I suck

shanedag · Dec 9, 2020

I'm terrible at this aquascaping despite watching numerous youtube articles and reading various articles. I have liverock from gulf in here and think I got way too much. Waterbox 180.5 and amount of rock is around 280lbs (came as part of The Package from TBS). Just finished adding about a week ago. Didn't really want to shoot for the rock wall look.

I'm thinking about pulling all of the rock and starting over with the aquascaping (and reducing the amount I have). Would this cause any issues? Wondering if I would affect filtration or cause any harm to rocks. Thinking I'd move the rocks temporarily to a bin with saltwater while I redo this. Any thoughts?

Ignore the tupperware container. Trying to catch a massive gorilla crab. Been a real pain to catch. Removing all the rock and starting again may help with this

vetteguy53081 · Dec 9, 2020

Suck?
Not bad!! Place coral in the right places and you get this scene ( which by the way was similar to what I did in my past 360g tank)

shanedag · Dec 9, 2020

vetteguy53081 said:
Suck?
Not bad!! Place coral in the right places and you get this scene ( which by the way was similar to what I did in my past 360g tank)

Wow, awesome tank!

vetteguy53081 · Dec 9, 2020

shanedag said:
Wow, awesome tank!

Old tank. Now I have a 660g and two others

fishlover1478 · Dec 9, 2020

it looks better than mine

Greg Gdowski · Dec 9, 2020

Mine looked similar to that at the get go as well. You have some nice bridges in there for fish to hide. I've thought about going with less rock in my next build... still trying to decide. The big issue is once its done and you have corals growing on it like vetteguy illustrated -- it gets harder and harder to move things around and change it. Try to get it to a point where you like it now... even if it takes time it is well worth it.

Cell · Dec 9, 2020

You have a great start. Maybe just try strategically removing some rocks to create more distinct structures and vary your height a bit.

shanedag · Dec 9, 2020

Cell said:
You have a great start. Maybe just try strategically removing some rocks to create more distinct structures and vary your height a bit.

Yeah I think that's what I'm missing. It's all the same height right now.

Mike from TN · Dec 9, 2020

Nothing “sucky” about your scape! I think it looks good. Like vette guy said, once you start filling it in, it’ll be beautiful.

sp1187 · Dec 9, 2020

if you want a different look, try something like this. (not mine) make a canyon. added depth perception front to back.
added benefit, you can hide your power heads so they don't show.

Weasel1960 · Dec 9, 2020

Absolutely doesn’t suck. Agree with gently rearranging to make it look like more than one structure, reuse what you take out for your height. Keep in water until you are satisfied. Looks a bit tight on left and right for maintenance.

shanedag · Dec 10, 2020

sp1187 said:
if you want a different look, try something like this. (not mine) make a canyon. added depth perception front to back.
added benefit, you can hide your power heads so they don't show.

Huh, I think i could create this pretty easily using the existing structure just be removing the middle rocks from the left side rock structure. Really love this look

sp1187 · Dec 10, 2020

shanedag said:
Huh, I think i could create this pretty easily using the existing structure just be removing the middle rocks from the left side rock structure. Really love this look

not just removing the center.
looking straight down rotate both so they are on an angle from front to back.
and sloped from bottom to top.

saltwaterpicaso · Dec 10, 2020

I'm the same way tank has been up for 2 years just placed the rock in never did an aquascape now im doing one this is 5 hours of work lol and I will have another 20 into it by the time im done or more

shanedag · Dec 10, 2020

saltwaterpicaso said:
I'm the same way tank has been up for 2 years just placed the rock in never did an aquascape now im doing one this is 5 hours of work lol and I will have another 20 into it by the time im done or more

That's looking really great! Is this the rock from your 2 year old tank or new rock? I'm asking because I've struggled to scape directly in the tank with water in it.

Arabyps · Dec 10, 2020

Generally the tank looks great but...If you plan on having fish in your system, consider the amount of open space for them to swim, and hiding places for them to sleep at night. When I did my aqua scaping I focused on open space for the fish (mostly because tangs need it). Just a thought but you have enormous potential to work with.

PicassoClown04 · Dec 10, 2020

I dont think it looks bad at all! I really like doing a "Pillars and Arches" technique where I basically choose a few rocks to use as base boulders and put on the bottom; then connect them with other rock to create lots of arches. Then sticking a couple rocks here and there to create caves and height differences. If you check out my build threads, you can see how I did this with a peninsula and lagoon tank