Aquascaping with different types of rock?

Daniel@R2R · Jul 25, 2016

I just cleaned all the rock that I'm planning to use in the next big tank (it'll be a bit before I get to use it, so I'm just thinking stuff through for now). If you take a look at the rock in these pics, you'll notice several different types of rock (pukani, tonga, Florida reef, coral skeletons, and several others). Some of the pieces could be tossed (and probably some of it will be), but most of it is stuff I really like with cool caves, odd shapes, lots of porosity, etc. (Buckets included for size reference.)

What tips do you have for integrating different types of rock into aquascape for a single tank? My plan at this point is to have multiple island rock structures with plenty of open space (this is going to be a BIG tank).

Feel free to offer suggestions specifically for my tank if you'd like, but really I'm hoping we can talk about the general use of multiple types of rock in aquascaping (tips, practices, do's and don'ts) without necessarily tying it to a specific tank.

Rob Lion · Jul 25, 2016

aquascaping is a very personal thing, and one of the best things about having a reef tank, so my advice would be;

Practical things;
1. create your preferred structure(s) in a dry tank, its so much easier to move things about and get inspiration.
2. saw the bottoms off your bottom base rocks so that they sit flat on the glass bottom, as future fish and invert choices may burrow below them.
3. have as little base rock at the bottom as possible, maximize substrate area and allow for better across the substrate water flow to help keep detritus accumulating too much.
4. think about the positioning of your water pumps and flow direction(s) to ensure all areas are getting flow (no dead spots).
5. use as little putty needed to hold everything together.... in time you WILL want to change things about!!!!
6. make sure you CURE all your dead rock! curing is different to cycling, and dead rock holds lots of dead organic material in side them, break a piece of pukani rock in half to see :/
7. think ahead about what fish and corals you want..... some fish like to have places to hide, others need to be able to swim a lot unimpeded. corals will need high / medium / low flow and /or high / medium / low lighting... pyrimid structures are te easiest way to cater for this.
8. don't forget, a lot of corals you will get will come on some live rock its attached to, so don't make your structures too big to start with. Over time you will add more!
9. leave space above the rocks for corals to grow, and for fish to swim, and for water pumps to push water though the tank straight through.
10. leave room about the sides to place water pumps and for cleaning the glass.

Artistically,
1. most coral grow in the direction of the water flow and light direction, so when placing those lovely branching rocks, don't have them going straight up, lean them over a little to match the main water flow direction.
2. have plates again at a slight angle downwards, this will help with blowing detritus off of them and also when you get frags, they are typically mounted vertical, so when you put the on your plates the will lean over too, looking more natural and will actually grow quicker!
3. caves are great for shrimps and scared fish to hide in, but make sure there are multiple entrances/exits from them.
4. try and avoid vertical rock walls at the ends of your tank, your lights will probably cast shadows and these walls will not get as much light, limiting what corals you can put there.
5. a few over hangs with plating rocks are great for fish to hide under, as its a little darker and normally less water flow there.
6. personally, i like to keep 50% of each sided view (including the front view) to be open space.
7. with water in your tank, your depth of vision halves, so your tank will actually look like its only half the width it really is, this means that any gap you leave at the front between the rocks and the front glass will always look small.

you will change your design over time, its part of the fun

jsker · Jul 25, 2016

That is some nice rock. I would separate the rock into 3 categories of base, decorative and stick. base rock on the bottom decorative in the middle, ends, great for planting frags and the stick on top to break up a solid mound of rock. I used this stuff and if bond very well with out drilling and using rods to hold the rock together. When I bonded my aquascape I made sure that I could take the rock apart in section if I had to. Here is my scape

hybridazn · Jul 25, 2016

You should mimic this aqua scape, I LOVE it! Lots of room for coral growth!

jsker · Jul 25, 2016

hybridazn said:
You should mimic this aqua scape, I LOVE it! Lots of room for coral growth!

You sick person

chefjpaul · Jul 25, 2016

hybridazn said:
You should mimic this aqua scape, I LOVE it! Lots of room for coral growth!

Awesome!

Daniel@R2R · Jul 26, 2016

Rob Lion said:
aquascaping is a very personal thing, and one of the best things about having a reef tank, so my advice would be;

Practical things;
1. create your preferred structure(s) in a dry tank, its so much easier to move things about and get inspiration.
2. saw the bottoms off your bottom base rocks so that they sit flat on the glass bottom, as future fish and invert choices may burrow below them.
3. have as little base rock at the bottom as possible, maximize substrate area and allow for better across the substrate water flow to help keep detritus accumulating too much.
4. think about the positioning of your water pumps and flow direction(s) to ensure all areas are getting flow (no dead spots).
5. use as little putty needed to hold everything together.... in time you WILL want to change things about!!!!
6. make sure you CURE all your dead rock! curing is different to cycling, and dead rock holds lots of dead organic material in side them, break a piece of pukani rock in half to see :/
7. think ahead about what fish and corals you want..... some fish like to have places to hide, others need to be able to swim a lot unimpeded. corals will need high / medium / low flow and /or high / medium / low lighting... pyrimid structures are te easiest way to cater for this.
8. don't forget, a lot of corals you will get will come on some live rock its attached to, so don't make your structures too big to start with. Over time you will add more!
9. leave space above the rocks for corals to grow, and for fish to swim, and for water pumps to push water though the tank straight through.
10. leave room about the sides to place water pumps and for cleaning the glass.

Artistically,
1. most coral grow in the direction of the water flow and light direction, so when placing those lovely branching rocks, don't have them going straight up, lean them over a little to match the main water flow direction.
2. have plates again at a slight angle downwards, this will help with blowing detritus off of them and also when you get frags, they are typically mounted vertical, so when you put the on your plates the will lean over too, looking more natural and will actually grow quicker!
3. caves are great for shrimps and scared fish to hide in, but make sure there are multiple entrances/exits from them.
4. try and avoid vertical rock walls at the ends of your tank, your lights will probably cast shadows and these walls will not get as much light, limiting what corals you can put there.
5. a few over hangs with plating rocks are great for fish to hide under, as its a little darker and normally less water flow there.
6. personally, i like to keep 50% of each sided view (including the front view) to be open space.
7. with water in your tank, your depth of vision halves, so your tank will actually look like its only half the width it really is, this means that any gap you leave at the front between the rocks and the front glass will always look small.

you will change your design over time, its part of the fun

Wow! Thanks for these excellent points! This answer is super helpful, and I hope others will take these tips and use them (I know I will!)!

jsker said:
That is some nice rock. I would separate the rock into 3 categories of base, decorative and stick. base rock on the bottom decorative in the middle, ends, great for planting frags and the stick on top to break up a solid mound of rock. I used this stuff and if bond very well with out drilling and using rods to hold the rock together. When I bonded my aquascape I made sure that I could take the rock apart in section if I had to. Here is my scape

Very nice scape! Thanks for the tips. I particularly like the idea of separating out base, decorative, and sticks/ends. My plan is to use some kind of cement (probably E-Marco 400 cement), but I'll definitely use it sparingly for easy rearranging later on.

Daniel@R2R · Jul 26, 2016

hybridazn said:
You should mimic this aqua scape, I LOVE it! Lots of room for coral growth!

Some people shouldn't be allowed outside by themselves...

jsker · Jul 26, 2016

mdbannister said:
Wow! Thanks for these excellent points! This answer is super helpful, and I hope others will take these tips and use them (I know I will!)!

Very nice scape! Thanks for the tips. I particularly like the idea of separating out base, decorative, and sticks/ends. My plan is to use some kind of cement (probably E-Marco 400 cement), but I'll definitely use it sparingly for easy rearranging later on.

The stone fix from AF sets up quick and you can mold it before is sets. I want to tray there new AF poly glue to see how that works, but that means I really have to setup my wife office tank.

Daniel@R2R · Jul 26, 2016

jsker said:
The stone fix from AF sets up quick and you can mold it before is sets. I want to tray there new AF poly glue to see how that works, but that means I really have to setup my wife office tank.

Thanks! That gives me another option.

Phantomwinger · Jul 27, 2016

I used a combination of Pukani and Tonga branch in my drop off:

Am pretty happy with how it turned out

Phantomwinger · Jul 27, 2016

I used drilled out holes in the pukani and stuck with poly glue. That stuff is a revelation!

I have the branch in all directions as the flow alternates side to side with 2 gyres. Every so often they're both on and clash right above the branch making some awesome chaotic flow. Was looking for a breaking effect like on a fore reef wall.

Trand1983 · Jul 27, 2016

I used pukani and tonga branch rock. I wanted lots of flow and a nice sandbed. This tank will be a SPS tank.

Goby-won · Jul 31, 2016

Trand1983 said:
I used pukani and tonga branch rock. I wanted lots of flow and a nice sandbed. This tank will be a SPS tank.

I love it & I can't take it...3 starfishI can't even get one to live.

NanaReefer · Jul 31, 2016

What made you put 3 Starfish in a new tank?

fab · Aug 1, 2016

Try experimenting with sculpting clay. I modeled my reefscape in 3D, to scale. I chose the scale factor so the model would fit on a standard sheet of paper (8.5 x 11). I found a 10 lb block of clay at a craft store. I only used about 25% of the clay. No tools are required other than a knife to cut chunks of clay from the block I bought.

Model only the gross shape and features of your reef, not small details, certainly not individual rocks. Make the model show high spots, low areas, overhangs, caves, undercuts, and where you want to use branching pieces and where you want to have isolated rocks or no rock at all.

I got to where I could make a scale model in 10- 15 minutes after I had done a couple of them. So this approach does not have to be terribly time consuming. I kept the ones I liked. They would air harden overnight. I stuck toothpicks through unstable pieces of the model to stabilize them. I would model a few designs and look them over a day or two later. Then I would start over and make new ones carrying forth the ideas that I liked the most from prior models.

After several such modelling sessions I was only refining how to put the features together that I liked the most.

Photograph your clay models from various angles. Use flashlights from above to visualize roughly how shadowing will work.

Finally when you build the real McCoy use printouts of the photographs to guide your work.

When all was said and done my rockwork almost exactly matched my model. By then I had become confident that I would like it so I stuck to the plan and built it as I had designed it. I had already tried out quite a few ideas in the models and had winnowed down to the ones that I thought worked best for me.

One other thing came to me from this modeling approach that really helped in building the reef. I made the reef in several stand alone modules that used Marco mortar to hold them together. Then I could move the modules around a bit to fine tune its look. In a few places I bridged across two modules to produce a cave or a swim through. I used Marco cement and or epoxy putty to stabilize the bridging pieces. They can be removed as they are not cemented together strongly.

For the bottommost rocks I cemented feet onto them that are 2" high to match my sand depth. Each one is stable like a 3 legged stool.
(N.B., Any 3 footed structure will always be stable as long as it's center of gravity is above and well inside the triangle formed by it 3 feet.)
This way they stand proud of the tank floor by the depth of the sand. They appear to be sitting on the sand, but they are actually firmly footed on the tank bottom. Each bottom rock has 3 such feet for excellent stability. This way I did not have to cut rock bottoms to flatten them. The feet are simply made from chunks of rubble rock. This way the rocks do not have dead spots underneath them to promote small zones of detrimental chemistry. A goby can dig all the way under these rocks and nothing will tip over or fall.

Do not bunch your bottom rocks together. Leave spaces between them. When you build up from them this will help produce lots of small holes and caves throughout the reef.

Build large rocks from small rocks using epoxy and Marco mortar. Let them setup for a day or two. When you are putting feet on them let the cement or putty joints for the feet set up for a couple of days so the bonds cure well before you put weight on them.

When you build large rocks from small ones make sure you make them have spaces and holes between the rocks that make them up. Use egg sized balls of Marco mortar to join them and to act as spacers for these holes and spaces. This provide really nicely featured rock structures within the reef. Remember the Marco mortar and epoxy putty joints will visually disappear as they become encrusted reef components. So don't worry about how it might look unnatural when you are building it.

If I can find some photos of my models and of built reef segments I will post them. The models are not meant to be pretty and, indeed, they are not. They are meant to help you visualize your reef structure for the purpose of developing its major features and for organizing them into an aesthetically pleasing and functional whole.

fab

Rob's Reef · Aug 1, 2016

That rock all looks small to me. Lol when you say "BIG TANK" how many gallons are we talking about? I might have more rock in my sump than that. ;p

Really it all comes down to what "you" like. I personally have "reaquascaped" is that a word? Lol my tank over and over. And once I like it a week later I move more crap around. So basically in the end it all depends on what "YOU" like.... after all you're the one who has to look at it everyday!

hope that helps.

Trand1983 · Aug 1, 2016

NanaReefer said:
What made you put 3 Starfish in a new tank?

These star fish came out of this tank before I redid everything, they are alive and doing well. I have has good luck with starfish in my tanks, one is a sand sifter and the other two are common stars from Florida.