Post your Rock Structure

[Adam]

I am starting to think my 75 gallons rock structure is plain bleh.

It is like a square on the left hand side, then a little valley type deal through the middle, then another square. It is not very good, IMO, now that I think about it. I think it needs to be re-done. Either that, or I am crazy. I am worried that I might not have enough room for all my corals after I make the new structure(OHHH do I have a lot of corals...) I kind of, slightly, possibly mabe want to do a 1" super fine grade sand bed if I do a new rock structure(mabe possibly not sure...). I dont want any of my acro's to brown out if I add sand(that sentence sounds stupid to me...sand causes acro's to brown out???) Invincible has sand and cool acro's. Apparently sand isnt all that bad...

I wonder if the BB people have got to me...I do kinda miss sand.


So post away I want to see some rockstructure, reef, sps aquarium pics! :afro:

[Detritivore]

i dont have pics but i will give you a little "primer" for aquascaping (mesocosm will fill in the rest )

divide your tank into visual thirds and put the rocks along those lines, like this:


and then there is something called the "fibonacci" spiral, which looks like this:

(from mesocosm's gallery)

theres more about golden this and that, but i dont quite remember it

[Detritivore]

here is something from mesocosm

Greetings All !

What follows might constitute a breach of website ediquette and "good manners". I obtained Orion76's permission to discuss his tank, and to use his picture prior to submitting this post. The commentary which follows is "Just My Opinion." No breach of ediquette is intended, and I offer many apologies if anyone is offended. Moderators please feel free to delete if I'm out of line.


jonah310,

Nothing dense about the question at all ...

Human eye movement patterns aren't limited to things like "The Rule of Thirds." There are other "natural" patterns, one of them being commonly referred to as a Fibonacci Spiral/"Golden Spiral" ... only this "pattern" has mainly to do with symmetry, as opposed to proportionality. I offer it as just another "design pattern" which might be considered/applied to overall aquascaping, LR architecture, and coral specimen placement.

People with a "good eye" ... if everyone will forgive my presumptive arrogance for even making such a statement/judgment ... incorporate these patterns ... well ... naturally. Demonstrations of what I mean by a "Good Eye" literally ABOUND in the ZeoCommunity. For example, consider Orion76's ecosystem's LR architecture ...



Remembering that we're talking about general, as opposed to exact, spatial relationships ... Notice the overall spiral symmetry correspondence with the LR architecture ... notice the focal point(s) in the front, lower-left foreground and how this area is "emphasized" in the design ... notice how the current specimens (... and ledges for future specimen placement ...) correspond to the general spiral pattern/proportions. I respectfully submit that there is a "flow" to this acrhitecture, and that it can be correctly identified and defined ... in part, at least ... in terms of the "Golden Spiral."

Similarly, if you "reorient" the spiral and superimpose it onto some of Amano's designs, you'll see that it's a fundamental underlying pattern ... it's one of the subtle differences between ecosystem designs that look great, and designs that not only look great, but also feel great.

Of course, there's a lot more to it. Other considerations that come "into play" include concepts like "density", "light contrast", "depth" ... to name but a few.

I'd bet serious money that the notion of a Fibonacci Spiral never entered Orion76's mind as he was constructing the system's LR architecture ... I'd also bet serious money that his decision to stop modifying the LR architecture was based largely upon the determination that the resultant structure looked and felt "right." It turns out that there are some underlying perceptual principles that people use to describe the "mechanics" of why artwork ... and that's what our ecosystems are, IMO ... "looks" and "feels" right. The "Golden Spiral" is but one such principle ...

JMO ...

[Adam]

yep I saw that thread....thats why I made this post...butlook at all that sand in that aquarium! (I wonder if it causes the tank to crash eventually hehehe...)

[Detritivore]

theres more to it than just substrate

tanks wont crash just cuz there's sand

[nbd13]

heres mine about 6 months ago, this weekend i am taking some new shots for you guys,



there is also a small island to the right of the big island i will take a pic of that this weekend and post it for you. there are also 2 6100 streams on the left glass now too.


Nick

[SeanCallan]

Wow. I love the rock structure in that tank.

Adam, why do you always make comments about people's tanks crashes because of sand? If you read more into the subject you'd find that proper maintained sandbeds do not crash. It's not polite to make comments like that to each and everyone who has sand.

I still can't get over that arch, I love it, I fear though in my up coming 60g cube I will really be limited to structures..

[Orion76]

yep I saw that thread....thats why I made this post...butlook at all that sand in that aquarium! (I wonder if it causes the tank to crash eventually hehehe...)

Why don't have a debate about that, RC style!! :chainsaw: :shoot7: :destroy: :shoot7: :shoot5:

[SeanCallan]

[Adam]

I changed the rock structure on the right half, it looks 10,000 times better than it used to. I am going to change the right side sometime this week, mabe today. I put my huge orange capricornis at the bottom so it would not overgrow my corals like it was doing. The thing is easily 8" in diameter now.

[GTR]

This tank was a 110 tall (48 x 18 x 31).
It's only in my memory now since it sprung a leak in Feb 2004.
This is a shot from Aug 2003.
No design here though just a rock wall.


Here's a shot of the same tank from around 1990 when it was FO with dead corals. This pic pre dates digital cameras and I can't find the original to rescan.


SteveU

[Adam]

ahh I mean I will re do the left side, not the right side! I already did that side! typo!

I am going to make more of "pillars" or "Arches" on the left hand side, unlike the right hand side which is more like a mountain.