75G aquascape critique please!

[plankton]

I have a bucket of Marco mortar and not afraid to use it! Actually not true at all and terrified!

I have a newly setup 75G IM int all plumbed and ready to go. Tonga branch and pukani acid washed and soaked in bleach for a week. Done. Ready to aquascape for primarily SPS dominate tank but will have schooling fish.

Here are is currently rock layout on cutout of tank bottom foot print.

yeah or meh?

 

[Jeffcb]

Looks good!

 

[plankton]

I have a bucket of Marco mortar and not afraid to use it! Actually not true at all and terrified!

I have a newly setup 75G IM int all plumbed and ready to go. Tonga branch and pukani acid washed and soaked in bleach for a week. Done. Ready to aquascape for primarily SPS dominate tank but will have schooling fish.

Here are is currently rock layout on cutout of tank bottom foot print.

yeah or meh?

I should note that the Tonga on the right is ridiculously heavy and dense whereas the pukani on the left supper porous and light as a feather.

 

[Weasel1960]

Looks nice was a bit concerned about the weight distribution bot your update took care of that.

 

[plankton]

After watching several YouTube videos I assume I should mortar the heavy Tonga together first then let cure. Then start adding the overhangs (light pukani) afterwards? Then lift carefully and lower into tank?

 

[t5Nitro]

That rockwork looks fantastic. I have the EXT 75 tank. Its going to look great!

 

[Billdogg]

I would suggest that you use an absolute minimum amount of mortar. What happens when something dies and you can't get to it without moving a few rocks? Or if you just want to change things up a bit? I've always relied on friction only to hold it all together.

It does look pretty nice however!

 

[plankton]

Ok adding a lot of mortar for base and will let cure until tomorrow then will add light amounts for lighter pukani and in case I need to break of shelf pieces later.

 

[JCTReefer]

Yes, every-time you mortar two pieces together, let it cure over night before handling. Resist the urge to mess with it. The bond will be incredibly strong. Likely stronger than the rock itself. I’ve used quite a bit of the E marco 400 over the last few months. Matter of fact, just used some an hour ago. Haha. Been trying to get my scape to where I’m happy with it since December 1st. Jeez!!! Here’s a good link on here for some tips.

My first NSA

Hi folks, I wanted to share my experience in case it can assist anyone else that is about to give an NSA (negative space aquascape) a try. I really enjoyed the process and results, but BRS wasn't kidding when they said its a time commitment. BRS of course has a great video on this if you...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[plankton]

Thank you all for your feedback. Here is additional ‘pro’ LOL tip for the next person who mortars pieces together. Double check the pieces you cement together against your design and make sure you don’t deviate too much!! My goal was no higher than 50% of tank and 4” min around the edges by glass.

not

Cementing went well, pieces are secure and entire structure is solid and stable.

But as you can see I should have mounted pukani center piece lower and there are two points 3” from glass.

We are reefers and we improvise so I’ll have to change coral placement accordingly.

 

[JCTReefer]

I tell you the bad thing about scaping outside the tank. Of course I really didn’t have a choice with my proposed design. And also my tank is roughly 29 inches tall. I definitely didn’t want to scratch anything putting rocks in and out. When you dry scape outside the tank you have to account for compression. One stumbling block many people hit when scaping a tank is not allowing for refractive effects. Simply put, refraction is going to bend the path of light as it leaves the tank water/glass and enters the air before hitting our eyes. When it does this it acts like a lens and makes the contents of the tank appear closer. In actuality, refraction will compress the depth of the tank by about one third. Thus, a 2 foot deep tank will look 18 inches deep; a 3 foot tank will be compressed to an apparent 2 foot depth, and so on. Now, aside from the fact that refraction makes our expensive tank looks smaller, the main problem from a scaping perspective is that refraction only affects depth, not height or width. This means that any slope you create in the tank (such as an arch) will become compressed if it moves from front to back. This is a serious problem if you, as many people do, design a structure out of water. Once it goes into the tank a front facing slope will be compressed by 30%. So, a premade 45 degree slope becomes a 60 degree slope. Likewise, a 60 degree slope will resemble a shear wall. Knowing this upfront can save a lot of time when designing your scape. As a general rule of thumb, make slopes that run front to back as gradual as possible. If you know this from the beginning, it certainly helps. Haha!!

 

[plankton]

Yup I measured tank but aquascaped on bottom cutout and thought I was building to height by ruler. Didn’t even consider the light bending/magnifying properties of water. Lesson learned and adapting to tank. Added dechlorinator and fitz turbo 700 to tank and will let mature for a month or two. Will be doing build thread tonight cuz I’m also curious how this is going to turn out!

Again thanks for all the feedback. New tank is looking great and a few months from now I can more some pieces from 25g lagoon and free up space.

 

[plankton]

My wife looked at and said it looks heavy but if I tilted it like a mushroom would look more balanced. Hmm. What do you think?

 

[plankton]

Wife loves The Mushroom, which is the name of the tank now, so will remove, trim wings off so there is more space to glass, trim 1-2” off base then use remaining mortar to reenfore base. Will also put black acrylic piece for base to sit in just in case. Making progress!

 

[JCTReefer]

Could always make it to where there’s some negative space at the 5/3 dividing line on the left side. Then place a smaller rock to the left of that dividing line. Would draw your eye to that area. Could trim a bit off that left side if you wanted. Would let the tank breathe a bit. Something kinda like this. Looking good though! Excuse the crude photo editor.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Q: Can you get a magnetic cleaner past the end of that rock to the far right?

 

[plankton]

No couldn’t get cleaner easily past both end points hence today’s trim. The rock structure easily weights 100 # and a very good work out for me to get it out of the tank and to front yard. Goal was to trim base and wings to better for tank.

I’m glad you reminded me of negative space for fish to swim and as to make scape more appealing to the eye. It wasn’t on purpose but I broke pukani piece on far left so The Mushroom is now at least 8 inches shorter! So, more room on sides for cleaning magnet and opportunity for small island on far left. Great idea!

Unfortunately I also have more pukani rubble for sump.

 

[JCTReefer]

The rock structure easily weights 100 #

Holy cow!!! lol.. That’s how much rock I have in my 210!!!!!!

 

[plankton]

Holy cow!!! lol.. That’s how much rock I have in my 210!!!!!!

It’s the Tonga rock! Ridiculously dense and heavy!

 

[plankton]

Ok final version of The Mushroom done. Base shortened by two inches, sides reduced by 6”, base reenforced and placed on black piece of 1/4” acrylic sheet to distribute weight. Not much room for island but wife likes it.