First Aquascape Attempt

[BirdGuy21]

Messing around with some rock to create my first aquascape. Tank is a 45 gallon JBJ. Current scape isn’t anything fancy, bought used and running off Craigslist.

Here’s my first attempt, let me know what you think. Trying to create plenty of hiding spaces and places for coral. Last pic is with an additional rock added bridging the two formations.

 

[swebb]

I like the scape with the rock bridging as it gives it a feel of being one formation while allowing the two different sized peaks to keep it for being a rock pile. One thing I would make sure you do when setting it up in the tank make sure that there is room between any glass panels you are looking through and the rock because if it is too close it will be a huge pain to clean.

 

[Scotty Buttons]

I like it alot, pretty unique.

 

[BirdGuy21]

Thanks! I like it better with the rock briding the formations two. If I did my measurements right I should have space between the rock and glass for to clean. I’ll triple check again and make adjustments if need be. I made that mistake several times when I re-scaped my FW tanks.

Does it look like there is enough room for corals?

 

[SPR1968]

Well it looks great to me, but if you want some more ideas check this out and also search under modern reef aquascapes and you’ll get loads of ideas

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/brand-new-aquascape-forum.386276/

 

[BirdGuy21]

Definitely some great scapes in that thread. Really like those that provide some open swimming space but still plenty of rock work. I'm trying to balance that ratio and in a cube tank like mine I think it requires me to get creative. I want plenty of space for coral growth and placement in the future, a decent amount of caves and spaces for fish and inverts, but also some open space for swimming.

I've read a few different methods of securing the rock. Glue seems to the be easiest but also makes re-scaping more difficult. Drilling the rock and inserting pcv/acrylic pegs seems like a good way to go for future flexibility, but obviously more labor intensive up front. What has everyone else done to stabilize the rock? Any tips for the drilling method?

 

[swebb]

Thanks! I like it better with the rock briding the formations two. If I did my measurements right I should have space between the rock and glass for to clean. I’ll triple check again and make adjustments if need be. I made that mistake several times when I re-scaped my FW tanks.

Does it look like there is enough room for corals?

Yeah, there looks to be plenty of room for corals. The only thing that you need to take into account is that on some of you steeper rock faces, the corals will eventually shade one another.

 

[BirdGuy21]

That’s a good point, my rock formations are pretty steep. I’ll mess around with it a bit later, but I wonder if I’m boxed into that kind of angle with a cube tank...pun intended haha.

 

[BirdGuy21]

Updated aquascape. Tried to make the rock faces less steep and utilize the rule of thirds to create focal points, while still creating caves and places for corals.