up nice, I have see dense rock in tanks and it only looks like 30 lbs instead of 60.
Some people like the look of losts of LR, I don't I want a fish tank not a LR tank.
I enough for good natural filtration and thats it..

 

[StripesTheEel]

if u can post a pic of the current tank out i'd help alot..! then maybe we could help design something diff..!

 

[Poolrad]

I can take some pics when I get home this evening and post em up. I need to do before and after shots anyways since this weekend I am adding a new overflow, a uv sterilizer, 3 maxi-jet 600's on a wavemaker pro, and getting rid of my satellite dual and putting up a coralife aqua moonlight. Going to be removing my Hagan 901 powerhead and my crappy Penguin Emperor hang on the back filter...

 

[SALTYDAWGY]

Just a suggestion: I like the look of two mounds on each side of the tank. kind of offset from each other. I like to create a lot of caves for creatures to inhabit. Give it character and depth. Allow water to flow around the mass and through it. It always takes me a few months to finally settle on aquascaping. I consider aquariums to always be a work in progress.

 

[Brenden]

I like the look of two mounds

SALTYDAWGY: Me too

Oh yeah I also have my tank set up that way.

 

[clowninround]

I am horrible at aquascaping and my husband who happens to be very good at setting up a tank and arranging corals can't do it either : ( I once asked my LFS how much they would charge and they said $2/lb. Doesn't sound like much i know but I have atleast 290 lb's yikes! Look in the gallery under tank shots, there are some great aquascapes in there!

 

[SALTYDAWGY]

$2/lb is crazy especially considering how much they probably just made off of you selling it.

 

[clowninround]

Naw, I didn't buy my LR from them. I got mine from LR.com (2 hour drive) and hi rocks...but it's still crazy!

 

[StripesTheEel]

Ur joking me...? $2/lb to aquascape your tank.. that should be a freaking CRIME!

 

[clowninround]

I know i about fell over when he told me. Too bad I don't have the skills for it or I would have to go in business for it myself lol. Appearantly many many people in my area pay him for it.

 

[Poolrad]

I took a ton of tank shots last night but couldn't get any of them under 250k (all were 2+ megs from my camera). I ended up taking a crack at it and redesigned it to the single mound volcano type method that I saw in many pictures here.

Looks better, but still just seems like something is missing.