How to arrange rocks in a tank for best effect?

[genEus]

Hi everyone, first post here!

So, I'm lousy with interior design in my house. I never know what color matches what and what piece of furniture would look best in a room.

No difference when it comes to aquascaping I guess. I am starting a 20 gallon long tank with sand substrate and I went to a local nursery and got (for free) 4 huge random pieces of black/dark purple slate, probably about 5-6 pounds each, the biggest probably 10 inches wide by 15 long or so.

What's the best way to arrange these stones? Should I break them up into small pieces? Do I stack them? Do I build something from them? Should I break them length-wise? Give me some ideas please. The tank has no fish or water yet, just sand, so I can play without disturbing the environment.

Please advise!!

Btw, love this site!

 

[Frostyone]

Take a look at the planted tank sticky above, get some ideas from others then change them to suit your taste. Play with a few different arrangements and see what you like the best. And check out some of the aquascaping here

http://www.adana-usa.com/index.php?main_page=afa_portfolio&zenid=544a7afa4faf560ce3aa97854d273c4c

 

[jcardona1]

there are ENDLESS possibilities when it comes to aquascaping. there are no rules and just do what you like! for my planted tank, i tried to do something like in the link posted above by frosty; the iwagumi style.

you should post pics of your tank and rocks so we could offer some suggestions. here's my final design:

 

[radioaktiv]

jcard's is a fine example of organic styling

dont make thing symmetrical. randomness, as in nature, is beautiful.

 

[genEus]

Thanks for the replies so far. I'm basically looking for general guidelines. Like, "don't lean a rock against the front of the tank because come cleaning time you won't be able to easily scrape the glass" or something like that even.

 

[jcardona1]

yeah definitely dont put your rocks against the glass! also, be sure not to stack them in a way that can fall over or be knocked over by any movement or fish. this would be bad!

slate tends to be fairly flat so it limits what you can do with it, so just get creative

 

[radioaktiv]

as a rule you dont want anything leaning on the four walls of the tank

when a tank is being built, the glass is measured to be thick enough to support the wieght of the water's outward pushing force, and maybe a little more

rocks leaning on the walls is a bad idea IMO

 

[genEus]

heh, I just happened to be reading about that and thought "oh yeah that makes sense" -- but I would've never thought about that myself. Not even so much leaning against the glass, but just close enough so that the magnetic cleaner won't slide by...

 

[radioaktiv]

i personally prefer a more open looking tank.

but just keep in mind that for every bit of mass you put in the tank, it is going to displace that much more water. and as a rule of thumb, the more water you have the better.