Rock and aquascape
Being that my tank is cube shaped i wanted to have more of a columb or several pillars of rock. I also love the look of schooling fish so large areas of open water is a must.
My tank dimensions are 36L x 36W x 30H.
I chose dry rock from BRS. 20lbs of tonga shelf, 20lbs of branch, 20lbs of pukani, and 20lbs of fiji rock in nano size. Topped it off with 20lbs of rubble for my sump.
I also bought some marco rock with flat sides and one pedestal rock.
The flat marco rocks i siliconed to the back wall of my tank... i figured i wanted it covered with coraline algae anyway.
View attachment 892511
They were held in place by cheap expanding shower curtain rods from Walmart. Once the silicone cured they were solid as... well rocks frankly.
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Now the dry rock had lots of dried up sponges and other organics. So i scrubbed them with a brush. Rinsed in RO water and placed in a 50g brute trash can. Added a power head, heater and salt water mixed at 1.030SG, set temp to 82 degrees. View attachment 892519
The small rubble i put into mesh laundry bags along with some seashells my family collected at the various beaches. Including Waikiki beach Hi, Mission beach Ca and Hollywood beach Fl.
I cycled the rocks with IO Biospira. I never did get much of a ammonia spike. I fed the bacteria just a couple of pellets every 2 or 3 days. Nitrates did get high though... 50ppm using redsea test kit. The water got a yellow tint too. I did a 50 percent water change. That helped alot. It was down to 10ppm a day later. The nitrates never got above 20 again. I tested phosphate too, then I read that the Redsea kit doesnt read below .08PO so I disregarded those tests as unreliable. I did 50 percent water changes once a month for the next 6 months while I worked on setting the tank and plunbing it.
The shelf and branch rock were large size. Over 24 inches long. The 2 pieces of pukani I stacked up, drilled a 1/4"hole down the middle of both and inseted an acylic rod for stability. I cut the bottom flat with a wet tile/brick saw. Some of the nano pieces I made pillars out of them by doing the same thing. View attachment 892546
Theres a good video on BRSTV on how use the acylic rods to secure your aquascape. You can't even tell they are there. Just a dab of gel superglue helps too. I tried the hard epoxy putty but it just didnt stick to rocks very well.
For sand I used fiji pink caribsea and crushed coral that also cycled in my trash bin. About 80lbs in all. The sand bed is about 1" deep in most places. A little more in others.
Hmmmm 80lbs of sand, 80lbs of rock, 150g of water, metal frame stand, 1/2 thick glass tank. Thats alot of weight. All in a 36" x 36" foot print. Next time i'll show ya what I did about that. Ask Qs if you got one and follow along if you like. Thanks for reading.
Ill see if can find more pics of aquascaping.
I am totally in love with your 170g cube and all you're doing with it.
Your thread is amazing good sir.
