29 Gallon Aquascaping Ideas?

[Alunai]

I have a desperate need to redo the rockwork in my 29 Gallon FOWLR. Right now, the rockwork is pathetic, and although it's got plenty of holes for my clowns to play in, and they love it, I absolutely HATE it . The tank is a regular 29 gallon, up against a wall. I am more than willing to take out some rock and get new, nicer rock to redo the rockwork. Please help with ideas !


You can see persephone rather well in both pictures. Bryn, on the other hand, is the little wiggle-butt, nothing but a blur in both pictures . They're both extremely personable, running to the glass to beg and look cute when they see me coming.

[Pallobi]

you could try two separate mounds, or column like structures with a valley in the middle... thats a thought i have always liked the look of... i would see what i could do with thge rock you have now before you decide not to use it and buy more as you have a good amount now, you odnt need to use it all either... jus my opinion... GL with whatever you decide

[frankpayne32]

I agree, try to do two separate but different islands/columns. Drilling the rock and using pvc piped to connect them works very well. It also gets the rock off the glass, increasing flow and making maintenance easier. Good luck.

[Alunai]

Pictures? =)

[Alunai]

bump

[zachfishman]

Below is a shot of my 29's original aquascape. I really liked the slight rise on the left, unfortunately I had to pull out some LR because I had some flow issues.

1. Don't aquascape symmetrically - create a focal point (either a higher rock or large coral) about 1/3 of the way in on the left or right.

2. Kinda related - never put a focal point smack in the middle.

[Alunai]

Thank you very much, that's a beautiful aquascaping. I like it. I may just have to take out a bunch of my LR. =)

[zachfishman]

For comparison here's the tank as it was last month after the re-aquascaping. Not as good because the 1/3-way focal point is lost. I have however placed a frogspawn coral at the 1/3 point (more recent than the photo), and am banking on it quickly growing into the new focal point.

[iwishtofish]

Here's an example of what turned out to be WAY too much rock in my 29g. The rock was touching the back glass and nearly touching the front glass in some spots. I had major flow issues that were quite detrimental to the tank.

[detroit_fan]

I'm in the same situation, my 29g really needs the rock redone. I just ordered some key largo rock from marco rocks, plan to cycle it and try using rods and mortar to create something new.

[gp2]

yeah pulling a rock out of the center to give a small sandy channel to the back of the tank gives some depth imo. But, like zach says I would leave the space off to one side. BTW your rocks look really cool, I would just try to re-aqua scape them

[Alunai]

Thanks everyone for the input and pictures, I did finally get around to rescaping the 29. I like it a lot better now. I was going for the valley look as suggested above, because I personally find that to be very aesthetically pleasing. Here is the picture I used as a model



Obviously, this tank is not only a much larger capacity than 29 gallons, but also appears to be square as opposed to rectangular. So unfortunately I could get similar, but not the same, rock formations . Not to mention this tank is packed full of beautiful corals which practically hide the rock work anyways.

I took out all but 2 pieces of rock and did a bit of maintenance while i was at it, scraping the glass, siphoning the bed, etc. I fiddled with it for a good hour and a half to two hours. Attached is a photo of the end result. I took out more than half of the rock that I had in there to begin with. It will definitely take some getting used to, but I like it a lot more now, there's still plenty of hidey holes, and there's a lot more room for coral placement in the future.

I would love feedback, and still look forward to seeing more photos from you guys!

BTW, Wish2Fish, I love the look of your rockwork, although I can see where you would have flow issues and some major detritus build-up.

[zachfishman]

Much better, it looks a little barren now but once you get a decent amount of coral growth to fill things in it'll look very nice. The only thing I'd move/change is your upward-jutting branch rock immediately adjacent to the right of the sand valley; it's a little abrupt IMHO.

[Alunai]

I completely agree with you. The only issue with that is that particular rock has two mushrooms on it, and they are fully attached to the rock. I have always liked that rock, but it is extremely hard to place it and look natural. Any suggestions? Also, I want to make a small rock bin for the rock that I took out. I need suggestions for this too, but I'll make a separate thread for that..

[gp2]

huh, I really liked that jutting rock oh well it is such a personal thing. It definitely looks way better, and should fill in great

[Alunai]

Unless I figure out something else to do with that paticular rock, it will stay where it is. So you can enjoy it in future pictures, gp2. =) I agree, rockwork is absolutely personal preference.

[Felixc395]

Here's my 29 gallon. i understand how hard it is to get the aquascape right with such shallow dimensions. It drives me crazy! But here are some pics (sorry it's from my iPhone). Tell me what you think.

[Felixc395]

oh, sorry for such big sized pictures! it was my first time posting pics, won't make that mistake again, that's for sure!

[zachfishman]

Looks good, but I'd ditch the little piece on the top of the larger pile (assuming it's separate and not a protrusion of some large rock). Would look much better letting corals grow up from there than that tiny spit of rock trying to hide the powerhead IMO.

[XtremeFromHell]

Here's my 29


Here's how it used to look like before I added the new rocks.

[Felixc395]

Originally Posted by zachfishman

Looks good, but I'd ditch the little piece on the top of the larger pile (assuming it's separate and not a protrusion of some large rock). Would look much better letting corals grow up from there than that tiny spit of rock trying to hide the powerhead IMO.

Interesting. I never even thought of that. Thank you, and the rock is bigger but i'll see what I can do. And you mean on the left side, right?

[ReefKnot]

I'm in the same boat, I have a regular 29g with 30lbs live rock, and I need to rebuild it desperately. The rock goes from back almost to front, and nearly both sides, so the flow is terrible. I am planning to do two columns, and try to get more sand exposed and better flow.

What is the theory on having rock touch the side glass?

[saltym3]

Here's my 29 gallon. Its been changed over the years several times but it still has a big mess of rock. I have no idea how much weight in rocks but there are some very large pieces for the base. I should redo for aesthetics and for better flow because detritus does get stuck on the rock in certain spots and have to use the turkey baster quite often in those few areas.

[jayelblock]

Here's mine. It's only a month old, so it still looks pretty raw.

[saltym3]

Originally Posted by jayelblock

Here's mine. It's only a month old, so it still looks pretty raw.

Looks very nice. Did you use only putty to hold the rocks together for the arch or did you do any drilling?