I need aquascape inpiration

Dixie_reefer · Oct 25, 2017

I have a 34 gal RSM that I will be starting over when we move to Maryland in a few weeks. I bought some Pukani, and a few tonga shelves and branches from BRS and I am drawing a blank on how to scape them. The Pukani peices are huge so I am going to have to break them up or chisel and mold them into something.

Show me your scapes and give me some inspiration, please! I am at a loss right now. I am trying to come up with something unique and aesthetically pleasing instead of two huge rocks stacked on one another lol.

Somuchflo99 · Oct 25, 2017

Roy 9121 · Oct 25, 2017

What I heard that some folks do, and it made a lot of sense to me. Cut out a piece of card board, or even paper, in the shape of your tank. Then try a bunch of different aquascapes until you see something you like. Then glue it together.

Somuchflo99 · Oct 25, 2017

There u go

Somuchflo99 · Oct 25, 2017

Good idea I tore mine down three times b4 I found somethin I liked

jefra · Oct 25, 2017

One of my favorite things to do with Pukani is wet it down a little bit, get a spade drill bit and customize a giant hunk into exactly what I want.

Dixie_reefer · Oct 25, 2017

jefra said:
One of my favorite things to do with Pukani is wet it down a little bit, get a spade drill bit and customize a giant hunk into exactly what I want.

That's the idea but I have no idea what I want lol. I was expecting some smaller pieces so I could play around with it and come up with something. I wish I could just envision something and carve it out haha. I have some time to think on it. The rock is going through an acid bath this weekend hopefully then packed up for the move.

SashimiTurtle · Oct 25, 2017

What I came up with in my 35g cube with about 20lbs of rock. Ordered 30lbs. Got 4 huge pieces and 2 small. I used 2 large in the back that had natural caves that I added a few entrances on the back for my dwarf moray, and then a small piece to make an over hang on the left and an island on the right.

I like the minimalist scape as opposed to the pile of rocks.

spiraling · Oct 25, 2017

Roy 9121 said:
What I heard that some folks do, and it made a lot of sense to me. Cut out a piece of card board, or even paper, in the shape of your tank. Then try a bunch of different aquascapes until you see something you like. Then glue it together.

We did that. I put padding on our dining table and taped out the size. Then each evening for a week or so my husband and I would try different shapes for a bit after dinner. I took a picture of each. It was fun to just stack and explore. Then we looked at all the pictures and recreated the one we liked best.

jefra said:
One of my favorite things to do with Pukani is wet it down a little bit, get a spade drill bit and customize a giant hunk into exactly what I want.

Pukani is great because you can drill and cut it. I took a hacksaw and cut a bunch of 3" disc pieces. I used them for zoa gardens at the bottom, and for support pieces. The best part is once you get something you like you can cut the rock flat so it is stable on the bottom.

There is a great aquascaping thread on here to give you the basics. cove shape, rock island, ect. at some point it will be covered so don't sweat the small stuff. Also plan for your corals. A lot of people make their structures high (many corals are tall and their is no room in the premium top space) or close to the glass (you want clean glass!) Also shine a light down and see if you have a lot of shadowing. I messed up my first time and had all the back surfaces in the light, but all the front ones were in shade :mad: @Robin Haselden structure above is a great example of leaving room for growth.

I have that RSM and had kinda a two peak structure. Looked great. I'm not sure where pictures are now (my tank now is the RSM 525). Just google 35 gallon aquascape (and similar searches) and you will get TONS of inspiration! good luck and have fun with it.

Dixie_reefer · Oct 25, 2017

spiraling said:
We did that. I put padding on our dining table and taped out the size. Then each evening for a week or so my husband and I would try different shapes for a bit after dinner. I took a picture of each. It was fun to just stack and explore. Then we looked at all the pictures and recreated the one we liked best.

Pukani is great because you can drill and cut it. I took a hacksaw and cut a bunch of 3" disc pieces. I used them for zoa gardens at the bottom, and for support pieces. The best part is once you get something you like you can cut the rock flat so it is stable on the bottom.

There is a great aquascaping thread on here to give you the basics. cove shape, rock island, ect. at some point it will be covered so don't sweat the small stuff. Also plan for your corals. A lot of people make their structures high (many corals are tall and their is no room in the premium top space) or close to the glass (you want clean glass!) Also shine a light down and see if you have a lot of shadowing. I messed up my first time and had all the back surfaces in the light, but all the front ones were in shade :mad: @Robin Haselden structure above is a great example of leaving room for growth.

I have that RSM and had kinda a two peak structure. Looked great. I'm not sure where pictures are now (my tank now is the RSM 525). Just google 35 gallon aquascape (and similar searches) and you will get TONS of inspiration! good luck and have fun with it.

Thank you so much!

Nart · Oct 26, 2017

I was in the same situation as you. What I did was lots of hours spent on hammering, chiseling, sawing, cursing, drilling, more cursing, and epoxying.

My starting point, 12lbs of Pukani from BRS:

Spent days and hours...

This is what I was able to come up with.
My IM10:

My IM25:

It's been like 40 something days now, both are currently still curing.
Don't lose hope! I knew what I was in for going into this rockscape. So I made sure that I only worked on it when I felt inspired to and had free time with no distractions. Took me about a total of 60 hours for my IM25 rockscape and about 30 hours for my IM10 rockscape.

Hope this helps.
Oh yeah - I also utilized acrylic rods to help with some rock arm extensions.

Dixie_reefer · Oct 26, 2017

Ok so I played around with what I got. I ordered 15 lbs of Pukani, 5 lbs of branch and 2lbs of plate. I am also going to be scaping a 7.5 cube, I'm going to use my leftovers for that. Here's some scales I came up with without busting up the rock, the smaller piece is fairly dense so I'm scared to bust it up and it look like crap and ruin it.

Dixie_reefer · Oct 26, 2017

That last one is a smaller shelf piece than the ones above it. The tank is 22" long so the tape measure and rocks maps out the space I have length wise. If I use the 2 pieces of Pukani together, I'll have to chisel away from bot pieces to get the look I want and allow for space on the sides.

Dixie_reefer · Oct 26, 2017

The main critter in this tank will be a fuzzy lion so I want it to be practical for him as well

Roy 9121 · Oct 26, 2017

Dixie_reefer said:
Ok so I played around with what I got. I ordered 15 lbs of Pukani, 5 lbs of branch and 2lbs of plate. I am also going to be scaping a 7.5 cube, I'm going to use my leftovers for that. Here's some scales I came up with without busting up the rock, the smaller piece is fairly dense so I'm scared to bust it up and it look like crap and ruin it.

For what it's worth, I like the last one.

seamonster · Oct 26, 2017

What I did is do basically what you have in mind and slowly change the Aquascape as your tank evolves. For example, If you want lots of swimming room for fish, like tangs, go for an open design and start with 2 piles of rock. Scape those piles individually. One of the great things about our hobby is that it is very fluid, always changing...