Are You Using West Mariculture Bonsai Structures?

[nickkohrn]

I came across West Mariculture and it looks really nice for creating SPS aquascapes since it allows a lot of water movement around the structure. Are you using any of their structures? If so, then I would love to see pictures because the products really have my creativity in overdrive.

 

[samnaz]

they look so fake, can't stand em. I have seen a lot of folks use them though. However, I haven't heard of that particular brand. Maybe someone else with actual experience can chime in...

 

[shred5]

they look so fake, can't stand em. I have seen a lot of folks use them though. However, I haven't heard of that particular brand. Maybe someone else with actual experience can chime in...

Same here to fake but many have gotten a way from the natural reef look. Many reef aquariums look pretty much like frag tanks anyway now and not natural at all. Not enough people letting their corals grow into nice colonies but instead packed with way to many corals.
This probably works good for these people that like this..

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

Definitely not my cup of tea either...

 

[nickkohrn]

Same here to fake but many have gotten a way from the natural reef look. Many reef aquariums look pretty much like frag tanks anyway now and not natural at all. Not enough people letting their corals grow into nice colonies but instead packed with way to many corals.
This probably works good for these people that like this..

I agree that too many people pack their tanks full of corals without regard for growth-patterns. I thought that these structures would be nice for SPS tanks because it could give distinct levels for placement, which I think tends to look really nice. You can order the structures without holed for frag plugs, which would look much better for those of us that don't want our displays to look like frag tanks.

For example, I think the design in the attached image looks beautiful. However, it was also created using some additional rock.

 

[shred5]

I agree that too many people pack their tanks full of corals without regard for growth-patterns. I thought that these structures would be nice for SPS tanks because it could give distinct levels for placement, which I think tends to look really nice. You can order the structures without holed for frag plugs, which would look much better for those of us that don't want our displays to look like frag tanks.

For example, I think the design in the attached image looks beautiful. However, it was also created using some additional rock.

That doesn't look too bad with the rock attached like that.
It defiantly would work great for flow for sps.
Not sure it is my style but I can see the advantages of it.
Maybe that would grow on me but defiantly not without the rock added.

 

[Rakie]

They now offer aragonite colors and texture and it looks much more natural, especially in water. I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy one very soon myself, I just can't get rockwork to suit my needs for space.

 

[Onenorth]

Anyone here know what exact materials they use to build these kind of scapes?

For me it looks like some kind of resin with textures

 

[Joeg]

I bought one a while back and used it in a Red Sea nano that has since been taken down. I had mixed feeling about it once it was in the tank because it did offer a lot of holes for you to drop frags but I think I didn't like how all of the platforms were flat which I think is why some might think it looks fake. The series of flat shelves just started getting to me after a while, to the point where it was all I saw when I looked at the tank.

I thought the product was well made and what I received was exactly what I had ordered plus it arrived quickly. It's very apparent from the images online that some people can use it as a foundation to develop beautiful tanks so I'm going to say that I didn't have the vision to make that with that last tank. happen.

I'm starting a new tank and will be using liferock shapes and branch plus the emarco mortar to hopefully build something interesting. I'll be keeping the bonsai structure to use again at some point because I do think it's an interesting approach that I'd like to try again.

 

[Doctorgori]

I dunno...I’m thinking if you go that route may as well get the sunken pirate ship and treasure chest to go with it

 

[swiss1939]

Fraggle Rock!

 

[Tatumj96]

I have no live rock, other than a few pieces that I bought some GSP colonies on. Otherwise, everything in my tank is West Mariculture. I have a bonsai sculpture, 5 arches which I've stacked into a structure, and something I think they refer to as a cave if I remember correctly. Cave on left, arch structure in middle, bonsai on right. The only downside is all the pre-drilled holes if you don't have a lot of frags. I'm thinking about getting some undrilled platforms for the bonsai.

 

[Reefcowboy]

I have contacted them to get a 36"x 25"x 12" structure for a 150 gal.

They ignored my request while I was ready to order, only needed basic info.
Even though the piece I wanted to order was considered large, I guess if you arent spending a lot more or are a store owner promoting their brand on social media(the pieces you see on their FB page) you wont get a response these days.

I plan on aquascaping my own piece

 

[CoralNerd]

West Mariculture appears to be awful at running a company. I placed a order they take my money and then don't communicate with me. I'm starting to get really ticked off.

 

[Reefcowboy]

West Mariculture appears to be awful at running a company. I placed a order they take my money and then don't communicate with me. I'm starting to get really ticked off.

Thankfully there are more players coming into this market. There is a big need for pre-made artificial rock structures and new procedures for aquascaping(thin cyanoacrylate+sand) have allowed big changes and we can now have whatever structure we desire.

I actually slowly did my own after being ignored by the mentioned vendor and the final result was better than the piece I was planning to order.

Sorry they took your money, unfortunately they expect you to read their mind on when you should expect the final product to be ready, I guess

 

[richiero]

do you know of any alternative companies to west mariculture they have seemed to closed. Thank you

 

[ZombieEngineer]

If you're willing to spend just one day (entire process for a 60 gallon took me 3 hours) you can get some pretty insane looking structures with some crushed rock powder and ultra thin super glue to "tac weld" rocks together in whatever shape you want. I also used a little 2 part epoxy for the base of the structure to make it stronger when I lowered it into the tanks.

This took me 3 hours of my time and less than $100 in materials.

 

[richiero]

Do you have a list of materials ?

 

[ZombieEngineer]

Do you have a list of materials ?

Crush a small Tupperware worth of Dry Rock with a hammer, mortar and pestle, etc into a fine powder. This was the most time consuming and physically demanding part. This tank is a 24 x 24 x 26 cube.

Materials:
30 - 40 lbs of Dry Rock
Hammer and something to chisel with
3 sticks of instant ocean 2 part epoxy
8 oz bob smith instaset CA glue (this was just barely enough next time I would get 16 oz to be safe).
GLOVES (this burns like hell if it drips on your skin).

Set two pieces of rock together, throw dust where they meet, drip glue over dust. If dust falls through, fill with pebble sized rock then dust over that then super glue. Hardens in 10 seconds.

 

[richiero]

Thank you.