Too much rock!?!?

[NeveSSL]

Hey all!

I actually think I may have too much rock! Well, not too much for the tank right now, but I'm AT LEAST at a loss as far as what to do with all of them to make them look good. What do you guys think? Any suggestions?

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa280/NeveSSL/Salt%20Tank/100_3660.jpg

And here's a shot from the side:

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa280/NeveSSL/Salt%20Tank/100_3666.jpg

And I also spotted this little guy... as far as I know, its a chiton:

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa280/NeveSSL/Salt%20Tank/100_3659.jpg

What do you guys think? I actually have some more rock, its just in the QT tank for the time being AND I've put three 1lb pieces in my refugium already!

I need an 18" deep tank... but I knew I was going to want that off of the bat... lol.

Anyways, thanks.

Brandon

[Tennsquire]

Too much rock is a perfectly good excuse to set up another tank....

[greystreet41]

I don't think it's too much if you do some rockscaping/arranging....however, the less rock, the more room for corals. I could actually use some rock if you have some left over at a decent price or trade...

[NeveSSL]

It definitely needs to be moved around... I hate the way it is right now. And I do want some room for corals. I've still got a little bit of rock in the bin PLUS a 10g filled pretty full with it, too. I'm just not sure what to do with the rock that I have.

I'm just going to have to dig in and rearrange until I'm happy. :) I will get that bin in here now that its light enough to move and take stuff in and out until I get what I like. I've got about 3 or 4 pieces that are very shelf like... all are 1 to 1.5 feet. This rock primarily looks like base rock at this point, but I'm hoping in a couple of months it will be purpling up nicely. :)

I may have some left over rock, greystreet. I'll let you know if I do.

Thanks guys!

Brandon

[Nashvegas]

it looks like enough rock...in my honest opinion you should take 3 or 4 of the larger pieces and break them up via chisel and screwdriver..you would be amazed at the difference having big pieces and smaller pieces to fill in and make it look natural

[DMBillies]

I love to have caves for things to swim around and through and then some shelves for putting a bunch of corals on. It looks like you have a couple of nice long skinny ones to make decent shelves with. It is indeed nice to have some smaller pieces for shoring up shaky rocks and stuff, so consider the chisel too.

Honestly, you don't want to hurry this part if you have the luxury of not putting a bunch of stuff in the tank right away. Once there are a few corals in there, rearranging is not so much fun. Also, if you're not in a hurry and not too worried about losing some life off of a few rocks, consider getting some acrylic dowels and fast curing cement to get some structure into the rock.

I lost all of my bookmarks a few weeks ago, or I'd point you to some links with really cool/interesting rock work.

And yes, looks like a chiton to me.

[NeveSSL]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I would really like to make my rocks look nice, and I'd DEFINITELY rather do it now than later. I would also risk stirring the sand up and all kinds of crap later. I've got some stuff waiting to go in, but its already been in the QT for about 3 weeks... 2 or 3 more won't hurt. :) Its got another 20 lbs or so in it... probably 6 or 7 medium sized pieces.

I'm actually considering putting in a shrimp and really get this tank cycled. There won't be much of a cycle as is, but I think thats because of a lack of die off on whats in there now. I worry that there won't be enough bacteria, even without a cycle if that makes sense.

I may spend the rest of this week working on some stuff. The only thing I have to be careful of is the chiton. :) So I'll keep my eyes open for him/her.

If anyone has any rock-work links, please feel free to share! Or any tips, pointers, advice, etc.

Thanks again!

Brandon

[kev-dog1]

too much rock is good at this point...you can pick and choose which rock works best while building your little reef. once you're done either sell or trade what you don't use, or start another tank ;)
looks like you have some nice long, flat pieces that'll help make lots of shelves and caves.

structurally, make sure to keep some room between rocks and glass, so you can get in to clean the inside of the glass. also make sure that you have a solid foundation...don't want a goby digging under the rocks and causing a rockslide

i like having two "piles of rock", one a little larger than the other for a natural asymetrical look, leaving a little seperation and a swim-thru area.

this is a fun task, try different combinations, enjoy it

[NeveSSL]

Thanks. :)

I think as soon as I get a chance I'm going to bring my LR bin into the living room and just start experimenting. I'm definitely wanting to make it very cave-y, but I'm wanting places for corals, too.

I'll keep you guys updated. :)

Brandon

[jfolley67]

do a google search on aquascaping, there are a few different styles that you will pull up and then you can get an idea of what you like. This is what I did and for my next tank (sitting empty and ready to get plumbed) this is what I did. Gave me ideas I never thought of doing....good luck!

[Lint_Licker]

make some pillars