Aqua-scaping
 

Everyone now likes the sparse look. While it has its attractions, where the fish suppose to hide?

I have always liked the full look but still done nicely. My fish have tons of hidey places and feel safe. My fish seem to always be content and long lived.

If ya need swimming room for large fish, then perhaps a bit more sparse but they still need to hide. I see some designs now where a fly cant find a good spot to hide....:lol:

Perhaps I will try the more two island type look. Hmmm. I have a 120lbs of rock to play with for my 50g.....:lol:

For a 50g, I'd use about 40 pounds max!

What no poll

Holy crap 120lbs for a 50g? That's insane lol. Is there even space to put ur hand in the tank?

Thats not very much Brad.

I bet I could scape with that much, {which Im not} and still have lots of room. I will tell you fish like wrasses, dwarf angels, blennies and so on would love it.


So does this mean Im having a rock sale....:lol:

The advantage to "lite" rock work is lots of flow to remove detritus and keep the water cleaner. And once the coral grows in, the tank gets pretty full. I would actually use 25-30 pounds in a 50g, but I gave you an extra 10 to play with 'cause I know you're old school :)

As a reference, I have about 100 pounds in my 180 and the fish are running out of swimming room.

If you have smaller fish then giving them a nook or cranny to hide/sleep in will definitely be appreciated, but you don't need to build mount everest to achieve this. Even one porous boulder can house lots of small fish.

For my tangs, they are ok under an overhang, although I do have an open(ish) cave area that they retreat to as well.

Also, an open aquascape doesn't necessarily mean sparse. You can have a decent a mount of rock in there with nooks and crannies and even caves, while still maintaining an open aquascape with lots of negative space.

That I am my friend...:smile:

I have 50# of Pukani, so guess its all I will use and a couple flat ones I bought to do my overflow but they skinny.

Wanna buy a tub full of Fiji.....:lol:

I guess it also depends how you define sparse.

I wouldn't consider my aquascape sparse in rocks. Here's my middle structure that actually has a fair amount of rocks with lots of places in it for small-medium sized fish to hide. The structure itself is made of pretty large porous rock, while its overall footprint is light.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5512/1...923915254d.jpg

Some look like a bean pole sitting in the middle of a playground though. Now thats sparse. :lol:

Ok Im going to look yours over again