Any tips on rock size and placement

[Shawn Waldon]

I am new to reefing and have a custom cube. It's measurements are 13*14*14. I just got in my dry rock from BRS and man these pieces are huge. I stacked three of them and I like the way it looks, but I got to thinking. Being this is only a 11 gallon aquarium with bare bottom wouldn't it be better to minimize the rock on the bottom of the aquarium for flow, cleanup, and water quality reasons? So I am reaching out to all you experienced nano reefers for some tips.

 

[dugthefish]

Get a hammer and chisel and bust it up. Smaller pieces ftw

 

[Brittany Marie]

I don’t have a nano but a hammer and flathead definitely came in handy! I built a pvc skeleton and attached rocks with zip ties to prevent toppling (probably don’t need that in a nano though). I really like this look though! I’d just chisel a little from the left side so it’s not so close to the glass! Looks cool!

 

[JumboShrimp]

From your photo, if you are going bare bottom, you should be OK. If you are going with sand, I would keep it very shallow—maybe under a 1/2”— just enough for looks. Mainly I would make sure you have flow on all 4 sides (completely around your rocks), as it seems you do. Looking good... enjoy!

 

[Jackony]

There are many ways to frame your rock scape. See photography theory. and then remember that corals will grow on the rocks. Try your best and go for it!

 

[SPR1968]

If your unsure try searching under modern reef aquascaping and you’ll get some ideas.

There are also some very good videos on R2R that show ways to design etc

And welcome to R2R as well!