thoughts on aquascaping

I'm tearing my tank down this week and starting aaaallll over. One thing I want to do differently is the aquascaping. I want a rock SCULPTURE this time, not a rock PILE - with more room for fish to swim, better circulation, and no more dead areas for detritus to accumulate. Some questions have come to mind:

How much rock is REALLY needed? I know the guidelines you always read, but how much of an issue is it really, if you get south of 1lb/gallon? I have seen some beautiful reefs set up with what looks like much less than that.

Egg crate, to use or not to use?

Where can you buy acrylic rod?

What kind of bit do you use to drill rock? Is it a common Home Depot item?

Does anybody have pics of a tall, arching type 'scape to share, or tips on creating one? I am VERY artistically challenged!

 

There's some pics of my PVC frame in my tank thread.
If you google PVC and aquascaping or aquascape there are a lot of sites.

Tip:
Walgreens has zip ties pretty cheap that can be released to loosen or tighten. Most can only be tightened.

I didn't use eggcrate but, It's a good idea to build caves and platforms.

Masonry bit is easy to find at hardware store. I saw plexiglass rods at a hardware store but were very expensive. If you have an old throw away bit it will still work as live rock is very soft.

Tip: Cap all ends of PVC so no worms can get in there.
Caught a 6 foot long worm in my tank! - Reeflands Forum pics don't work anymore.

 

Also I painted mine with Krylon fusion paint .. it's suppose to be reef safe. Looking back I don't think I would bother painting it.
And another thing if i had to do it over.. The left side of my rocks are a bit too steep for good coral placement. I like the way it looks but makes things harder.. I would make a less steep angle.

 

I hear zip ties mentioned pretty often. Won't they eventually deteriorate, and allow a collapse to happen?

I guess if a lot of people use them, they must be more durable than I realized.

 

I dont use rods or zipties, I just stack over and over until it locks in perfectly, unique looking rocks help out a lot.

 

They do get brittle over time in a marine environment and can snap. I'm not sure about the timeframe it could be a couple years but I personally wouldn't rely on them. I'm thinking of "pegging" my rock together using the $2 driveway marker, reflective pole things from Home Depot.

As far as volume I think the more the better, but don't overload your display, live rock filters fine from the sump, you can dump any extra down there, as long as you have one I guess.

 

Aquascape!!!

Hey Dixie.....try a site called MarcoRocks. Pretty good site dedicated to rock & sand misc. Bought my acrylic rods there too.
My rock has been in quarantine for awhile now in Rubbermaid buckets. It'll be scaped into my new 120g tank. I probably have the very best shapes, maybe 90#'s going into the tank. The rest will go into the sump, maybe another 15-20#'s? Don't forget rock in your sump! I'll only use eggcrate, only to set rock off of bottom.....5" DSB.
I'm setting the actual rock up on a couple of those plastic folding tables on newspaper right next to the tank. That'll be where I drill & stack and make my designs.....whatever/however I like. After I got it like I want with all the drilling done, I'll take it all apart and set it up in the tank. I'm filling the drilled out holes with regular exopy putty, shove in the rods & stack everything back like I had planned. Just use a bit that is a little larger than the rods.....an old one like the other guys suggest. You're on the right track buddy. Do it right the first time!!! Keep in touch.....I'll be working on mine over the 4th of July holiday weekend......a little meat on the barbie........a couple of ice cold refreshments......YES!!!!!

 

Venus De Milo is a pretty good one. Shoot, I'd settle for David, The Winged Victory or The Thinker.

 

I spent a couple late nights and several tubes of epoxy, and came up with something I think is pretty cool. I'll post the mandatory pics when I get it into the tank in a couple days. ;D

 

DixieDog, I'm wanting to do the same thing. I hate "rock piles". lol. I saw the sweetest tank on you tube but I cant find it for ANYTHING. (trust me, I have looked for HOURS! But basically if you can picture this in your head. The rock formation looked like it was one piece, with 3 legs, the top was flat like a table maybe 10 inches below the surface where it looked like the great barrier reef up there with TONs of coral and little fihies. Fish were also able to swim under the table. If you find any cool sites or ideas let me know. I'll probably have to make my own rock some how. :-/ I just don't think it will be as porous as live rock.