I have read several threads on aquascaping and it doesn't seem to help me. I am not an artistic person so the articles don't click with me. So I wanted to know does anyone have any tips or tricks they can share with me?
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Anyone have any aquascaping tips or tricks to share?
- Thread starter SeahorseKeeper
- Start date
Even though my wife does our aquascaping, I will try and share some tips.
1. Understand the size of your tank and where any limitation will be. Remember you have to clean the glass and give yourself room accordingly.
2. Keep flow and dead spots in mind. Where are your powerheads and returns going to be and will your rockwork block or restrict flow. Dead spots can become nitrate traps and hurt your progress.
3. Once you have a design in your head (pillars, shelves, caves, branches, etc.) start picking out live rock from the stores around you. When we want to re scape, we might take 3-5 weeks hunting out live rock that we want. With the fake rock that has become prevelent now, you can actually ask the company for the shapes you want and they will just send you the pieces and you stack them together.
4. Acrilyic rods (or plastic hangers) drilled and glued into rock will keep them the most secure, but we just use epoxy to hold everything together. Just make sure you like the design before you glue it all together.
1. Understand the size of your tank and where any limitation will be. Remember you have to clean the glass and give yourself room accordingly.
2. Keep flow and dead spots in mind. Where are your powerheads and returns going to be and will your rockwork block or restrict flow. Dead spots can become nitrate traps and hurt your progress.
3. Once you have a design in your head (pillars, shelves, caves, branches, etc.) start picking out live rock from the stores around you. When we want to re scape, we might take 3-5 weeks hunting out live rock that we want. With the fake rock that has become prevelent now, you can actually ask the company for the shapes you want and they will just send you the pieces and you stack them together.
4. Acrilyic rods (or plastic hangers) drilled and glued into rock will keep them the most secure, but we just use epoxy to hold everything together. Just make sure you like the design before you glue it all together.
All good tips Mike. I'll add a few:
1. Pre-drill holes in all of your "top layer" rocks that will allow easy insertion of frag plugs. It's much easier to have a swiss cheese pattern all over and just dab some glue/epoxy on the plug and just stick them in when you get them... than it is to find a crevice or break off the plug part of the frag.
2. Before you put your sand and rock in, I recommend placing a layer of egg crate or marine board, or some other type of plastic onto the glass bottom first in the general outline of your rockscape. You don't need to go to the edges, just underneath where the bottom layer of rocks will sit. What this will do is shield your bottom glass from any rocks that may slip and crash down onto the glass. If you have any tunneling critters, you will know how easily they can undermine your rock and possibly make it settle and maybe even cause an avalanche. Egg crate also gives the rock something to grip onto and helps hold it in place, but it also can prevent sand sifters from traveling through that area.
3. Place your rock work in before putting your sand in. It's much better to have the rock on the bottom or better yet, on the plastic I mentioned in #2. Sand can move, causing rocks to shift. It can also build up detritis that a cleanup crew may not be able to reach.
4. As for overall design, try to have large open areas beneath your rockwork so your fish can find shelter. Don't just stack it all up right on top of each other like one big lump. Caves, swim-thrus, etc. are crucial to your fish finding a good home or protection.
5. Mike brought up a great point about keeping in mind that you will need to clean the glass. Make sure you have a at least 4-6 inches of sand real estate all the way around your rockwork. More is better if you can afford it. When you need to get your hands down there to scrape it or even to use a mag float... you don't want to be bumping into the rocks.
Hope that helps. If you want help on anything more specific, let us know and we'll see what we can do.
1. Pre-drill holes in all of your "top layer" rocks that will allow easy insertion of frag plugs. It's much easier to have a swiss cheese pattern all over and just dab some glue/epoxy on the plug and just stick them in when you get them... than it is to find a crevice or break off the plug part of the frag.
2. Before you put your sand and rock in, I recommend placing a layer of egg crate or marine board, or some other type of plastic onto the glass bottom first in the general outline of your rockscape. You don't need to go to the edges, just underneath where the bottom layer of rocks will sit. What this will do is shield your bottom glass from any rocks that may slip and crash down onto the glass. If you have any tunneling critters, you will know how easily they can undermine your rock and possibly make it settle and maybe even cause an avalanche. Egg crate also gives the rock something to grip onto and helps hold it in place, but it also can prevent sand sifters from traveling through that area.
3. Place your rock work in before putting your sand in. It's much better to have the rock on the bottom or better yet, on the plastic I mentioned in #2. Sand can move, causing rocks to shift. It can also build up detritis that a cleanup crew may not be able to reach.
4. As for overall design, try to have large open areas beneath your rockwork so your fish can find shelter. Don't just stack it all up right on top of each other like one big lump. Caves, swim-thrus, etc. are crucial to your fish finding a good home or protection.
5. Mike brought up a great point about keeping in mind that you will need to clean the glass. Make sure you have a at least 4-6 inches of sand real estate all the way around your rockwork. More is better if you can afford it. When you need to get your hands down there to scrape it or even to use a mag float... you don't want to be bumping into the rocks.
Hope that helps. If you want help on anything more specific, let us know and we'll see what we can do.
A masonry bit is preferred.
Thanks for the tips!!!
One thing I just learned is that when you look in the tank without water, remember that everything you've aquascaped will look a lot closer when water is added. So, say you want an open area in the front and it looks good with the rocks 4" back, to keep that look with water the distance needs to be 6" or maybe more.
Geeze Jim, are you sure this is true? I’ve always thought the rock-work looked closer because I had my face pressed up against the tank!
