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

[vtecintegra]

I'm more about what you would see when snorkeling or diving over a reef. A lot of tanks seem to be caught up on an "aquascape" that looks cool to the person instead of a good reef habitat. I used CaribSea reef rock to build a habitat for the fish.

 

[hexcolor reef]

I just buy real live rock then break them up just to put it back together to create my unique aquascape
If it cost more for the fake then mine as well buy real and DIY

 

[tbrown3589]

I voted other....

 

[tatmanfish]

I prefer the natural look, but also the improved coral placement you can get from some of the cut type stuff. My recent build I used the large cut shelves for one of my islands to have easier coral placement but did add some natural rubble to help conceal part of it until the corals grow in. Still thinking of adding a few branch rock pieces and little more rubble to take away from some of the cut edges until I get some corals growing.

 

[vlangel]

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

I am not sure about magnificent but you are right, I should have posted pics, so here is an early pic and a more recent pic.

 

[vlangel]

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

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Very cool aquascape!

 

[cwerner]

I saw a cool video a while back of a guy that basically made a mold with sand and then mixed a bunch of large rock salt granules in a concrete mix. Then once it semi-cured he ran a hose/soaked it for a long time to dissolve the salt chrystals and was left with this extremely porous concrete structure that looked pretty close to the real thing besides the color. It was pretty neat.

 

[Bobby daniels]

I'm not a big fan of flat rock myself, but I'm definitely not a fan of rock wall aquascapes either. In reality after the tank is mature you shouldn't be able to really tell the hard work a lot of us put into our aquascape.

 

[Hhaynie]

I come from freshwater, where aquascaping is waaay more refined, so I appreciate any innovation to the way reefs are scaped. that being said, the rock stacks look like rice cakes... I don't like them.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Seems like the first two poll choices are essentially the same.

 

[Karliefish]

Simply put…I am not a fan of “alternative” rock. It may be fun to aquascspe and make a cool structure, but it just is incredibly hard to seed with the necessary bacteria to get the same results of what nature gives us with rock from the ocean. I desperately wanted my dry rock tank to work - for all the right reasons, but after 1.5 years the tank and the corals were not thriving. I had done everything “by the book” with seeding the tank with MB7 and other types of bacteria as well. After ripping all the dry rock out and putting in live rock with-in six months I had a wonderful reef tank with flourishing corals and very happy fish.

 

[Sudaien]

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

Most of us have an idea about what reef rock should look like and there is an idea that even artificial reef rock should look like the real thing. But occasionally, we see reef rock that appears to be cut flat or otherwise pre-shaped. For some some reefers this an opportunity to mix up the aquascaping and for others this just doesn’t seem right. Many times, the rocks will soon be covered with coral or other livestock so does it really matter as long as it is functionally sound? What is your opinion of non-traditional reef rocks? Do you care? Are you not a fan? Tell us how you feel about what reef rocks should look like in the following discussion.

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Photo by @donomite

I prefer to have a lot of flow around everything I recently built this and since added a few cave like areas in the corners for my pair of Marine Bettas and some future tangs to hide if they choose
I thought it only had one marine beta for 2 years. But when I dismantled my 65 gallon tank it turns out a baby. I bought 2 and 1/2 years ago. That disappeared right after I put it in the tank was still going strong. Who knew? Lol This tank is now almost complete. Loaded with beautiful corals that all seem to be starting to grow well. Quite a few fish. The only thing I'm waiting for some tangs so I can put them all in at once. I will say with all the open area the water flow is amazing. The fish seem to love it. The corale seem to love it. There's a place for everything. Two Radion 6 lights and two vortechs completed this tank wonderfully

 

[MaxM]

I use local quartz as base rock and build up with live reef rock. Saves some money and a few well placed base rocks make nice support.

 

[TinnysReef]

I used the Stax rocks as foundation pieces but still was bothered when I could see the perfectly flat cut parts. Now I prefer the Marco Rock foundation and use my leftover Stax to frag.

Can't wait to fill this monster and get it going!!

 

[Aquarocks]

I am going for the minimalist look for my up and coming SCA150 Rimless BUILD this time around.
I added my center custom pcs from a company called [HASH=75799]#AQUAROCKS[/HASH] and the two end pcs that i got from [HASH=75801]#VIDAROCKS[/HASH].

Also, will be adding some of my old school Marshall Island live rock / & Tonga Branches that i HAVE left over from a very old build..
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YOU STILL HAVE THIS SETUP DRY ???! ITS BEEN A FEW YEARS LOL

 

[Freenow54]

As I look through the photos I realize my taste is changing. My existing scape offers very limited access to light. Therefore the spots for good par, and coral placement is limited, unless I add better, and more spread coverage. My bottom 9 24 inches from the top, and another 8 to the light doe's not give high enough par measured with my Apogee meter. It does however give my fish the hiding spots they like. Especially my Yellow Tang. Since I used Epoxy changing it around is not easy. Luckily I have yet a third tank I am going to do minimalist using small schooling fish, and flowing Coral as shown by a tank done by Aquarium design group when they first started there build. ( you can find it in a search " reef Builders " )