Looking for Aquascaping help in Calgary

[gridley]

My wife and I are putting together our first tank (90G) and are getting close to doing the aquascaping. We purchased 50 lbs of dry rock (we will seed it with additional live rock) and have been looking at aquascaping ideas. A number of people have suggested building a frame out of PVC and attaching the rock to the frame with cable ties. We were wondering if someone in the Calgary area that has expereince with this could show us what they have done and share tips and tricks with us. Or if people have pictures of what they have done with a PVC frame or can point us to some resources that would be appreciated. - Thanks!

[fishytime]

I have two pvc substructured overhangs in my tank atm.....you would be more than welcome to come over and have a look if you like (as long as you promise not to notice the aptaisia)........

biggest tips I can give are:

buy a couple lengths of 3/4" pvc (I used 1/2 and thinks I should have used 3/4")
drill small 3/16" - 1/4" holes every couple inches to eliminate stagnant areas inside the pvc and to provide mounting points for the zipties if you use them...
buy a crap load of various fittings (90s, Ts, 45s), dont worry, you can return what you dont use
take your time and get it right,....you'll be glad you did when people see your tank and say "how did you do that?"

[Madmak]

I would be happy to chat or drop by, just finished building a 200 with a lot of dry rock. Check out my build thread for some details. The extra time and energy spent now when the tank is dry is well worth it I have come to learn.

[gridley]

Thank you very much - I appreciate your comments.

PM'd both of you.

[globaldesigns]

I personally look at it as a very expensive lego set. I don't use PVC, but try to do it by interlocking, then using epoxy to secure once all in place.

I actually just redid mine last week, got bored, and I haven't reworked the rock for 2-3 years.

I can also help you, as long as you are in the SW area.

Rick

[albert_dao]

You should PM Fooser. His rockwork is WORLD CLASS and I'm sure he'll have some awesome advice.

Here's a video:

http://s1112.photobucket.com/albums/k500/TentotheTwenty/?action=view&current=AnthonysTank.mp4

There's barely any rock touching the bottom of the tank, most of it is held up in the water column by clever spacing, ingenious stacking and a crap load of zip-ties. He's also allowed plenty of room for his corals to grow out.

The last point is something a lot of people do not properly account for when they set up their elaborate rock work overhangs and whatnot. Corals can grow big and they can do it FAST. Take a look at Leonardo's Formosa Forest for further evidence on this:

http://www.leonardosreef.com/formosa-forest/

Another option is to go total, all-out Iwagumi and run something like this:

http://www.leonardosreef.com/leonardos-lagoon/

Minimal rockwork, just plenty of planning and foresight towards composition and negative space.

[gridley]

You should PM Fooser. His rockwork is WORLD CLASS and I'm sure he'll have some awesome advice.

Here's a video:

http://s1112.photobucket.com/albums/k500/TentotheTwenty/?action=view&current=AnthonysTank.mp4

There's barely any rock touching the bottom of the tank, most of it is held up in the water column by clever spacing, ingenious stacking and a crap load of zip-ties. He's also allowed plenty of room for his corals to grow out.

The last point is something a lot of people do not properly account for when they set up their elaborate rock work overhangs and whatnot. Corals can grow big and they can do it FAST. Take a look at Leonardo's Formosa Forest for further evidence on this:

http://www.leonardosreef.com/formosa-forest/

Another option is to go total, all-out Iwagumi and run something like this:

http://www.leonardosreef.com/leonardos-lagoon/

Minimal rockwork, just plenty of planning and foresight towards composition and negative space.

Wow - some great resources there - thank you for sending this.

[gridley]

I personally look at it as a very expensive lego set. I don't use PVC, but try to do it by interlocking, then using epoxy to secure once all in place.

I actually just redid mine last week, got bored, and I haven't reworked the rock for 2-3 years.

I can also help you, as long as you are in the SW area.

Rick

Thanks for the offer Rick - I may end up taking you up on that - at the least to have a conversation about how you go about doing the epoxy. Do you have any pictures posted with your new look?

[gridley]

I would be happy to chat or drop by, just finished building a 200 with a lot of dry rock. Check out my build thread for some details. The extra time and energy spent now when the tank is dry is well worth it I have come to learn.

Tried to PM you tonight, but received a message saying that you need to delete some messages before you can accept more. Just one of the problems of having a great tank build! :biggrin:

[Madmak]

Ha, thanks, I'll delete some.