Question about aquascaping

[stevenp]

For those of you that have 18" tanks, do you have the rockwork right up against the mega flows and back of the tank or did you leave a gap for the fishies to hide?

Steve

 

[Andy O]

I have a 90 gallon and my rock work does touch the back glass but it is not flat up against it -- there is space for water to flow through the lower portion of the back.

 

[stevenp]

Andy
That's kind of how mine is turning out. I'm trying to leave a couple inches or so in multiple places to allow fish to hide. I want to be careful not to take up the whole water column with rock but still leave some caves and stuff.

Steve

 

[APISTOBORELLI]

Same here. I only have a 30gal. but my rock rests against the back in spots. It's important to have some flow behind the rock so waste doesnt build up. Are you using a closed loop system?

 

[Aquadiva]

ditto

 

[stevenp]

I'm plumbed for a closed loop but the jury's still out on whether or not I'm going to use it. If I leave some room would the flow get back there naturally? The way I have it set up right now there are quite a few open areas. I'll post a couple pics.

Steve

 

[stevenp]

Frontal view.

The spot in the middle is "Jawfish Cove". There's a 5" sandbed sourrounded by rock rubble.

The tank is dry so the pics look kind of wierd.

Steve

 

[stevenp]

Left end

 

[stevenp]

Left iso

 

[stevenp]

right iso

 

[MarkO]

looks pretty good.
I have an 18" tank (width) and it has dual overflows. I ended up with an approximate 4-6" gap near the bottom between the overflows and the rock. Then I just piled it up high near the top. But I can only stack the rock so high before it becomes unstable. I plan on breaking it down soon and re-set it all up. When I do, I am going to cement the rock together and create a reef slope with a few holes. At least this way it will be a bit more stable.

 

[stevenp]

Mark,
That's exactly what I'm doing now. I'm going through the two-part marine epoxy like there's no tomorrow...

Steve

 

[heavydc2]

I use the back glass all along with my 18. Its only 58 gallons and its up against a wall so I figure I won't need to see the back side anyway. I actually painted my backside after I had it going for 2 years. I have a single overflow on the right side with rock all around it, but there is a cavern behind it. All the rock starts up front (varied distances) and ends against the back wall about half way up. The fish can swim circles aroudn the tank front to back out of the rockwork and within the rock. Above the rock I have xenia and gsp growing on the wall. I dont have to worry about rockslides, there is no epoxy (what if you get aptasia or mojanos and need to take the piece out).