My first

[Kittypowpow]

Hello all! This is going to be my first salt water adventure. I wanted to get some feedback on this scape. Does it speak to anyone…..or is it just a pile of rock sloppily stacked in a box? Brutally honest feedback welcome! Marine stuff cost too dang much compared to fresh water to hate it in a few months lol

 

[blaxsun]

It looks good. You have caves, crevices and tunnels for fish to hide in and explore. Once you add corals it will totally change the look and feel.

 

[ScionFRSguy]

It looks like to much rock to me. I would try removing the big rock on the lower right then play around with the smaller rocks. Use the middle and lower left rock to create 2 ledges then use the top flat rock to bridge the ledges creating a cave. You have to mess around with it a lot to make it look good. Once it looks good, DO NOT TOUCH IT. It's almost impossible to make it look perfect again, hahahahaha. I would try to leave as much open room on the bare bottom as possible so you can put some zoas there. It's going to look nice. It's also good to have a lot of open space towards the top so that the fishes can swim freely plus it looks so much better. When you look at the tank, you want to look at as much water as possible along side everything else in it. Seeing the water is what makes the tanks look really nice.

 

[KrisReef]

First post?
Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Sorry, but I do see a Rock pile. Try again

Also, make sure you have room between the rockscape and the glass to clean especially after coral grows if you are going to have coral?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello all! This is going to be my first salt water adventure. I wanted to get some feedback on this scape. Does it speak to anyone…..or is it just a pile of rock sloppily stacked in a box? Brutally honest feedback welcome! Marine stuff cost too dang much compared to fresh water to hate it in a few months lol

For this type tank, looks good. Because its dry rock, expect to acquire a film of diatoms as tank matures and seed tank with denitrifying bacteria such as microbacter xlm

 

[jabberwock]

That is a lot of rock. Don't be afraid to break some of it up. Get some more interesting shapes. I think you need more negative space. Keep rubble and scraps for islands, frag holders and reinforcing structurally. you can also put rubble in the back of tank to increase your biofilter.

 

[Kittypowpow]

It looks good. You have caves, crevices and tunnels for fish to hide in and explore. Once you add corals it will totally change the look and feel.

Thanks so much!! I really appreciate your feedback!

 

[Kittypowpow]

That is a lot of rock. Don't be afraid to break some of it up. Get some more interesting shapes. I think you need more negative space. Keep rubble and scraps for islands, frag holders and reinforcing structurally. you can also put rubble in the back of tank to increase your biofilter.

Thank you! I will probably break up some of the layers after the first. I’m scared it’s going to fall lol. I like the idea of using smaller pieces to make it more reinforced. I didn’t even think of using pieces for bio media!! Thank you so much!!

 

[Kittypowpow]

For this type tank, looks good. Because its dry rock, expect to acquire a film of diatoms as tank matures and seed tank with denitrifying bacteria such as microbacter xlm

Thanks for the info!! I got some dr Tim’s one and only. Is that what you mean about microbacter? I also plan on not putting any lights on for a few months. Will that help?

For this type tank, looks good. Because its dry rock, expect to acquire a film of diatoms as tank matures and seed tank with denitrifying bacteria such as microbacter xlm

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks for the info!! I got some dr Tim’s one and only. Is that what you mean about microbacter? I also plan on not putting any lights on for a few months. Will that help?

one and only also good

 

[dstockwell]

Welcome to the Reef

 

[Kittypowpow]

First post?
Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Sorry, but I do see a Rock pile. Try again

Also, make sure you have room between the rockscape and the glass to clean especially after coral grows if you are going to have coral?

Thank you for your honesty!!! I’m going to take the layers other than the bottom and break them into smaller piece and try again lol. Thanks for the tip. I made room for the just rock and glass….but didn’t consider coral growth space and glass. Much appreciated!!

 

[Kittypowpow]

It looks like to much rock to me. I would try removing the big rock on the lower right then play around with the smaller rocks. Use the middle and lower left rock to create 2 ledges then use the top flat rock to bridge the ledges creating a cave. You have to mess around with it a lot to make it look good. Once it looks good, DO NOT TOUCH IT. It's almost impossible to make it look perfect again, hahahahaha. I would try to leave as much open room on the bare bottom as possible so you can put some zoas there. It's going to look nice. It's also good to have a lot of open space towards the top so that the fishes can swim freely plus it looks so much better. When you look at the tank, you want to look at as much water as possible along side everything else in it. Seeing the water is what makes the tanks look really nice.

Thank you so much!! I love your advice I’m going to try exactly this (well as well as I can picture it in my head from the text). I need to get better about getting comfortable with the open space! I like the idea of one bigger cave versus trying to clutter with little holes. Much appreciated!!

 

[jabberwock]

You can use a drill bit meant for cement to make holes for frag plugs. Takes some time and pressure, and some will break, but you can make some very interesting and functional rocks.

 

[waterboys]

Hello all! This is going to be my first salt water adventure. I wanted to get some feedback on this scape. Does it speak to anyone…..or is it just a pile of rock sloppily stacked in a box? Brutally honest feedback welcome! Marine stuff cost too dang much compared to fresh water to hate it in a few months lol

I highly recommend googling your size tank + aquascape to get some inspiration. I’m new to reef tanks and just picked some shapes pieces from a local fish store and slapped them together. Not super excited about what I ended up with but not interested in spending more money on rock at this time. I’ve already googled aquascaping examples for inspiration for my next tank. There’s a lot of cool stuff out there and I have a lot of screenshots stored on my phone for when I’m ready for next time.

 

[Kittypowpow]

Welcome to the Reef

Thanks!!!! I’m now broke lol hahaha

 

[Kittypowpow]

I highly recommend googling your size tank + aquascape to get some inspiration. I’m new to reef tanks and just picked some shapes pieces from a local fish store and slapped them together. Not super excited about what I ended up with but not interested in spending more money on rock at this time. I’ve already googled aquascaping examples for inspiration for my next tank. There’s a lot of cool stuff out there and I have a lot of screenshots stored on my phone for when I’m ready for next time.

That’s great advice! I should have done that before buying a ton of rock but luckily I haven’t added any sand or water yet

 

[Kittypowpow]

You can use a drill bit meant for cement to make holes for frag plugs. Takes some time and pressure, and some will break, but you can make some very interesting and functional rocks.

Great to know! I was guessing by the way it survived through shipping it was going to be difficult to break up.

 

[dstockwell]

Thanks!!!! I’m now broke lol hahaha

You’re not the only one. Lol

 

[Kittypowpow]

Welcome to the Reef