Tetris + Saw + Aquamend + Acrylic Rod = Aquascaping!!

[psykokid]

I've decided to pull all the live rock i have in the tank atm due to the dreaded appie scourge and try to nip it in the bud. I've got a few frags that have some and some others here and there but i think I'm going to take all the frags that have appies and try to treat them in a smaller tank that is seperate from the main tank. My tank is uber full of stuff and i dont have any space to put anything so that gives me a chance to redo things where my rockwork is against the back glass and i dont loose all my sandbed due to the shape of the rocks.

I present aquascape 3.0, now with new rocks:


Its a crap photo and doesnt make things look very good. I should have taken a shot from the top and the sides but the rock had been out of the water for some time and some yellow sponge was dying off and turning black so yeah.. The new layout has tons of flat space on top for me to put things and plenty of caves to put things that need not as much light. The rockwork will be up against the back wall so I'll have more room in my sand bed too. Overall should be a good mix of stuff. I'm going to build a small arch to go in the middle. Got to look through the rest of the rock i have left and figure out what i can do with aquamend and acrylic rod. I've got some small pieces of tonga branch that i can use as well to put bits and bobs on sticking out of the rockwork.

[OCtrackiepacsg1]

Neat, how many pieces are in this photo?

[psykokid]

There are 8 separate pieces of Rock that i used to make that Structure with. the Flat piece on the right is actually 2 pieces of Rock that i drilled and stuck two pieces of acrylic rod in between and used aquamend and Tlf stone grey epoxy to hold everything together with. I used a hacksaw to cut a few of the pieces of rock and make things sit more flat. the bottom base pieces flat using water and a concrete paver to sort of sand them down flat so they sit level. I'm going to cut a few pieces of acrylic tube to sit under the base pieces and the bottom of the tank so the rockwork doesn't subside and mess everything up when the pistol Shrimp and the goby excavte under the rock to make their tunnels

[Bergy]

sorry, me no likee!!!!

i like the concept, and all that, but that seems too much like a aquaduct

[psykokid]

Lol.. yeah, i know what you mean about the aqueduct/bridge thing it has going on. Im going to tweak and adjust things and add another element to the top. I moved some of the supports to a angle as well to make it look less bridge like. I have another piece of rock i may replace the far right base piece so it will flow out wards a lil more.

[OCtrackiepacsg1]

I like the part on the left, It would be a nice arch there.

[Learner]

Bordering on Stonehenge-ish????
It's murder getting the rock to look right when out of the tank, it'll look sooo
different in situ' with all the other bits around it.
Looking forward to seeing the finished structure.
Good luck...   :0)

[Bergy]

i had the mental block goin on, but yea, stonehenge all the way...

[psykokid]

well, i forgot to clean the glass real good before i put the hood back on the tank so its a little cloudy looking. The big piece of rock on the left in the sand will go bye bye , its got a big feather duster on it that there's no way to take off so i'm going to swap lanny the rock + feather duster for a similar sized feather duster.  I put the tang back in when i did the aquascaping so all the territories would be broken up and there would be minimal fighting.  I'm going to build  a small rock wall under the center arch and stand it off the back of the glass some. There arent quiet enough hiding places for everyone with the new aquascape. I have to say that i am really happy with the way it turned out My tank felt sooo crowded before now it feels nice and open. I have to move a few things around. I need to put the acans and blastos on the sand bed. I need to put the orange sponge with the white polyps in the shadows. Waiting for the blue sponge to attach better so i can remove the drink toothpick. Other than that.. not too shabby me thinks.

[OCtrackiepacsg1]

real nice actually the back looks like caves.

[Bergy]

definately looks better in the tank.. not stonehengish at all...


very nice...

[Learner]

definately looks better in the tank.. not stonehengish at all...


very nice...

Ditto.   Looks great. Love the cave effect too.

[psykokid]

Yeah, im really liking it so far. I was able to get the two anemones that I am keeping off the rock and moved over. One has promptly hidden in the back of some rock work and the other hiding right above my hammer stinging the hell out of it.. Its funny, the tang likes to play in the flow of the wavebox.

Cant wait to get the big wave box working right. Its got some intermittent fault, tried swapping control units but it just wont sustain a wave. It will start to build then the pump will give a short pulse and throw it out of sync. Spoke with Roger at Tunze and he told me to send in the pump and driver unit and he'd take a look at it to see what is wrong.

Also, one thing i did to fight subsistence was to cut some pipe into about 1" long sections and put it under the bases of the rockwork. This gives everything support but lets the pistol shrimp and the goby dig till thier hearts content without fearing the rock work will shift due to their excavations..

[Bergy]

i doubt the pistol and goby ever lose sleep wondering if thier efforts will be for NAUGHT???

hehehehe

[KYLE.801]

I like the new look!