20L Aquascape first time might need some pointers Pic heavy!

[waldoz]

This is I and my sons first time doing this.  So we cut out cardboard base with the dims.   My son did the first one helped a little and I have been reading up little on the golden layout. LOL Yeah not really getting it so see what happens.

 

So this is the first one we did he did most of the first layout  A.

 

The end of this pic on the left side will be the AIO wall. 

 

 

 

 

Here is the second one we did, and call it B.

 

 

This is pretty funny, we tried to redo the first one and it still turned out different than the first and will call it C.😛

 

 

My son suggested posting these up to see if anyone had suggestions.  We are leaning towards the last one.  Open to some suggestions too.

🙂

@spectra

@shaneandjohn

@Matteo

@righttirefire

[CD_Scapes]

26 minutes ago, waldoz said:

This is I and my sons first time doing this.  So we cut out cardboard base with the dims.   My son did the first one helped a little and I have been reading up little on the golden layout. LOL Yeah not really getting it so see what happens.

 

So this is the first one we did he did most of the first layout  A.

 

The end of this pic on the left side will be the AIO wall. 

 

 

 

 

Here is the second one we did, and call it B.

 

 

This is pretty funny, we tried to redo the first one and it still turned out different than the first and will call it C.😛

 

 

My son suggested posting these up to see if anyone had suggestions.  We are leaning towards the last one.  Open to some suggestions too.

🙂

@spectra

@shaneandjohn

 

@righttirefire

I also prefer the 3rd scape as well

[Seadragon]

9 hours ago, waldoz said:

Open to some suggestions too.

Some general tips that I follow:

• Keep about a 1.5” gap between the rocks and the glass so that you can easily clean the glass with a magnetic algae scrubber and other tools.  This also provides ample space for large snails to clean the glass as well.
• Have at least 1 overhang arch for any cleaner shrimp to hang underneath.  They love it and it looks really cool and genuine.
• Put in the rocks first before any sand.  This prevents the rocks from shifting and falling down onto any fish or shrimp that likes to dig in the sand beneath the rock.

 

One other thing... if you decide to get GSP (Green Star Polyps), glue the frag onto an isolated rock all by itself.  Otherwise, the GSP will eventually grow over the other corals and will kill them in the process.  The isolation allows it to be trimmed back easily.

[waldoz]

26 minutes ago, Seadragon said:

 

One other thing... if you decide to get GSP (Green Star Polyps), glue the frag onto an isolated rock all by itself.  Otherwise, the GSP will eventually grow over the other corals and will kill them in the process.  The isolation allows it to be trimmed back easily.

Yeah he has been reading a ton of books and he mentioned that to me.🤔 I think he is going to know more than me. I'm slowly falling be hind.  One other thing I forgot to mention. This is about 12# of rock, I don't really see how we could cram another 8# in.  Thoughts on this? The last thing we want is a pile of rocks. 😁

[Seadragon]

10 minutes ago, waldoz said:

Yeah he has been reading a ton of books and he mentioned that to me.🤔 I think he is going to know more than me. I'm slowly falling be hind.  One other thing I got to mention. This is about 12# of rock, I don't really see how we could cram another 8# in.  Thoughts on this? The last thing we want is a pile of rocks. 😁

It’s mostly just general guidelines to give us some guidance on something we can follow, but not a steadfast rule that will make or break you.  The main thing is that you’re happy with the design that you created.

 

In saying all that, how tall is your rockwork design and how tall is the actual aquarium.  I’m wondering if you utilized the vertical space as well.

[waldoz]

The tallest rock is at 6" and the waterline at 11".  At least that is the plan and give 5" for growth on top.

I put it up next to the tank as best I could, but you can see how it looks at least some.

[Seadragon]

I’d say if you’re both happy with the design, then keep it the way it is.  But, if it was me, I’d raise the rocks up by another inch or so to really accentuate the overhang arch.  I’d do this by adding to the base.

[waldoz]

Is this the overhang your talking about?

 

[MainelyReefer]

Those rocks are pretty off colored, and look almost like pukani which is known to cause nutrient issues if not properly treated with an acid bath.  Here is a link to the process

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=191442

i didn’t do this on my first reef I started with pukani and it leached phosphates and initiated a GHA outbreak that took me a good year to resolve.  It also smelled like low tide when initially cycled because all the dried out dead life reconstituted and rotted in my tank, not a happy wife haha.  Now I have all my spare rocks acid washed and they turn out bright white after soaking,bleaching, muriatic aciding.  If you have questions on the process let me know it might be a fun science experiment for you and your son depending on his age.  It also opens up the porosity of the rocks which makes them more beneficial bacteria wise.
Also when aquascaping I just tried this neat new product called Reef Welder that is a Plastic that is malleable at 110f degrees and cools into the shape  you leave it so you can get rocks to be really solid.  Here’s the scape I’m working currently and the plastic “glue”. This all moves as one giant piece now even though it is held together with small rubble and that plastic glue.

I liked your scape B as the larger rocks were the base and you made the overhangs using smaller pieces which accentuated the empty space below.  I like how you are considering keeping the height of the rocks lower as it allows for more coral growth/better flow.

[mitten_reef]

C

[righttirefire]

Its nice to see you guys making progress, thanks for the mention or otherwise I wouldnt have found this.

 

Ive never been successful with archs, but "caves, nooks, and crannies" give your fish a place to hide and call home.

 

I prefer less rock in my tanks so i think you've hit the jackpot with your rock amount. 

[Seadragon]

7 hours ago, waldoz said:

Is this the overhang your talking about?

 

 

Sorry, I was referring to the gap of space below what I normally refer to as the "rock bridge".  I guess "overhang" may be inaccurate or cause confusion.

 

 

 

Edited: I was referring to the arch. 🙂 My bad.

[Seadragon]

3 minutes ago, righttirefire said:

Ive never been successful with archs, but "caves, nooks, and crannies" give your fish a place to hide and call home.

 

There we go, thanks!  I love well-defined arches so that when the Cleaner Shrimp perch upside-down on them, it really looks marvelous.

[Tamberav]

🙂 nice start

 

I like A or C. I prefer scapes to be broken up and not all one wallish.

 

[waldoz]

6 hours ago, GraniteReefer said:

Those rocks are pretty off colored, and look almost like pukani which is known to cause nutrient issues if not properly treated with an acid bath.  Here is a link to the process

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=191442

i didn’t do this on my first reef I started with pukani and it leached phosphates and initiated a GHA outbreak that took me a good year to resolve.  It also smelled like low tide when initially cycled because all the dried out dead life reconstituted and rotted in my tank, not a happy wife haha.  Now I have all my spare rocks acid washed and they turn out bright white after soaking,bleaching, muriatic aciding.  If you have questions on the process let me know it might be a fun science experiment for you and your son depending on his age.  It also opens up the porosity of the rocks which makes them more beneficial bacteria wise.
Also when aquascaping I just tried this neat new product called Reef Welder that is a Plastic that is malleable at 110f degrees and cools into the shape  you leave it so you can get rocks to be really solid.  Here’s the scape I’m working currently and the plastic “glue”. This all moves as one giant piece now even though it is held together with small rubble and that plastic glue.

I liked your scape B as the larger rocks were the base and you made the overhangs using smaller pieces which accentuated the empty space below.  I like how you are considering keeping the height of the rocks lower as it allows for more coral growth/better flow.

These rocks were hand me downs but he said they were clean. LOL  The dark rocks have been out of the tank for 2 or 3 yrs.  I rinsed them off but I am going to bleach them before we use them.   There was a large piece of Pukani I gave up that another person got but I think the rest is the reef saver stuff from BRS.  The white stuff was left over rubble that was not used at all.  I guess I will see how it turns out after the bleach.  I will def contact you for the details of doing that if that is the way we go. 🙂

1 hour ago, Tamberav said:

🙂 nice start

 

I like A or C. I prefer scapes to be broken up and not all one wallish.

 

Yeah we are leaning toward those. 

 

2 hours ago, righttirefire said:

Its nice to see you guys making progress, thanks for the mention or otherwise I wouldnt have found this.

 

Ive never been successful with archs, but "caves, nooks, and crannies" give your fish a place to hide and call home.

 

I prefer less rock in my tanks so i think you've hit the jackpot with your rock amount. 

Yeah it is Finally.  Still trying to figure out the AIO portion on the other thread.  Thought we would get some ideas, but crickets LOL

 

2 hours ago, Seadragon said:

 

Sorry, I was referring to the gap of space below what I normally refer to as the "rock bridge".  I guess "overhang" may be inaccurate or cause confusion.

 

 

 

Edited: I was referring to the arch. 🙂 My bad.

Oh I see what you mean now.  Will let my son read through this as he is talking about fire shrimp.  I think there might be a better option though, but he is looking into it.

[Clown79]

I like these 2.

 

 

[righttirefire]

26 minutes ago, waldoz said:

Yeah it is Finally.  Still trying to figure out the AIO portion on the other thread.  Thought we would get some ideas, but crickets LOL

 

I saw that in the build thread. In my experience the people of nanoreef will speak up if they think something should be changed or give you another idea if they think improvement can be made. But usually wont say anything if you have a solid plan or someone else jas already given you the advise they'd give you. 

 

So personally no news is good news.

 

But if you'd like my opinion. I prefer my pump chamber is "fed" front the top. I think its better, but only have arguable reasons why i like it. 

 

I dont rotate or tumble my cheato, more out of laziness. I let it fill the chamber about basketball size and rip it down to about softball size.

 

Reefing isnt an exact science. You can be extremely science minded and succeed and you can be very natural minded and have success. Stocking and lifestyle is the balance you need to find. 

[Matteo]

15 hours ago, waldoz said:

This is I and my sons first time doing this.  So we cut out cardboard base with the dims.   My son did the first one helped a little and I have been reading up little on the golden layout. LOL Yeah not really getting it so see what happens.

 

So this is the first one we did he did most of the first layout  A.

 

The end of this pic on the left side will be the AIO wall. 

 

 

 

 

Here is the second one we did, and call it B.

 

 

This is pretty funny, we tried to redo the first one and it still turned out different than the first and will call it C.😛

 

 

My son suggested posting these up to see if anyone had suggestions.  We are leaning towards the last one.  Open to some suggestions too.

🙂

@spectra

@shaneandjohn

@Matteo

@righttirefire

You a local PNW? 

 

I'm torn between B and C. 

 

I really like B's continuous layout but I also am such a sucker for negative space that is achieved in C. 

 

If you did C, it would be a good idea to put a nem (if that's in your stocking plans) there as it would be sort of the nems spot away from coral and if get clowns that would be there area too. 

 

Exctied to see what you do! 

[Matteo]

3 hours ago, righttirefire said:

I saw that in the build thread. In my experience the people of nanoreef will speak up if they think something should be changed or give you another idea if they think improvement can be made. But usually wont say anything if you have a solid plan or someone else jas already given you the advise they'd give you. 

 

So personally no news is good news.

 

But if you'd like my opinion. I prefer my pump chamber is "fed" front the top. I think its better, but only have arguable reasons why i like it. 

 

I dont rotate or tumble my cheato, more out of laziness. I let it fill the chamber about basketball size and rip it down to about softball size.

 

Reefing isnt an exact science. You can be extremely science minded and succeed and you can be very natural minded and have success. Stocking and lifestyle is the balance you need to find. 

Yup. For example I have never tested my water. Yet my tank is thriving. It's pretty easy to spot something out of whack and diagnose it pretty quickly once you figure out the learning curve. 

[waldoz]

2 minutes ago, Matteo said:

You a local PNW? 

 

I'm torn between B and C. 

 

I really like B's continuous layout but I also am such a sucker for negative space that is achieved in C. 

 

If you did C, it would be a good idea to put a nem (if that's in your stocking plans) there as it would be sort of the nems spot away from coral and if get clowns that would be there area too. 

 

Exctied to see what you do! 

I think this was the pile of rocks you passed on. 🙂  I still have the Tonga stuff but we can't figure out a way to put it in.

[Matteo]

1 minute ago, waldoz said:

I think this was the pile of rocks you passed on. 🙂  I still have the Tonga stuff but we can't figure out a way to put it in.

Oh cool! 

 

Glad it found a good home 🙂

 

I don't post much on Pnwmas mostly just the classifieds. 

 

Idk where you go to shop but Cuttlefish is the best! 

[waldoz]

4 minutes ago, Matteo said:

Oh cool! 

 

Glad it found a good home 🙂

 

I don't post much on Pnwmas mostly just the classifieds. 

 

Idk where you go to shop but Cuttlefish is the best! 

 

Pdxmonkeyboy  got the big pukani rock but that was part of the deal and it worked out.  I have not gotten to Cuttlefish but Reefbox is a lot closer to me. 

[waldoz]

Ok here is another layout and we spent about an hr or so playing with these.   We did take the rock out to the garage and cleaned them up a bit more.  We got rid of a plug or two and some cement that was used.   Mostly let him figure out what he wanted to do with the shapes.  Call this one D

 

 

He wants to have at least one clown fish hosting something like an nem but it really all depends.  Don't want one of those roaming around, if that's what they do. 🙂  He would like green start polyps  on some little islands too.  We have not nailed down anything yet but he is making a list. 

[Matteo]

49 minutes ago, waldoz said:

Pdxmonkeyboy  got the big pukani rock but that was part of the deal and it worked out.  I have not gotten to Cuttlefish but Reefbox is a lot closer to me. 

 

 

Ah I see. Yeah if you ever end up in area you should definitely check them out. Like 90% of my tank is stocked from them. 

[Matteo]

38 minutes ago, waldoz said:

Ok here is another layout and we spent about an hr or so playing with these.   We did take the rock out to the garage and cleaned them up a bit more.  We got rid of a plug or two and some cement that was used.   Mostly let him figure out what he wanted to do with the shapes.  Call this one D

 

 

He wants to have at least one clown fish hosting something like an nem but it really all depends.  Don't want one of those roaming around, if that's what they do. 🙂  He would like green start polyps  on some little islands too.  We have not nailed down anything yet but he is making a list. 

D is good.

 

 

 

 

......

 

 

 

Thats what she said....