Tips and Tricks on Creating Amazing Aquascapes.
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EHaddad
Active Member
How did the guy build these structures?Had to take out my manmade aquascape after giving it a chance for over a year and a half. Rocks caused uncontrollable and unidentifiable algae in my tank that I'm still battling today. Rocks also leached Alkalinity which caused my Alk to rise continually until all my Sps frags died.
I ordered brs tonga shelf and a little tonga branch and had a friend acid wash it and build me 3 structures based on some pics I sent him. I can't wait to fill this tank with fish and sps.
Here’s what I ended up with. A total drain and reboot on my 180. Right side... big portion of my rocks.
Left side small island, still has a couple rock anemones that attached.
I did add sand to what was a bare bottom tank. Experiencing some diatoms and a little ugly tank going on! Glad to see it coming along. Didn’t realize how much I prefer the look of sand over not having it. Full shot. 3rd light currently over my corals until ready to be moved back in.
Left side small island, still has a couple rock anemones that attached.
I did add sand to what was a bare bottom tank. Experiencing some diatoms and a little ugly tank going on! Glad to see it coming along. Didn’t realize how much I prefer the look of sand over not having it. Full shot. 3rd light currently over my corals until ready to be moved back in.
My SCA Rimless 150 which includes #Aquarock center showpiece & 2 corner showpieces from #Vidarocks! I'm going less Live rock and more SPS corals for my new up and coming SCA 150 build. Stay connected for my up and coming new build thread.
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My SCA Rimless 150 with my Center Showpiece! Just waiting on my sump to fill my new system.. This time around I am going with less scape and more Acros!
Very nice!! Did you make those structures? Good luck with the SPS!! My focus is going to be on filling out the 180 with mature colonies of Zoa, LPS, and a few softies!!
lavoisier
Valuable Member
What's everyone's thought on my aquascape. First layout with this tank. 6x2x2 180 gallon
Maybe just a little too symetrical? If you leave more space between the rock and the glass on one structure or the other (I would recommend the right side)?
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Yes, sir! b/c I am not a big fan of Marco Dry rock or Julian Sprung dry rock or even that handmade eco live rock. Ya just can't get the old school Tonga Branch that was in my tank anymore since they banned it in 2004 from all Export from the Tonga Islands to the US. Anyhow, I had my center showpiece made by a company called Aquarocks out of NC! My two corner showpieces came from a company called Vidarock ( VERY $$$$) What I love about these two companies you will never see the same pieces twice, they are all handmade and 1 of a kind. If you are interested in any scape you can imagine this guy can make your dream happen. How I came up with my pcs was when I was diving in the Keys and i saw this epic large pcs of live rock shaped just like what you see in the pix above! I know for 100% all of the material that Aquarocks is fully 100% reef safe and it will absolutely not leach any P04s back into your tank what so ever! Go head over to his site on Facebook, he just created some really cool looking Bonsai frags holders that are 16'' in height.
Aquarocks Offical site: https://www.facebook.com/pg/AquaRocks/photos/?ref=page_internal
Aquarocks custom piece
Can anyone LOCATE the custom Aquarock above in my old 120???
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Here iwas what my 1st piece looks like that that i bought from Aquarocks. Yes, I had my center showpiece made by a company called Aquarocks and the two corner showpieces came from a company called Vidarock. What i love about these two companies you will never see the same pieces twice, they are all hand made and 1 of a kind. If you are interested in any scape you can imagine this guy can make it and all of the material that he uses will absolutely not leach any P04s back into your tank what so ever! I bet you you that you can find attachment # 1 in my old 120.. Check it out, here was my 1st pieace that i HAVD made and the second picture is a shot of my old mixed reef 120. Can you spot this Aquarock in my tank?
Aquarock: https://www.facebook.com/pg/AquaRocks/photos/?ref=page_internal
Thank you so much for the kind words !!!!!
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Yes, sir! b/c I am not a big fan of Marco Dry rock or Julian Sprung dry rock or even that handmade eco live rock. Ya just can't get the old school Tonga Branch that was in my tank anymore since they banned it in 2004 from all Export from the Tonga Islands to the US. Anyhow, I had my center showpiece made by a company called Aquarocks out of NC! My two corner showpieces came from a company called Vidarock ( VERY $$$$) What I love about these two companies you will never see the same pieces twice, they are all handmade and 1 of a kind. If you are interested in any scape you can imagine this guy can make your dream happen. How I came up with my pcs was when I was diving in the Keys and i saw this epic large pcs of live rock shaped just like what you see in the pix above! I know for 100% all of the material that Aquarocks is fully 100% reef safe and it will absolutely not leach any P04s back into your tank what so ever! Go head over to his site on Facebook, he just created some really cool looking Bonsai frags holders that are 16'' in height.
Aquarocks Offical site: https://www.facebook.com/pg/AquaRocks/photos/?ref=page_internal
Aquarocks custom piece
Can anyone LOCATE the custom Aquarock above in my old 120???
My SCA Rimless 150 which includes #Aquarock center showpiece & 2 corner showpieces from #Vidarocks! I'm going less Live rock and more SPS corals for my new up and coming SCA 150 build. Stay connected for my up and coming new build thread.
I am a fan of the minimalist look in the DT -- personally far from it now -- but aspiring.
Question(s):
What is in the sump in terms of rock/Marine Pure/other media? I truly believe my system is stable due to how much porous rock is in the DT plus two big blocks of marine pure and other rock in the sump. I just don't love the look of so much rock/monti/dreaded GSP in the display. Not enough negative space; not enough flow (especially behind the stacks).
Looking for visual change, but I am going to lose mature rock in the process. How do I make sure I keep solid ecosystem balance?
@rmiles54 - Many thanks for the kind words! No, I had #AqauRocks make my center custom showpiece and I bought 2 corner pieces which are also one of a kind off #Vidarocks website. They are called VidaWaves and they are also one of a kind pcs.
For your questions, I have about 30lbs of Old School Tonga Branch that i have decided to keep instead of selling it since everybody seems to want it. Man people are willing to pay top dollar for it since it was banned in 2004. See in 04, the #Tonga Islands stopped all exporting of any #TONGA Brach live rock to the United States! You can buy fake old dead tonga but not the this type of Tonga Branch that I have! I bought about 50 lbs of it in 2004 and I wish I would have bough more. Just like Marshall Island live rock which is my favorite kind of rock but you can longer get that! Have you every seen any of that rock BEFORE? In the 30 years I have been in this bobby the Marshall Island live rock is the king of all rock due to how pours it is but ya can't get it anywhere in the world. It's by far the best rock you can get but it's impossible to buy any real Marshall Island rock since it was stopped being exported to the US in the early 2000's. Anyways, back to my #Tonga Branch rock, I was able to cherry pick off 500lbs that came into our LFS that my buddy owned. Pix # 1 is the Tonga Branch that i kept out the of the 50pounds, I am going to buy the E-Marco #Aquascaping Mortar Kitin attachment # 2 so I can use it and build a very thin back wall across the back of my 150. For this E-Marco Mortar Kit its the Bomb. I have seen it at #RAP in 2017 in person and it works really good.. What i AM going to do is make my own scape with the Tonga pcs you see in the first attachment. I am going to make a killer piece thats going to be around 5-7inch in width and it will be around 30'' in lenght. It will sit right behind my center show pcs. I am going to assemble something really cool since i have some really nice pieces I specially wanted to keep like the one 14lbs piece. That pcs is a one of my favorite pieces on the left side of that picture..
To your last question - about my filtration for my SCA-150, that includes a 20'' Synergy External Overflow box which has 3 - 1.5inch drains and my returns will be 1'' with 2 Wye Check Valves on each return. I am going to hold off on the Coralvue Klir Filter system since I know a few people having problems with the two different units.. For my Main filtration - I am going to be ordering at the end of this month a Synergy Reef CL-44 sump Blk and Red Mercury w/ out a refuge, see picture # 3. Ones my tank has cycled I will hard plumb in my Dual Reactor from BRS and my #Avast #Kalk #Stirrer and last but not least, I will be running either a Turbo Aquatics Algae Scrubber that will sit on top of my sump, or go with one from BRS called the Clear Water scrubber. Either Algae Scrubber has gotten really good reviews thaat were posted on reef2reef. I should be starting my new SCA 150 build thread here shortly since I have documented from the time the SemiTruck dropped off my SCA Rimless tank, and took a pictures of all of the gear I have chosen over the years to run this dream tank that I have been building for for a very long time and I am down to a month left before water can go in it... YAYAY....... I am still debating on how or what I am going to do with my canopy and how am I going to hang all of my Hydra HD leds inside of the canopy. I have a 2 Hydra 26's HD's and one Hydra 52 HD for my lighting. I hope I answered all of your questions. Free free to head over to my facebook page link below so we can stay connected: @rmiles54, what are your thoughts on my up and coming SCA Rimless 150 BUILD?
All the best,
FLSHARKVICTIM
The Tonga Piece's I have decided to keep for back Scape.
E-Marco Mortar Kit
The sump I am going to be ordering a - Synergy CL-44 Blk & Red Mercury
Example Pic of how my AlAGE Scrubber will be installed w/ my two Verta M1 return pumps.
My 1'' returns for each side of tank which will be reduced down to 3/4''
20' Synergy External Overflow box
Running 3 1..5 inch drains w/ a 1.5 Spears Gate Valve
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Yes, sir! b/c I am not a big fan of Marco Dry rock or Julian Sprung dry rock or even that handmade eco live rock. Ya just can't get the old school Tonga Branch that was in my tank anymore since they banned it in 2004 from all Export from the Tonga Islands to the US. Anyhow, I had my center showpiece made by a company called Aquarocks out of NC! My two corner showpieces came from a company called Vidarock ( VERY $$$$) What I love about these two companies you will never see the same pieces twice, they are all handmade and 1 of a kind. If you are interested in any scape you can imagine this guy can make your dream happen. How I came up with my pcs was when I was diving in the Keys and i saw this epic large pcs of live rock shaped just like what you see in the pix above! I know for 100% all of the material that Aquarocks is fully 100% reef safe and it will absolutely not leach any P04s back into your tank what so ever! Go head over to his site on Facebook, he just created some really cool looking Bonsai frags holders that are 16'' in height.
Aquarocks Offical site: https://www.facebook.com/pg/AquaRocks/photos/?ref=page_internal
Aquarocks custom piece
Can anyone LOCATE the custom Aquarock above in my old 120???
Very cool, thanks for sharing
I am a fan of the minimalist look in the DT -- personally far from it now -- but aspiring.
Question(s):
What is in the sump in terms of rock/Marine Pure/other media? I truly believe my system is stable due to how much porous rock is in the DT plus two big blocks of marine pure and other rock in the sump. I just don't love the look of so much rock/monti/dreaded GSP in the display. Not enough negative space; not enough flow (especially behind the stacks).
Looking for visual change, but I am going to lose mature rock in the process. How do I make sure I keep solid ecosystem balance?
Sweet !!, with corals grown out like that I don’t know if minimal rock would be visually different. That’s what I’m after mature grown out system. Pretty work..
geodehunter
Community Member
Great article to start the thread with!!! I know I picked up some valuable knowledge for when I do my next aquascape.
Agreed; less is more when it comes to aquascaping. The rock also needs to be balanced from day 1. Meaning not too much rock and have a vision in mind.
One of the best I've seen. Often times I see reefs with healthy fish and coral, but the aquascape makes or breaks the tank, IMO.
One of the best I've seen. Often times I see reefs with healthy fish and coral, but the aquascape makes or breaks the tank, IMO.
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I put some painter tape on my table to mimic the exact size of the tank! I want to see how my scape is going to look before adding anything in the tank. Here is how my Tonga branch Showpiece came out which I will have in the back of my 150. (Specs are 35''x7''x8'') Plus, I will have my Center Showpiece that was made from a company called Aquarocks and my two corner showpiece that were custom made by Vidarocks. That's all of the Scape that I will be adding to my new up and coming SCA Rimless 150 build.
Old School Tonga Showpiece
Here is a side shot of just my Aquarock showpiece and my Two Vidarocks and I am going to add the Tonga Branch against the back of the tank and bring my other piece's forward a bit.
Old School Tonga Showpiece
Here is a side shot of just my Aquarock showpiece and my Two Vidarocks and I am going to add the Tonga Branch against the back of the tank and bring my other piece's forward a bit.
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