This is like 100 years of experience packed into a 20 minute video. Super helpful and informative!! Just a couple of months into the hobby and I can tell this video is going to save me from some major heartache in the future. Thank you!
About 2 years ago, I inherited my first saltwater tank from someone who abandoned a mess and I took over in order to save the fish. This Summer I plan on setting up a new tank from scratch and I'm really nervous about it, especially doing the aquascape. Your tips (and supplies) will help me! Thanks! 😎💕✌
Pro tip from Thomas! He took cardboard in the size of the tank, back and bottom. Measure out space on the sides, top, and back. You can now stack your rocks in the way you want with out potentially scraching your tank! 😁
Isn't that stuff just (biogenic) calcite? It shouldn't be able to scratch glas by a long shot and I never saw it scratching anything in my tank. Different story in freshwater tanks with real rocks though.
these two are my heroes. i love all the information. I really appreciate the beauty of corals, the process, the journey plus the fishy folks, even the beauty of devices in setting up and maintaining a tank (and yes it can be very pricey most of the time) but im more of a plant type hobbyist. I do love plants. And the lockdown (due to COVID 19) has given me the time I need to relearn my passion after putting it aside for more than 15 years. I'll start building my marine planted tank this year and hopefully to stay on the course. My first marine tank I used to inject CO2 (my substrate was mineralized soil and a fine whitesand on top) i was not able to document it properly because it only lasted for a little over 6 months because the bottom of the tank just gave away. And it was a little bit of an experiment too. But now, I believe im more ready. Thank you so much. I'll be watching more of your videos especially discussion on marine plants. God bless you guyz
One of the mistakes I made was to put the sand into a dry tank, this traps loads of unwanted air bubbles which can stagnate over time...sure you can loosen the gravel to release the air but you can't always get your tools into those difficult areas,I found adding 2 to 3 inches of water to the tank before adding the sand pretty much solves the problem.
This is a solid tip. In addition you dont want to be messing with your sand in the first place as you dont want to kill off your bacteria. Thats why generally I advise against vacuuming sand, if there is detritus just vacuum the surface or get animals that eat and stir up sand.
What happens when you have a tank up for 2 months and you have just watched this video and want to re-aquascape because you didn't glue and you want to use a few of these tips lol 😆
empty some water from the tank into a clean bucket. and place the rock in there while you work with it so the bacteria doesn't die off from the rock drying.
#14 If you springle powder from crushed dead live rock on superglue it pretty much insta sets and it looks exactly like the dead live rock. It literally sets to touch within in seconds and is safe to lift in minutes. Much much better than that spray stuff.
I love your tips I got back into salt water Aquarium s I have a 55 gallon saltwater aquarium running now My childhood dream was a bigger size aquarium. I pick up a 90 gallons aquarium very great deal. Now I'm feeling ready to do a reef aquarium. Its cool to have more than one aquarium running. And it teaches you what to do and not to do. Learning from your mistakes just buy having more than one
I've been watching the many excellent BRS videos for over eight years. This is SUCH great advice. These two gentlemen speak from MASSIVE experience. I'm thankful to learn form their mistakes. Nicely done!
I'm a freshwater tank kinda guy and usually don't pay much attention to saltwater specific, more especially reef tank specific content... But I've likely learned more about aquascaping from this video alone than inumerable hours of other stuff I've watched on RUclips. Superglue? Foundation Rock? Fiberglass Rods? *Game Changers* Thank You.
I gotta say as a 'freshwater aquascaper' just new into saltwater/reef tanks. Saltwater is way behind in terms of aquascaping and hardscape, compared to all the rules of freshwater there is not much to it. like adding details, maybe using different grains of zand or gravel, golden ratio, layers, shadows, end point, i actually think a lot can be used in saltwater too.. that said i'm already breaking down one of my scapes to convert it into a saltwater reef, u guys got me hooked. Best informative reef channel out here, thanks for the content and tips. great to see thomas on your channel, watched his content a long time ago, maybe not the best aquascaper but definitly one of the best vibes. Cheers from The Netherlands guys 🍻
10:37 that aquascape is exactly what I want mine to look like. I'm starting a brand new 66 gallon tank and I want it to look something like that. I know I can't make it look like that exactly due to being a smaller space to work with but great job guys. I love watching your videos and how in depth you guys go to explaining, describing and showing things for us. I love your channel. Thanks!
* I purchased 1 gallon of biomedia and placed it into 12 mesh bags. I placed it in an Ikea tub with a food source, heater, pump, bacteria and flow. I seeded this media 2 months before my tank arrived. * When dryscaping, place your rock on a table; your back will thank you. Also, you will have a better vantage point. I had initially planned my rock scape on the floor; so I was getting more of a “bird’s eye view”. When I placed my structure on to a table; I didn’t like the structure when looking straight on. * Before your epoxy dries, touch it lightly with a small rock to give it texture and to camouflage fingerprints. * Save some small rubble. It helps make the manufactured edges in shelf rock look more natural by adding irregularity to the straight edge. * Use a rasp to dull some of the sharp edges that look unnatural from broken Reef Saver Rock. * Avoid making stilts for your structures. I added some to elevate my scape and to allow for better flow. It turns out that’s where all of my dead spots are.
I have been watching your videos for a while and can honestly say that you guys are hitting it out of the park! It is evident in your videos that you are highly in tune with this hobby and are not just trying to sell a product but rather reinforcing tried and trusted concepts without delving into the anecdotal stuff. This video, in particular, helped me a great deal in facing my previous mistakes as I plan on re-setting my tank that has been neglected for a great while. Most of the work in this hobby takes place without getting wet, thanks for all of the food for thought.
I have heard that the mined rock can sometimes be mined from underneath what used to be fields that grew crops. So it can be full of phosphate due to fertilizer. So cycling helps to leach out those phosphates before you have it in your tank under strong light.
I scaped my 40 Cube Structure over the course of weeks using, acrylic rods and superglu/instaset. then set it in a container for 4 weeks to cycle. turned out great. But for Some reason my LFS thoght it was a waste of time/effort. i still dont understand his reasoning but....needless to say i dont go to that LFS anymore. and my tank looks amazing now and is one big solid structure of arches and over hangs. before i put in in bin to cycle i grabbed the highest rock on the structure and shook/swung it around to make sure it solid and. it was truly one solid structure when i was done.
Maybe your LFS thinks it's useless is because after you have all the corals in, you just wouldn't see the rock. I have also spent a lot of time searching for the very best aquascapes on the internet, I had planned to drill, use acrilyc rods and what not, but in the end, I realised the juice isn't worth the squeeze for me personally.
isn't it funny how the liverock sometimes fits together like puzzle pieces, -like it was almost made to go in that spot? Something really satisfying about when that happens. Lucite/plexiglass rods and also Legos make for great support frame materials if glued correctly, imo.
Ok A freshwater aquascaper, but my dream is to have a reef tank. I can just watch these videos and learn so much and some is even helpful for the freshwater side .
I love you guys. I’ll keep it that simple. I’ve been buying from you since you started, and I’m getting ready to upgrade to a 150 from a 10 year old 90. This video is perfect, and absolutely perfect timing
One of the biggest things I regret is building a structure with lots of vertical rock cliffs- it’s hard to place corals there and it leaves big empty spaces of rock while the rest of the tank is filled with coral
You guys are a great pair, I’ve bought a lot from BRS. 20G Fusion Starter Kit, Desktop Skimmer, Aqua Shield UV Sterilizer, FragZone Coral Mounts, 5 Stage RO/DI System, RedSea Reef 50 LED..
Number 21. Put the sand down before the rock when your aqua scraping. I learned the hard way when I was putting the rock first and then one rolled over breaking my 125 glass tank floor.
You should put your rock first from what I’ve read. The reason being is because harmful bacteria will build beneath the rock in the sand, and once it’s disturbed it’ll all release in your tank, potentially causing a crash
Thanks for doing these videos during this time of uncertainty it’s so nice to take my mind off everything that’s going on in the world thank you guys for all the content. 😁😁😁😁
Such a great video! I have only had freshwater so far. I have been watching reefvideos for 2 years and I will take the plunge this autumn. Looking forward to it. Thanks for all the superhelpful guides, they have taught me so much.
The habitat one is one of my top priorities, and has always been because in freshwater, African cichlids rely on a good scape for happy fish. I'm hoping when I set up my first saltwater tank I can do all this. Good video.
Fantastic comments and recommendations. I love aquascaping almost as much as my fish. I've settled with african cichlids as my core for creating my aquariums. It just allows me so much freedom with changing hardscaping. It's an addiction for sure.
Had never thought of using the rods before, seems so obvious now. I feel like I may be breaking rules here, lol....I siliconed egg crate to back and part of sides of my 125, then used pond foam to secure live rock top to bottom around the three sides. So I stacked against the back wall, but the foam has filled in all of the gaps so technically I guess I didn't? break the rules. I'm locked into that background for good, but it will be framed up like a picture so I think it'll be alright. Just recently stumbled upon your videos, you guys are top notch. Have been doing this a long time and have learned plenty from you guys in just a few videos. Great work/presentation!
Foundation rock, what's that? Pre drilled for frag plugs👍 Now we need frag plug blanks with rubble, until we accumulate the frags 😁 You guys and the commenters are genius. I started with a 5g and dwarf seahorses in 1969
One thing to consider: Eventually you will have to deal with some pests. So, A few islands, keeping the scape low, and not gluing everything together... these tips will allow you to remove a rock and treat the coral on it. Or break off a couple coral and ditch the rock. This way you won’t have to treat your whole tank. Or when than Rose BTA splits or moves and is stinging your prize colony you can deal with it. Also as coral grows, you can shift things slightly into better light or to allow for better flow. There are many more advantages to being able to move stuff around.
I built a structure using 20lbs life rock shapes and bonded the areas that touch with super glue and insta-set. I can lift the whole structure up by the top rock, that's how well the super glue/insta set combo holds up.
Here is another tip: Use tape on your floor in the exact same dimensions of your aquarium, and then do the aquascape on the floor. This way you don't have to lean over the tank and risk scratching you tank. Even worse, dropping a rock into the glass. Also if you have alot of rock it can be hard work to get it in and out of the tank so many times before you'r happy with how it looks.
Good timing for this video. I'm in the process of setting up a new 420 gallon reef, and there's a lot of good tips in here that I hadn't considered. Liked and subscribed!
The worst thing i ever did is rescape an already established tank. I took all the rocks out to scape with e marco 400 mortar and due to me letting it dry up till the next day cause a massive dieoff of bacteria and guess what happened after i added it to the tank? Got those damn DINOS! Been 3 months since that and its still going strong have lost close to 2k in corals since then, im going fowlr once my remaining corals die off the hell with that.
IMO I would never glue/ epoxy an entire aquascape together. If you change your mind and want to move things around, you’re screwed. I have always moved mine around several time until I’m happy and have the option to move single rocks around.
I used I think 12 pieces of rock in my 200 gallon tank. Literally every piece was a large piece of rock, and no snail is going to knock it over, and with that I doubt I could put enough super glue to make it not fall over if I tried. That said, I really like use corals to glue rocks together. Put some encrusting SPS or montipora (they grow fast) right on the boundary between two rocks, and it'll quickly fuse those pieces together :D
If you want a bigger tube of "super glue" or cyanoacrylate check out 2P-10. You can get 10 ounces for about the price you would pay for a little tube of Gorilla brand cyanoacrylate. They also sell an activator for quick setting...and it's quick. I get mine from a local tool supply shop but you can also find it online.
To me there's no right or wrong way to make an Aquascape is all about ideas. I make all mine just out of pile of rocks and they come out just fine and never had a problem with them.
Many thanks Randy and Ryan for sharing your experiences!! ! For those who don't know how to do your Aquascape the proper way, I would HIGHLY suggest watching this entire video!! I am currently recurring around 100lbs of my old school Tanga Branch and my Marshall Island live rock for the new SCA Rimless 150!! Have a question guys- How long do you think I should recure my old Tonga and Marshall island rock for around 8-12weeks?
Compared to freshwater aquascaping, reef aquascaping has still to be invented, I have never seen a really well scaped reef in my whole life. Great functional tips though.
@@russelmuldowney8736 I tried to create a video with the top 10 most beautiful reef aquascapes on youtube. I had not only to reduce it to 7 but I also I had to include tanks that I didn't think I would have to. I have been looking into this for a long time and reef aquascaping is much more challenging than freshwater aquascaping. You have incorporate all the stuff that they talk about in this video and combine it with aesthetic considerations. A lot can be learned from studying the freshwater aquascaping, but for some reason no one wants to do it. There are thousands of people doing great freshwater aquascaping and not a single one doing great reef aquascaping. I have tried to persuade a few of those freshwater aquascapers to try their hand in the scapping of a reef tank but without success.
I absolutely agree. I had been doing planted tanks and what you see in that community are works of art. In saltwater not so much. Most reef tanks just look like random piles of stuff with little thought for the final look. I just started up my first reef tank but I held off for so long because I couldn't find any inspiration that looked like art like I used to. I finally decided that I'm just going to do my own thing and make a scape that goes against the norm for a reef tank.
IN YOUR COMMENT ON #19. Why not soak your rocks, then 5-6 months later aquascape your tank with half of the water along with using a a shower system of your salt water, allowing it to fall onto your rocks, then using the underwater glue to glue the soaking rocks?
Some fantastic info here. I just wanted ask a quick question. Started a reef tank a year and a half ago. Now i want to rescape. Can i take the Bolders of Marco Rock out. Break them, rescape and epoxy now? How long can i have it out of the water?
I'm guilty of just stacking my rock. And it cost me when one of the reef bulldozers knocked an small piece loose and caused a very large piece to fall and crack the glass, which failed 20 minutes later. Nothing like getting woke up to the sound of rushing water to find all your livestock flopping in the floor. Not to mention the aftermath of your wife almost beating you...
If you have your rock cured, how long can you leave it out of water aquascaping before you would expect a die off(mins, hours)? I have a 75 gallon build and I would like to have a jump on the cycle. I don't plan on taking a long time scaping but would like 1-2 hours cause a big die off?
haha, I feel like you need my liferock memes i've been posting on the group lately... I'm basically poking fun at all these liferock branch / arch rock scapes. I just don't think it takes much talent to pile up that stuff and call it a scape. Branches or arches are accent pieces, but shouldn't be the entire scape! That scape at around 4:10 is basically what i'm poking fun at. It's become a "tank trope"
If you're referring to the Vortech pumps, then there is a "dry side" on the outside of the tank. That's the motor. On the inside, you have the "wet side." They connect through the glass magnetically and the dry side is able to spin the wet side through the glass. Just make sure that your glass isn't too thick before purchasing.
Just wanted to point out that the index on the right is kind of useless if you don't list all of the fail points from the beginning instead of as you go along. I assume the point of it is so you could jump to the specific time in the video? I no longer need that time as I'm watching because... well, you just told me about it.
@bulkreefsupply look at the coral tree structure from Caribsea. It’s 250$ but for that stable verticality and ability to change it is worth it. I’ll probably buy it. You guys should make one, bet it’d be even better & cheaper.
I’m so screwed! I think I broke every rule. First luckily it is only a live rock and fish only tank. WAY too much rock, stacked not glued in anyway, against the back of the tank, not enough room for cleaning tools. Where do I start? It’s a 60 gallon and has been set up for two years. The big problem I have is hair algae. I have recently started using RO water for water changes and phosphate reducing media. No ammonia, no nitrites and very low nitrates now. Any advice?
Find all of our Reefing Mistakes in one happy playlist. Learn from our failures!
➡ brs.li/BRStv_TopReefing_Mistakes
Rocks and Corals doesn’t need social distancing?
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This is like 100 years of experience packed into a 20 minute video. Super helpful and informative!! Just a couple of months into the hobby and I can tell this video is going to save me from some major heartache in the future. Thank you!
About 2 years ago, I inherited my first saltwater tank from someone who abandoned a mess and I took over in order to save the fish. This Summer I plan on setting up a new tank from scratch and I'm really nervous about it, especially doing the aquascape. Your tips (and supplies) will help me! Thanks! 😎💕✌
Pro tip from Thomas! He took cardboard in the size of the tank, back and bottom. Measure out space on the sides, top, and back. You can now stack your rocks in the way you want with out potentially scraching your tank! 😁
Solid trick!
great idea!
Isn't that stuff just (biogenic) calcite? It shouldn't be able to scratch glas by a long shot and I never saw it scratching anything in my tank. Different story in freshwater tanks with real rocks though.
these two are my heroes. i love all the information. I really appreciate the beauty of corals, the process, the journey plus the fishy folks, even the beauty of devices in setting up and maintaining a tank (and yes it can be very pricey most of the time) but im more of a plant type hobbyist. I do love plants. And the lockdown (due to COVID 19) has given me the time I need to relearn my passion after putting it aside for more than 15 years. I'll start building my marine planted tank this year and hopefully to stay on the course. My first marine tank I used to inject CO2 (my substrate was mineralized soil and a fine whitesand on top) i was not able to document it properly because it only lasted for a little over 6 months because the bottom of the tank just gave away. And it was a little bit of an experiment too. But now, I believe im more ready. Thank you so much. I'll be watching more of your videos especially discussion on marine plants. God bless you guyz
One of the mistakes I made was to put the sand into a dry tank, this traps loads of unwanted air bubbles which can stagnate over time...sure you can loosen the gravel to release the air but you can't always get your tools into those difficult areas,I found adding 2 to 3 inches of water to the tank before adding the sand pretty much solves the problem.
This is a solid tip. In addition you dont want to be messing with your sand in the first place as you dont want to kill off your bacteria. Thats why generally I advise against vacuuming sand, if there is detritus just vacuum the surface or get animals that eat and stir up sand.
Never been an issue for me
That is a really good idea. Never thought about that before. Thank you for the tip!
What happens when you have a tank up for 2 months and you have just watched this video and want to re-aquascape because you didn't glue and you want to use a few of these tips lol 😆
empty some water from the tank into a clean bucket. and place the rock in there while you work with it so the bacteria doesn't die off from the rock drying.
#14 If you springle powder from crushed dead live rock on superglue it pretty much insta sets and it looks exactly like the dead live rock. It literally sets to touch within in seconds and is safe to lift in minutes. Much much better than that spray stuff.
I use acrylic rods for aquascaping. Theyre invisible and really work well to hold everything together.
I love your tips I got back into salt water Aquarium s I have a 55 gallon saltwater aquarium running now
My childhood dream was a bigger size aquarium. I pick up a 90 gallons aquarium very great deal. Now I'm feeling ready to do a reef aquarium. Its cool to have more than one aquarium running. And it teaches you what to do and not to do. Learning from your mistakes just buy having more than one
I've been watching the many excellent BRS videos for over eight years. This is SUCH great advice. These two gentlemen speak from MASSIVE experience. I'm thankful to learn form their mistakes. Nicely done!
I don't have a saltwater set up freshwater here but found this video very informative none the less
I'm a freshwater tank kinda guy and usually don't pay much attention to saltwater specific, more especially reef tank specific content...
But I've likely learned more about aquascaping from this video alone than inumerable hours of other stuff I've watched on RUclips.
Superglue? Foundation Rock? Fiberglass Rods? *Game Changers* Thank You.
Thank you for the kind words!
I gotta say as a 'freshwater aquascaper' just new into saltwater/reef tanks. Saltwater is way behind in terms of aquascaping and hardscape, compared to all the rules of freshwater there is not much to it. like adding details, maybe using different grains of zand or gravel, golden ratio, layers, shadows, end point, i actually think a lot can be used in saltwater too.. that said i'm already breaking down one of my scapes to convert it into a saltwater reef, u guys got me hooked. Best informative reef channel out here, thanks for the content and tips. great to see thomas on your channel, watched his content a long time ago, maybe not the best aquascaper but definitly one of the best vibes. Cheers from The Netherlands guys 🍻
When introducing a new fish into salt water tanks Rearrange the rocks to remove territories of existing fish. It’s a must really!
10:37 that aquascape is exactly what I want mine to look like. I'm starting a brand new 66 gallon tank and I want it to look something like that. I know I can't make it look like that exactly due to being a smaller space to work with but great job guys. I love watching your videos and how in depth you guys go to explaining, describing and showing things for us. I love your channel. Thanks!
* I purchased 1 gallon of biomedia and placed it into 12 mesh bags. I placed it in an Ikea tub with a food source, heater, pump, bacteria and flow. I seeded this media 2 months before my tank arrived. * When dryscaping, place your rock on a table; your back will thank you. Also, you will have a better vantage point. I had initially planned my rock scape on the floor; so I was getting more of a “bird’s eye view”. When I placed my structure on to a table; I didn’t like the structure when looking straight on. * Before your epoxy dries, touch it lightly with a small rock to give it texture and to camouflage fingerprints. * Save some small rubble. It helps make the manufactured edges in shelf rock look more natural by adding irregularity to the straight edge. * Use a rasp to dull some of the sharp edges that look unnatural from broken Reef Saver Rock. * Avoid making stilts for your structures. I added some to elevate my scape and to allow for better flow. It turns out that’s where all of my dead spots are.
Take into consideration lower, unshaded space for Monti Caps, Efflo or other corals that grow laterally.
I have been watching your videos for a while and can honestly say that you guys are hitting it out of the park! It is evident in your videos that you are highly in tune with this hobby and are not just trying to sell a product but rather reinforcing tried and trusted concepts without delving into the anecdotal stuff. This video, in particular, helped me a great deal in facing my previous mistakes as I plan on re-setting my tank that has been neglected for a great while. Most of the work in this hobby takes place without getting wet, thanks for all of the food for thought.
I have heard that the mined rock can sometimes be mined from underneath what used to be fields that grew crops. So it can be full of phosphate due to fertilizer. So cycling helps to leach out those phosphates before you have it in your tank under strong light.
That's one far out theory...
I may be that 1%, but I love it when sps grows on the glass.
I scaped my 40 Cube Structure over the course of weeks using, acrylic rods and superglu/instaset. then set it in a container for 4 weeks to cycle. turned out great. But for Some reason my LFS thoght it was a waste of time/effort. i still dont understand his reasoning but....needless to say i dont go to that LFS anymore. and my tank looks amazing now and is one big solid structure of arches and over hangs. before i put in in bin to cycle i grabbed the highest rock on the structure and shook/swung it around to make sure it solid and. it was truly one solid structure when i was done.
Maybe your LFS thinks it's useless is because after you have all the corals in, you just wouldn't see the rock. I have also spent a lot of time searching for the very best aquascapes on the internet, I had planned to drill, use acrilyc rods and what not, but in the end, I realised the juice isn't worth the squeeze for me personally.
isn't it funny how the liverock sometimes fits together like puzzle pieces,
-like it was almost made to go in that spot?
Something really satisfying about when that happens.
Lucite/plexiglass rods and also Legos make for great support frame materials if glued correctly, imo.
Ok
A freshwater aquascaper, but my dream is to have a reef tank. I can just watch these videos and learn so much and some is even helpful for the freshwater side .
I love you guys. I’ll keep it that simple. I’ve been buying from you since you started, and I’m getting ready to upgrade to a 150 from a 10 year old 90. This video is perfect, and absolutely perfect timing
One of the biggest things I regret is building a structure with lots of vertical rock cliffs- it’s hard to place corals there and it leaves big empty spaces of rock while the rest of the tank is filled with coral
Branch off the vertical cliffs.
I'm setting up my first tank now, and this has definitely helped me in many ways. Thanks guys
I will be doing my in couple weeks
How’d it go! Two months in!
@@ottav45 i am still gathering the supplies yet.
You guys are a great pair, I’ve bought a lot from BRS. 20G Fusion Starter Kit, Desktop Skimmer, Aqua Shield UV Sterilizer, FragZone Coral Mounts, 5 Stage RO/DI System, RedSea Reef 50 LED..
Thank you for the support! 😃
Number 21. Put the sand down before the rock when your aqua scraping. I learned the hard way when I was putting the rock first and then one rolled over breaking my 125 glass tank floor.
You should put your rock first from what I’ve read. The reason being is because harmful bacteria will build beneath the rock in the sand, and once it’s disturbed it’ll all release in your tank, potentially causing a crash
Many of these tips I know them from aquascaping planted tanks. I now learn much more with you guys. Thank you ao much!!
Thanks for doing these videos during this time of uncertainty it’s so nice to take my mind off everything that’s going on in the world thank you guys for all the content. 😁😁😁😁
Right?!? !! Good luck during this time, lets hope it will all be "normal" again soon!
Such a great video! I have only had freshwater so far. I have been watching reefvideos for 2 years and I will take the plunge this autumn. Looking forward to it. Thanks for all the superhelpful guides, they have taught me so much.
Adding a salt tank will be such a fun addition! What type of tank are you thinking about starting up?
contemplating if I want to go saltwater for my next tank. This was really helpful, and prob will save me a lot of headaches if I do.
I don't glue my aquascape because I'd like to be able to move rocks around when the corals need more space or to frag stuff.
The habitat one is one of my top priorities, and has always been because in freshwater, African cichlids rely on a good scape for happy fish. I'm hoping when I set up my first saltwater tank I can do all this. Good video.
Fantastic comments and recommendations. I love aquascaping almost as much as my fish. I've settled with african cichlids as my core for creating my aquariums. It just allows me so much freedom with changing hardscaping. It's an addiction for sure.
Had never thought of using the rods before, seems so obvious now. I feel like I may be breaking rules here, lol....I siliconed egg crate to back and part of sides of my 125, then used pond foam to secure live rock top to bottom around the three sides. So I stacked against the back wall, but the foam has filled in all of the gaps so technically I guess I didn't? break the rules. I'm locked into that background for good, but it will be framed up like a picture so I think it'll be alright. Just recently stumbled upon your videos, you guys are top notch. Have been doing this a long time and have learned plenty from you guys in just a few videos. Great work/presentation!
I needed this video two years ago! Thanks, you guys do an amazing job with the information for us young refers.
Doesn't that always seem to be the case. LOL! Thanks for watching though!
What a fantastic and useful video. I made EVERY SINGLE one of these mistakes in my first 2 lps tanks.
Foundation rock, what's that?
Pre drilled for frag plugs👍
Now we need frag plug blanks with rubble, until we accumulate the frags 😁
You guys and the commenters are genius.
I started with a 5g and dwarf seahorses in 1969
Great point!
You guys rocks thank you i have my 103 gallons red sea tank empty and will start soon tobwork on it you guys are so helpful thanks.
One thing to consider: Eventually you will have to deal with some pests. So, A few islands, keeping the scape low, and not gluing everything together... these tips will allow you to remove a rock and treat the coral on it. Or break off a couple coral and ditch the rock. This way you won’t have to treat your whole tank. Or when than Rose BTA splits or moves and is stinging your prize colony you can deal with it. Also as coral grows, you can shift things slightly into better light or to allow for better flow. There are many more advantages to being able to move stuff around.
Great video from BRStv! Lots of sought after advise and some timely tips as I plan my first AIO.
I built a structure using 20lbs life rock shapes and bonded the areas that touch with super glue and insta-set. I can lift the whole structure up by the top rock, that's how well the super glue/insta set combo holds up.
oh dang. Thats strong!
Just regular super glue that you can get from any box store? It won't harm any of the tank inhabitants?
Here is another tip: Use tape on your floor in the exact same dimensions of your aquarium, and then do the aquascape on the floor. This way you don't have to lean over the tank and risk scratching you tank. Even worse, dropping a rock into the glass. Also if you have alot of rock it can be hard work to get it in and out of the tank so many times before you'r happy with how it looks.
oooh YES!!
Good timing for this video. I'm in the process of setting up a new 420 gallon reef, and there's a lot of good tips in here that I hadn't considered. Liked and subscribed!
WOW!!! You'll need to make some videos when you get it all set up!!
@@PollysPets , I definitely will. I'm currently waiting for delivery of the custom tank. It's a peninsula 72x42x32.
The worst thing i ever did is rescape an already established tank. I took all the rocks out to scape with e marco 400 mortar and due to me letting it dry up till the next day cause a massive dieoff of bacteria and guess what happened after i added it to the tank? Got those damn DINOS! Been 3 months since that and its still going strong have lost close to 2k in corals since then, im going fowlr once my remaining corals die off the hell with that.
IMO I would never glue/ epoxy an entire aquascape together. If you change your mind and want to move things around, you’re screwed. I have always moved mine around several time until I’m happy and have the option to move single rocks around.
good point! were always changing stuff around!
I used I think 12 pieces of rock in my 200 gallon tank. Literally every piece was a large piece of rock, and no snail is going to knock it over, and with that I doubt I could put enough super glue to make it not fall over if I tried. That said, I really like use corals to glue rocks together. Put some encrusting SPS or montipora (they grow fast) right on the boundary between two rocks, and it'll quickly fuse those pieces together :D
Solid trick!
All of this is new to me. I accidentally brought home a Hermie about a month ago and trying to make him a good home
I once used sand from beach 3lbs & rinsed it in tank water & seachem Prime 💥💥
If you want a bigger tube of "super glue" or cyanoacrylate check out 2P-10. You can get 10 ounces for about the price you would pay for a little tube of Gorilla brand cyanoacrylate. They also sell an activator for quick setting...and it's quick. I get mine from a local tool supply shop but you can also find it online.
I thought I was doing well getting two tubes for $1. 25 at Dollar Tree
To me there's no right or wrong way to make an Aquascape is all about ideas. I make all mine just out of pile of rocks and they come out just fine and never had a problem with them.
Hello from Switzerland, so good advises, planning for my new 170 reefer. Thanks 👍
Combine number 8 and 3... it's rule of thirds for the grown in reef, not your rock structure.
I like acrylic rods so you can use a heat gun and bend it
Wow... extremely helpful! Thank you for another great video! What to you think about using a carbon fiber arrow instead of a carbon fiber rod... ?
Kudos! Thanks for being honest and informative... as always.
Many thanks Randy and Ryan for sharing your experiences!! ! For those who don't know how to do your Aquascape the proper way, I would HIGHLY suggest watching this entire video!!
I am currently recurring around 100lbs of my old school Tanga Branch and my Marshall Island live rock for the new SCA Rimless 150!! Have a question guys- How long do you think I should recure my old Tonga and Marshall island rock for around 8-12weeks?
Good tips even for non marine projects
Compared to freshwater aquascaping, reef aquascaping has still to be invented,
I have never seen a really well scaped reef in my whole life.
Great functional tips though.
Alfredo Reis Deus you are absolutely right. Coming from freshwater, I thought to myself, "this is it?"
@@russelmuldowney8736 I tried to create a video with the top 10 most beautiful reef aquascapes on youtube. I had not only to reduce it to 7 but I also I had to include tanks that I didn't think I would have to.
I have been looking into this for a long time and reef aquascaping is much more challenging than freshwater aquascaping. You have incorporate all the stuff that they talk about in this video and combine it with aesthetic considerations. A lot can be learned from studying the freshwater aquascaping, but for some reason no one wants to do it.
There are thousands of people doing great freshwater aquascaping and not a single one doing great reef aquascaping.
I have tried to persuade a few of those freshwater aquascapers to try their hand in the scapping of a reef tank but without success.
I absolutely agree. I had been doing planted tanks and what you see in that community are works of art. In saltwater not so much. Most reef tanks just look like random piles of stuff with little thought for the final look.
I just started up my first reef tank but I held off for so long because I couldn't find any inspiration that looked like art like I used to. I finally decided that I'm just going to do my own thing and make a scape that goes against the norm for a reef tank.
@@LightSearch check westcoast reefer on ig his new tank scape is amazing
Another great video. You guys are great. Really clear and seamless.
This was very informative, I realized I had done a lot right. The rod in the rock was a great idea.
Think what kind of flow occurs in nature. Almost always random and to snd fro
It happened to me. I got just the right amount of rock that I needed. But after I finished aquascaping I realised I needed more rock.
Great information ;-)
8:40 , arch needs to be offset. Not right in the middle. Looks off. 🤣 nice video!!
30 seconds ago!!! Hell yeah I’ll watch it. Hello from Bangladesh 🇧🇩. I’m 12 years old.
Hello (from texas)!
IN YOUR COMMENT ON #19. Why not soak your rocks, then 5-6 months later aquascape your tank with half of the water along with using a a shower system of your salt water, allowing it to fall onto your rocks, then using the underwater glue to glue the soaking rocks?
Some fantastic info here. I just wanted ask a quick question. Started a reef tank a year and a half ago. Now i want to rescape. Can i take the Bolders of Marco Rock out. Break them, rescape and epoxy now? How long can i have it out of the water?
This is super valuable guys, thank you
Just starting and this was fantastic advice
I'm guilty of just stacking my rock. And it cost me when one of the reef bulldozers knocked an small piece loose and caused a very large piece to fall and crack the glass, which failed 20 minutes later. Nothing like getting woke up to the sound of rushing water to find all your livestock flopping in the floor. Not to mention the aftermath of your wife almost beating you...
man.....I am starting to get nervous any recommendations?
@@JNeuel the maxspect glue gun. It let's you pinpoint glue while your rock is under water, without moving your hands all over the place.
OMGosh NO! That is all of our worst nightmares. Hopefully most everything survived.
@@joeymerrell8585 thanks man I super appreciate the response. Got one on order now.
Lmao if that would have happened to me my parents will kick me out the house
Thanks for the videos. Helps a lot!
Awesome advice! Looking forward to putting it to use
If you have your rock cured, how long can you leave it out of water aquascaping before you would expect a die off(mins, hours)? I have a 75 gallon build and I would like to have a jump on the cycle. I don't plan on taking a long time scaping but would like 1-2 hours cause a big die off?
Likely the bulk of beneficial bacteria can survive an hour or so out of water. Just to play it safe, I like to build in sections and re-wet as I go.
haha, I feel like you need my liferock memes i've been posting on the group lately...
I'm basically poking fun at all these liferock branch / arch rock scapes. I just don't think it takes much talent to pile up that stuff and call it a scape. Branches or arches are accent pieces, but shouldn't be the entire scape! That scape at around 4:10 is basically what i'm poking fun at. It's become a "tank trope"
awesome video guys!! can you add dry rock to already stablished tank?
As long as it's cured beforehand, then that's not a problem.
I’m loving this series lads!! Always get some awesome tips 😀👍🏽
Lots of great info, thanks guys.
Loved this video! So many valid points
My number one mistake. Not using Kent marine products from the start
Thank you for this, you guys always have great content! Getting ready to aquascape a 180 and I will definitely be watching this again.
I like those pumps. I've never seen them before. So they get their energy through the glass?
If you're referring to the Vortech pumps, then there is a "dry side" on the outside of the tank. That's the motor. On the inside, you have the "wet side." They connect through the glass magnetically and the dry side is able to spin the wet side through the glass. Just make sure that your glass isn't too thick before purchasing.
Great tips for a Reef only tank. New fish intro will require new aquascape
Fantastic video. Thanks!
One question you maybe mentioned but i missed, where is your heater located?
I did the glass cleaner thing Rock is way to close lol
Great video, thanks! Definitely a few things that I hadn't thought of.
Just wanted to point out that the index on the right is kind of useless if you don't list all of the fail points from the beginning instead of as you go along. I assume the point of it is so you could jump to the specific time in the video? I no longer need that time as I'm watching because... well, you just told me about it.
@bulkreefsupply look at the coral tree structure from Caribsea. It’s 250$ but for that stable verticality and ability to change it is worth it. I’ll probably buy it. You guys should make one, bet it’d be even better & cheaper.
Can you glue the rocks and rearrange the rocks that are already in the water and are wet? What's the best glue to use?
Photoshop the corals. Fantastic idea.
How about stacking your rocks, then shake it allowing the rocks to lie where they fell?
A simple sodium bicarbonate and water solution works like an instaset.
I can't wait to try this out!
Damn I’m an expert. I hate when tanks have no negative space and are just crammed with corals
been there haha I totally rescaped my tank this week
I’m so screwed! I think I broke every rule. First luckily it is only a live rock and fish only tank. WAY too much rock, stacked not glued in anyway, against the back of the tank, not enough room for cleaning tools. Where do I start? It’s a 60 gallon and has been set up for two years. The big problem I have is hair algae. I have recently started using RO water for water changes and phosphate reducing media. No ammonia, no nitrites and very low nitrates now. Any advice?
I’m setting up my first reef tank and used stainless steel thread rod to get a few pieces of dry rock together, is it ok ?
dry sort your rock design then cable tie, simples.
In order to get superglue to set instantly just put baking soda over it.
Interesting trick. I'll have to try that out!