Aquascaping

[Reef Trends]

Did this yesterday for a client and came out pretty nice. Wish the water was a little clearer but between dealing with an algae bloom and the re-scape it was pretty hard to even work in. Can't wait to get some clear shots and continue to work on this tank seeing it progress and fill out with livestock.

 

[pecan2phat]

Nice!

 

[Rookie2reef]

Nice thats a lot of Kessels lol

 

[Coralito]

awesome! any updates? more pics?

 

[Reef Trends]

Rescaped the Elos 120 per clients wishes:

Rescape of 180g in NJ (will dig up before pictures but was basically rock piles):

* Wish I could somehow show the depth and intricacies of the scapes.

 

[BYU]

looks great

 

[Rookie2reef]

really I'm not hating or anything but that needs some work in my opinion I think it's the rocks you picked for aquascaping I have seen some amazing things done with Tonga, to much shelf rock to me but just my opinion

 

[Reef Trends]

really I'm not hating or anything but that needs some work in my opinion I think it's the rocks you picked for aquascaping I have seen some amazing things done with Tonga, to much shelf rock to me but just my opinion

Its the rocks they had. Actually removed some huge rocks. We do carry Real Reef Rock but try to work with each clients likes and budgets. Its hard to really capture the depth and detail in the full tank shots. Looks much better in person I can assure. These were quick shots upon finishing.

 

[Rookie2reef]

oh ok so you pretttymuch working with what you got

 

[Reef Trends]

oh ok so you pretttymuch working with what you got

Yes but totally depends on the client. For example the Elos tank we did add some Real Reef Rock but whereas I really like branch he really likes shelf so as you can see kind of got a combo of each. In this case he had decided that he wanted to redo it a bit and had some ideas for us to work with. The 180g you see pictured I only had the rocks that were already in the tank to work with. I like to build up and leave plenty of room for fish to swim in and out of the rock work (effectively increasing their swimming space and variety). I will try to get some better pictures when return but there is a lot of depth and channels in there for both fish and corals to occupy.

We also adjusted the lighting of the 180g for the aquascape and here are the par readings:

 

[Rookie2reef]

oh I see that's cool I need to get myself a par meter

 

[Reef Trends]

Some more from a 120g today (rearranging clients rocks):

* Trying to show a little more of the depth...

 

[Rookie2reef]

that's nice

 

[3450500]

very nice do you charge by the hour?

 

[Reef Trends]

very nice do you charge by the hour?

Yes we do sending PM.

 

[Juggernot55]

Dope

 

[cono]

just pmed you

 

[Reef Trends]

Deep Dimensions

Let's take a look at some DD aquariums we did recently... (Keep in mind is really hard to capture depth when taking photos of aquascapes and this is especially true of DD sizes!)

First up is a 200DD that was up and running for 8 years. Totally packed with rocks, fish and corals along with a HUGE clam. The FTS doesn't really do it justice being as this is a 4'x3' footprint but we were really able to open it up and allow the depth of the tank to be used/viewed. The fish were so happy and the owner remarked "looks like I need more fish now" despite there being dozens!

Before:

After:

After (video):
[Youtube]PvudElQluNI[/Youtube]

Next is a 300DD really nice system that has 6'x3' footprint with sump below and 125g refugium off to the side (not pictured). The system has been up and running for about 3 years and was really clean. Just in need of a little sprucing up and a fresh look.

Before:

After:

After (close ups):

* Sorry about the not so great pictures gotta get better at remembering to take them and taking the time to get them good but work takes priority.

 

[Pagodazoa]

Not to offend but I loved the before look of the last 300DD. I'm sure you work with what your clients want, budget and whats in front of you which makes what you do hard but the after pictures don't look natural to me the way the arches look forced to be there. It would look nicer instead of two separated arches to connect them and make it look like one large rock formation. All the big softies are thrown in the back and not set as a centerpiece. The 200DD looked like a mess of corals before but the after also looks very unnatural the way the frags in the sand bed are laid out along a line in front of the rockwork.

 

[Reef Trends]

Not to offend but I loved the before look of the last 300DD. I'm sure you work with what your clients want, budget and whats in front of you which makes what you do hard but the after pictures don't look natural to me the way the arches look forced to be there. It would look nicer instead of two separated arches to connect them and make it look like one large rock formation. All the big softies are thrown in the back and not set as a centerpiece. The 200DD looked like a mess of corals before but the after also looks very unnatural the way the frags in the sand bed are laid out along a line in front of the rockwork.

Yeh I figured it 'looks' that way and almost didn't post the pictures because of that but believe me that is not how it looks in person. You have to remember that these are deep dimension tanks being 36" deep and the photos cannot convey the depth. Also as mentioned the corals don't look right because were relocated and haven't opened back up or grown back over their new positions. Will try to get some updated shots down the road. As for the 200DD the client wanted to place those corals there to keep an eye on them and then move them once everything settled. Also we try to take into consideration the viewing environment. For example the 200DD has no viewing from left side but on right side is a couch so make it easy to "see through" same thing with the 300DD but reversed where there is a bed on left and doorway on right. So you want to consider the 'flow' when viewing through the room.