Jump to content
ReefCleaners.org

Work of art or losing my sanity


Toxic enigma

Recommended Posts

Toxic enigma

A few weeks back I saw a video of a guy building a reef tank aquascape using a hammer and chisel to break the rock into smaller pieces and super glue to hold it together, creating a rock structure that look like it was all one piece. 

       I knew going into the build of this I wanted the rock work held together somehow, and being that aquascaping is one of the things I like about the hobby I had to give it a try.

        So for about the past five days I've been playing aroun with the rock trying to get something that looked good, left alot of room for mounting corals and had lots of places for my firefish and possibl a goby to hide. I also wanted it to look as seamless as possible and leave people wondering I did it.

       Now I'm reaching a point where I'm wondering if I should leave it alone and be happy with it, or if it still needs some work. So I figured it would be a good idea to post some pics and see what others thought.

15258838224452044177546.jpg

15258838979701254153199.jpg

15258839418572061960269.jpg

15258840044871323695704.jpg

  • Like 4
Link to comment
mitten_reef
8 minutes ago, Toxic enigma said:

A few weeks back I saw a video of a guy building a reef tank aquascape using a hammer and chisel to break the rock into smaller pieces and super glue to hold it together, creating a rock structure that look like it was all one piece. 

       I knew going into the build of this I wanted the rock work held together somehow, and being that aquascaping is one of the things I like about the hobby I had to give it a try.

        So for about the past five days I've been playing aroun with the rock trying to get something that looked good, left alot of room for mounting corals and had lots of places for my firefish and possibl a goby to hide. I also wanted it to look as seamless as possible and leave people wondering I did it.

       Now I'm reaching a point where I'm wondering if I should leave it alone and be happy with it, or if it still needs some work. So I figured it would be a good idea to post some pics and see what others thought.

15258838224452044177546.jpg

15258838979701254153199.jpg

15258839418572061960269.jpg

15258840044871323695704.jpg

Looks really good.  Especially love the slope going up the left side ramp on the last pic.

 

IMHO: I think the low-lying area in the left-ish half could use a bit more visual break, a little lighter mass. Even though you said you're going for the seamless look, the overall feel is a bit two-island.  Perhaps think of the low-lying areas as dotted islands in an archipelago, instead of true two island?  

 

 

Link to comment
Kellie in CA

I hate aquascaping so much!!!  I legitimately have OCD and I really do think this hobby has helped me to work through some of it. I used to drive myself absolutely insane with the re-arranging.  I've gotten much better about it, but it's still my least favorite part of the process. 

 

I think your scape looks great.  As long as you can clean around it, I'd leave it alone! 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
debbeach13

Looks good. I feel like you never know for sure till you get coral on there. It will look so different then. What do you really think? You will have to look at it. I agree no matter what check that the mag float fits. I like the look and say get it wet!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
1 hour ago, Kellie in CA said:

I hate aquascaping so much!!!  I legitimately have OCD and I really do think this hobby has helped me to work through some of it. I used to drive myself absolutely insane with the re-arranging.  I've gotten much better about it, but it's still my least favorite part of the process. 

 

I think your scape looks great.  As long as you can clean around it, I'd leave it alone! 

aquascaping is the best part!

Link to comment

I think it looks great.  Appears that you can clean around it and flow should be able to travel around it as well so I would leave as is and now add the corals and let Mother Nature take over.  

Link to comment
jamescstein
3 hours ago, Kellie in CA said:

I legitimately have OCD

I have CDO.  OCD with the letters in alphabetical order.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Toxic enigma

Thanks everyone for the replies. And for everyone that brought up making sure I had room to clean around the rock, I made sure that I was able to get my hand between the glass and rock before glueing anything in place, and the small island piece in the front is left unglued so it can be moved if need for cleaning, not leaving room to clean around the rock and nothing holding it in place when bumped into are two of the biggest mistakes I made on my first reef.

     After reading the responses and spending some time away from the tank I decided to finnish adding sand, fill with water and start the return pump. I'll give it a few days to see how everything runs then add salt and start cycling if all seems good. 

1525937588934881375600.jpg

  • Like 3
Link to comment
57 minutes ago, ffoott said:

Can anyone else "see" a semi headless person, belly up, knees bent on this aquascape? 

 

Haha

now that you mention it..torso on the right propped up on shoulders?  cool.  🙂 

Link to comment
HarryPotter

My only suggestion would be to perhaps add an element that has more height. The two sides don’t have to be the same height, and it would be great for corals that want some more light :) 

  • Like 1
Link to comment

So what are your goals with this tank?  Artsy fartsy with aquascape always evident, or covered in coral goodness (my bias might be showing just a tad here).  If the latter, then the scape doesn't matter much in the end, otherwise the general rule is to have some kind of valley off center to add interest.  What's around that corner, something like that.  Hard to do in a tall narrow tank.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
banasophia

Love it, and looks like a dragon head on the right to me. :) 

 

I do like the idea of adding more height on the right so the two sides aren’t as level, for more visual interest, but you could accomplish that by adding a coral colony that comes on a rock later on rather than adding more rock now. 

Link to comment
Toxic enigma
5 hours ago, markalot said:

So what are your goals with this tank?  Artsy fartsy with aquascape always evident, or covered in coral goodness (my bias might be showing just a tad here).  If the latter, then the scape doesn't matter much in the end, otherwise the general rule is to have some kind of valley off center to add interest.  What's around that corner, something like that.  Hard to do in a tall narrow tank.

Mostly an upgrade / reboot for my first tank, doing things the way I quickly started to wish I had the first time.

        It will be a mixed reef with macros in both display and sump, trying to stay somewhat minimalist with coral stocking keeping the rockwork a visual element of the tank rather than just a place for mounting frags

Link to comment
Toxic enigma
5 hours ago, HarryPotter said:

My only suggestion would be to perhaps add an element that has more height. The two sides don’t have to be the same height, and it would be great for corals that want some more light :) 

I had thought about getting another piece of rock and trying to do a floating piece on the back wall of the tank something similar to the magnetic frag racks designed to look like a rock. 

       Basically creating a floating shelf or island over the valley between the two sides held up with magnets so it can be moved for cleaning and such. Might take some experimenting to pull off though

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Toxic enigma
3 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

I admit I have never been diving or snorkeling but are floating rocks common?

Yes, just like gsp coverd walls they are common along the Great Barrier Frag Rack lol

  • Like 1
Link to comment
  • 1 month later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...