New/first ever reef tank, hows my aquascape?

Herides

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 2, 2020
Messages
159
Reaction score
69
Location
Madison
Rating - 0%
0   0   0


It's a 40 gallon breeder and i'm just looking for opinions on how I did with my aquascape. Your Thoughts?
 

Flippers4pups

Fins up since 1993
View Badges
Joined
Jun 21, 2016
Messages
18,499
Reaction score
60,653
Location
Lake Saint Louis, Mo
Rating - 0%
0   0   0


It's a 40 gallon breeder and i'm just looking for opinions on how I did with my aquascape. Your Thoughts?


Polish_20200506_011127297.jpg


I like the aquascape! But where did you get the rock from. Some looks very smooth.
 

Bryn

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 24, 2012
Messages
1,290
Reaction score
7,648
Location
Franklin, TN
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
That's like my wife asking if she looks fat in her dress.... :D

Seriously, it has many answers, depending if it is bare bottom, fish only, what type of light, what kinds of fish.

Most importantly, have you "glued" it all together so it does not easily move. You would not want a rock to fall to a bare bottom and break the glass, causing a leak. Also keep it away from the glass so you can clean behind, and around it. Also allows for a power head to be used to stir up any ditrus.


It has pass through's, hiding places, nooks and shelving for corals. Looking good.

Also welcome to R2R...

giphy.gif
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
Herides

Herides

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 2, 2020
Messages
159
Reaction score
69
Location
Madison
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Polish_20200506_011127297.jpg


I like the aquascape! But where did you get the rock from. Some looks very smooth.


I got it from my local reef/fish store! I know it's not as porous as most other dry rocks but its what they had I figured it looked ok.
 
OP
OP
Herides

Herides

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 2, 2020
Messages
159
Reaction score
69
Location
Madison
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
That's like my wife asking if she looks fat in her dress.... :D

Seriously, it has many answers, depending if it is bare bottom, fish only, what type of light, what kinds of fish.

Most importantly, have you "glued" it all together so it does not easily move. You would not want a rock to fall to a bare bottom and break the glass, causing a leak. Also keep it away from the glass so you can clean behind, and around it. Also allows for a power head to be used to stir up any ditrus.


It has pass through's, hiding places, nooks and shelving for corals. Looking good.
It is going to have a sand bed, i'm just trying to get the rocks right right now. the most "unstable" parts are glued down and I still intend on adding liberal amounts of more glue. I have checked to make sure none of it is too close to the side walls and all sides seem fine to me. The nooks and hiding places were my main concern as I at first thought I hadn't left enough but thank you for confirming that!!
 

4tanks

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 25, 2020
Messages
727
Reaction score
1,510
Location
Hampshire England
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I'd make sure there is enough room to get a glass algea cleaner all the way around it or it will bug the hell out of you the one bit of algea you can't clean off the glass
 

Rjukan

Broken
View Badges
Joined
Sep 4, 2018
Messages
1,510
Reaction score
3,112
Location
Staten Island
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I'm not a fan. It looks real cluttered, and the stack on the right doesn't have the feel of something in the ocean, it looks very man made.

Now no one likes a negative Nelly, and I'm sure ill catch some flack for saying it, but you did put it out there and asked for opinions. I did the same when I started my tank and I would have appreciated a negative comment.

The benefits of a 40b is the large footprint and shallow dimensions. Maybe you should try and leave more open sand space, and don't feel the need to go as vertical as you have gone.
 

MaxxuM

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 9, 2020
Messages
243
Reaction score
190
Location
Great Barrier Reef
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
It is going to have a sand bed, i'm just trying to get the rocks right right now. the most "unstable" parts are glued down and I still intend on adding liberal amounts of more glue. I have checked to make sure none of it is too close to the side walls and all sides seem fine to me. The nooks and hiding places were my main concern as I at first thought I hadn't left enough but thank you for confirming that!!

Did they say what kind of rock it was? Looks a little like seiryu I used to use for cichlid tanks.

I'd take a little more time sculpting the arrangement, leave space around it for easy hand access, and do a search on google for "rule of thirds aquascaping" to get a look at what other people are doing.
 
OP
OP
Herides

Herides

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 2, 2020
Messages
159
Reaction score
69
Location
Madison
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Did they say what kind of rock it was? Looks a little like seiryu I used to use for cichlid tanks.

I'd take a little more time sculpting the arrangement, leave space around it for easy hand access, and do a search on google for "rule of thirds aquascaping" to get a look at what other people are doing.


This was a while ago tbh so I may misremember the conversation, but when I asked about dry rock, the employee said they didnt have any other forms of marine dry rock other than these (and these were sitting in the marine section of the store under their saltwater fish shelves) and described them iirc as "meant for stacking", and they also pointed out the dry rock they had in their little freshwater area which was on the other side of the shop (none of that I took), so i'm pretty sure these should work more reef purposes i hope ;Nailbiting.

After seeing others talk about the sides I now will definitely take a more thorough examination of the sides and make sure I have space, and I heard about using the rule of thirds for this yesterday and upon doing so I took a cursory glance at it with the rule in mind and thought I did a good job of it, but i'll try it again, thanks!!!
 
OP
OP
Herides

Herides

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 2, 2020
Messages
159
Reaction score
69
Location
Madison
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I'm not a fan. It looks real cluttered, and the stack on the right doesn't have the feel of something in the ocean, it looks very man made.

Now no one likes a negative Nelly, and I'm sure ill catch some flack for saying it, but you did put it out there and asked for opinions. I did the same when I started my tank and I would have appreciated a negative comment.

The benefits of a 40b is the large footprint and shallow dimensions. Maybe you should try and leave more open sand space, and don't feel the need to go as vertical as you have gone.


No need to worry about negativity, this is what I need, and I agree with you that one of my main worries is there isn't that much space for bare sand and the 2 stacks do look a tad unnatural, I've mostly been trying to ride on the hope that my imagination can visualize of how the corals and such will cover it. That is sort of why I did go as high was to still enable plenty of sand space. Thanks!!!
 
Back
Top