Offbeat rock: What is your opinion of non-traditional reef rocks?

[xiaoxiy]

My scape was made from those Stax (shelf) rockwork. Once corals grow in, it’s really hard to tell the difference between shelf and normal rocks.

 

[hart24601]

Decorations are one thing that is pretty personal to the reefer and what they like. As to aquascape and rocks like stax, I think often us in the hobby get don’t consider what the aquascape will look matured and with coral. Now for a fish only display it’s much more of an issue. Here is a tank of mine that was literally 3 stax mounds. Once stony coral build on them can’t see it. My friend has even more mature stax, just like in one of the previous photo but shorter, and you can’t tell what the rock ever was. Sadly I don’t have any photo with the sps even more grown in but had to frag them constantly and even put f aptasia between a couple acro to keep the faster ones from covering the slower growers.

Here is a photo of a tank I had with all ceramic rock. Vidarock I think it was.

 

[hart24601]

My scape was made from those Stax (shelf) rockwork. Once corals grow in, it’s really hard to tell the difference between shelf and normal rocks.

View attachment 3103860

Hey this was the friend I talked about! He beat me as I was typing. That rascal.

 

[i cant think]

I don’t mind however if the options there I’ll go for the true live rock. I don’t mind the Fake Reef Rock as it does the job however I prefer the Live Rock because of the advantage of micro fauna and hitchhikers. It’s the same reason why I dont really dip corals.

 

[Spicy Reef]

To each their own...
may the 4th b w/ u

 

[BlingityBling]

To each their own… if you are digging it, everyone else doesn’t matter

 

[Koigula]

You are trying to create a natural structure with uniform slabs. Eyes get stuck on unnatural flat surfaces. I use that rock for base and to keep material out of the sand to collect detritus.

Slabs with only one cut surface are more manageable.

 

[vanguard]

I have a background in woodworking. If you're designing a desk, cabinet, etc. you can't go wrong using one kind of wood throughout. However, if you have a good sense of taste a little bit of walnut, purple heart, etc. for contrast and highlights can take the piece to the next level.

Circling back to reef keeping, Non-traditional rocks are like contrasting wood. If you have an artist's sense of taste and style they are brilliant tools to create something awesome. If you don't, they look terrible.

Don't even get me started on the branching rock. Some people are artists and making amazing aquascapes out of them. Other people attach them like chicken feet sticking out of the aquascape and it's extra bad.

 

[Reefvision]

Love to see back wall of display w/ flat rock surfaces - easy to attach frags ect although you could do the same to glass also. But my favorite tank I saw recently was all branch rock filling cylinder tank ( 120gal) I guess) no corals in it and small gobis everywhere/purple coraline algea covered- I could see that really amazeballs!

 

[Rowboman]

I definitely think these flats have a place in aquascapes, and I would still call them “real” rocks since they are real rock that’s just been cut into slabs. But I like to use them as a solid base for more natural looking pieces ontop. I’m currently re-aquascaping my nano with these as a base with Marco rock shelf pieces ontop to give lots of natural looking flat spaces to mount coral and a big custom made tree shaped piece in the center

 

[reeftivo]

older picture
arch on the right was from cerameco and the left structure i mortar'd together using some old LR i had.

had a bad RTN event that wiped the arch on the right so it is out of the system now but it is a nice piece. just need to strip it and contemplate whether or not to put back in down the road

 

[Homey D. Clownfish]

It’s live rock only for me. Back in the day I favored Marshall Islands live rock. Today I have 55 lbs live rock from KP Aquatics in my IM 50 and I’m happy with the aquascape and natural biological filtration.

 

[MiniCoco]

I voted "Other" due mostly to the wording of the question. I appreciate rocks that are modified for a purpose such as having a cut/flat surface to serve as a base rock. Otherwise I believe that I fall into the traditional rock being used to form an NSA display.

 

[Derrick0580]

My personal opinion is that everything in my tank needs to look natural, as if it were a 4ft section of an actual reef!

 

[jabberwock]

The first aquascape I ever did was marco dry rock (didn't want any hitchhikers). I really over engineered it, arches, caves, negative space. I glued it all together. Looking back, it looked terrible and was difficult to maintain and clean algae off of. It was one monolithic piece, so there was no taking it out in pieces. It was a total "void" and algae quickly took hold. Never again.

My current build is real ocean live rock, and I love it. The beauty is in the biodiversity, the life and movement, not my half baked masonry stylings...

Although, I do have to say that I really do like the flat rock stack in the OPs original post. Maybe if I had a theme tank?

 

[miran2782]

The Stax flat rocks come in handy to turn normal rocks into a foundation rock by gluing them together. Also useful as a component of NSA in additional to normal rocks and rubble.

 

[vlangel]

I voted #1 that reef rock should look like reef rock and I have strived as much as I am capable of trying to make my tank look like something you could see diving/snorkeling.

However, that being said, I puttied a sandstone seahorse ornament into my rockwork a couple of months ago, so it does not get much more unrealistic than that. I was going for the 'Lost city of Atlantis' look.

 

[jabberwock]

I voted #1 that reef rock should look like reef rock and I have strived as much as I am capable of trying to make my tank look like something you could see diving/snorkeling.

However, that being said, I puttied a sandstone seahorse ornament into my rockwork a couple of months ago, so it does not get much more unrealistic than that. I was going for the 'Lost city of Atlantis' look.

Why is there not a picture of this magnificent piece of artwork posted here?

 

[Richsoar]

If it works, why not. that flat rock is going to be very stable, easy to attached stuff to, and once the reef is established, it will probably look very natural. I'd try it.

 

[shakacuz]

i try to be as realistic as possible whilst also trying to incorporate some kind of modern/man-made level of features to it.