I need ideas!!

[Be102]

Okay.. so here’s my tank currently it’s a 65 gallon with I’d say 20 gallon sump. I have a build thread and all that fun stuff! I wanted to increase the height of my tank as well as use e-Marco cement to do so. I ordered about 40 lbs of dry rock from amazon and rinsed it, soaked, smashed rinsed soaked and now I have a bunch of pieces I want to make a scape with dry rock and then when I take the live rock out of my tank make a scale with that as well... any ideas will be great! Here’s everything I got.

I tried messing around with a dry scape and made something ok.. but still wanted to improve it! I like the idea of using rubble rock as “legs” so I might do something like that. I got a bunch of rubble.
Whatever rock I don’t like or use I’llput in my sump ( try to find room for it.. ) I also have rock in my fuge as well. Any ideas will be great!

 

[Be102]

Anyone

 

[CasaReefer]

I like the 4th one down on the left with the islands ... I also like the 3rd one down on the left.. if you put some tape on the ground the same size as your tank it will make it easier to picture it. Also you don't want to get to close to the walls because it will make it hard to clean your glass. Also don't want to go to high you need to leave room for your coral to grow. try the tape take a few pics and post we will go from there.

 

[Be102]

I like the 4th one down on the left with the islands ... I also like the 3rd one down on the left.. if you put some tape on the ground the same size as your tank it will make it easier to picture it. Also you don't want to get to close to the walls because it will make it hard to clean your glass. Also don't want to go to high you need to leave room for your coral to grow. try the tape take a few pics and post we will go from there.

Thanks for the tape idea!!

I’llsee what I can do.
wont be able to do that with live rock (will get everything wet) but will still try

 

[CasaReefer]

Thanks for the tape idea!!

I’llsee what I can do.
wont be able to do that with live rock (will get everything wet) but will still try

how much of that do you want to use in your display?

 

[Be102]

how much of that do you want to use in your display?

Well basically here’s my plan...
I dislike my display for the most part. What I plan to do is drain the water into buckets..
Drain even more water into a big tote and pull the rocks and put them in there
Put a little pump and hose in there to keep water circulating / keep it all wet and whatnot.

Put the new (dry ) rock work into the tank

turn around and deal with wet rock ( maybe I’ll even do it in the bathroom lol)

I want to take the wet rock and start trying to aquascape with it. I won’t be as wild with the scape because I will be hesitant with the strength with it wet (should be good tho)

I will build something cool; let it sit in the buckets keeping wet but hopefully keeping the cement dryish
Then I’ll rinse the rocks well cause why pass up the opportunity in the water
lift that rock work into the tank and then fill tank with water from buckets (should be clean)

if I’m missing water I’ll add salt water has I currently have 40 gallons of ro sitting around lol

sit back and hopefully love my scape!

 

[Jason boles]

I always do a search for my tank size on here, Pinterest and google and see if their are any scapes I like. Generally build threads have the scap building process.

I quite literally hijacked someone else’s scap for my 60 cube. It’s pretty much exactly what the other guy did.

 

[CasaReefer]

I always do a search for my tank size on here, Pinterest and google and see if their are any scapes I like. Generally build threads have the scap building process.

I quite literally hijacked someone else’s scap for my 60 cube. It’s pretty much exactly what the other guy did.

That's a Great Idea.... I won't tell anyone...

 

[Be102]

Here’s what I got!

 

[Fishnut]

Looks good. The only change I would make is to lose the top piece.

 

[Be102]

Looks good. The only change I would make is to lose the top piece.

lol I need some verticality. Honestly I sat it there and was like hmm I could do this. (Planning on having some corals or something up there

 

[Be102]

Here’swhat I did!

any advice?

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

Your tank has great height. If I had your tank I would go with a single large pillar and leave the rest of the open space for fish. I snagged these pics from another forum to give you an idea.

 

[Be102]

Your tank has great height. If I had your tank I would go with a single large pillar and leave the rest of the open space for fish. I snagged these pics from another forum to give you an idea.

Thanks for this!

Unfortunately I think I need to switch my rock up a little as well.. I noticed today that one of the connections of cement seemed to completely crack... don’t know if it’s just from being submerged or because the rock above it or whatnot... but def don’t feel comfortable with it the way it is.


I agree I feel I need height vertically as well for my tank! Just unsure how to do it with out it looking like either a pyramid of rock and or a large rock wall.

Tried to follow some of the 2/3’d rule or whatever it was but didn’t really work out lol

I have so much live rock in my fuge I just don’t really have any idea what to do with it so I just stuffed it all in the fuge / around my sump wherever I can.. had to break some pieces to fit everything

 

[photiczoner]

Anyone

I like your “islands” option.

For what it’s worth, my decade-old reef tank has always looked best (and my fish seem to like it best) when I have a few tallish islands rather than just a mega-pile of rock. I can also see the fish better, gives them lots of swimming space but doesn’t sacrifice the volume of live rock.

You can connect prices to gain height by gluing or strapping together, but I’ve also used plexi rods to connect pieces together by drilling a hole the size of the rod and using it as a sort of connector stick. I also raise my islands up off the sand bed with plexi rods. That gives even more hiding spots and gives my sand dwellers lots of space to burrow.

Think of odd numbers of tall islands - 3, 5, or 7 for aesthetic design.

Just my 2 cents worth for ya! Show us a pic as you go!

 

[photiczoner]

I like your “islands” option.

For what it’s worth, my decade-old reef tank has always looked best (and my fish seem to like it best) when I have a few tallish islands rather than just a mega-pile of rock. I can also see the fish better, gives them lots of swimming space but doesn’t sacrifice the volume of live rock.

You can connect prices to gain height by gluing or strapping together, but I’ve also used plexi rods to connect pieces together by drilling a hole the size of the rod and using it as a sort of connector stick. I also raise my islands up off the sand bed with plexi rods. That gives even more hiding spots and gives my sand dwellers lots of space to burrow.

Think of odd numbers of tall islands - 3, 5, or 7 for aesthetic design.

Just my 2 cents worth for ya! Show us a pic as you go!

Oh, and grottos. All my islands have at least one cave or grotto configuration. My fish love the grottos.