Permanent scaping
- Thread starter Balz3352
- Start date
SynDen
Administrator
Staff member
M.A.S.C Club Member
M.A.S.C. B.O.D.
M.A.S.C President
M.A.S.C Webmaster
No offense taken.
Ya you could likely do without the pvc and just done the cement but the pvc gave a few advantages that cement cant.
For one it made it easier for me to make these into modular pieces. The big main structure will come apart in 4 pieces which will make it easier to move and to cure. It also provides a form to start with. You can easily adjust the form to your liking with it, so that even before you start laying the rock you can get a good idea of the shape and be able to adjust more easily ahead of time. It also adds to the support for the overall structure. The cement has a tendency to break down in a tank over many years in saltwater, which can lead to full collapse of the rock work, especially in a design like the main structure. just when the colonies are getting huge and beautiful. So it adds somewhat of a safety net in that regard.
This isnt a method for making delicate formed aquascapes like Rumen's though, as the pipe adds a lot of bulk in the end to the overall structure. Especially as you layer the rocks around it to hide the pipe.
Ya you could likely do without the pvc and just done the cement but the pvc gave a few advantages that cement cant.
For one it made it easier for me to make these into modular pieces. The big main structure will come apart in 4 pieces which will make it easier to move and to cure. It also provides a form to start with. You can easily adjust the form to your liking with it, so that even before you start laying the rock you can get a good idea of the shape and be able to adjust more easily ahead of time. It also adds to the support for the overall structure. The cement has a tendency to break down in a tank over many years in saltwater, which can lead to full collapse of the rock work, especially in a design like the main structure. just when the colonies are getting huge and beautiful. So it adds somewhat of a safety net in that regard.
This isnt a method for making delicate formed aquascapes like Rumen's though, as the pipe adds a lot of bulk in the end to the overall structure. Especially as you layer the rocks around it to hide the pipe.
Last edited by a moderator:
(WHEW!)
OK, so a PVC structure will naturally be bulkier than a non-pvc structure, but it will provide long term support to help prevent collapse in the event that the concrete fails (after many years). That support also allows you to do... shall we say... less naturally structurally solid designs, provided that the PVC is capable of providing the support necessary for the rocks you're using. This means you can design your scape more fancifully if that's what you're going for.
Did I interpret that right?
If so, that explains why I wasn't terribly interested in PVC scapes. I wanted something that looked like what I would expect to see in the ocean. I wasn't necessarily going for fanciful, exotic designs. So I tended to drystack my rock in mostly sound forms, then just solidified it with the concrete so it didn't collapse if I put a pump in the wrong place, or touched it while working in the tank. I would only have run into trouble had my tank been up for years, to the point that the concrete stopped holding the rock together, and then I bumped it.
Like you, and probably most others, I did my scapes in sections. I didn't want to have to try to lift large and complex rock structures. Mike did part of his scape out of the tank, then finished it in the tank, filling it with water after the concrete had cured.
OK, so a PVC structure will naturally be bulkier than a non-pvc structure, but it will provide long term support to help prevent collapse in the event that the concrete fails (after many years). That support also allows you to do... shall we say... less naturally structurally solid designs, provided that the PVC is capable of providing the support necessary for the rocks you're using. This means you can design your scape more fancifully if that's what you're going for.
Did I interpret that right?
If so, that explains why I wasn't terribly interested in PVC scapes. I wanted something that looked like what I would expect to see in the ocean. I wasn't necessarily going for fanciful, exotic designs. So I tended to drystack my rock in mostly sound forms, then just solidified it with the concrete so it didn't collapse if I put a pump in the wrong place, or touched it while working in the tank. I would only have run into trouble had my tank been up for years, to the point that the concrete stopped holding the rock together, and then I bumped it.
Like you, and probably most others, I did my scapes in sections. I didn't want to have to try to lift large and complex rock structures. Mike did part of his scape out of the tank, then finished it in the tank, filling it with water after the concrete had cured.
SynDen
Administrator
Staff member
M.A.S.C Club Member
M.A.S.C. B.O.D.
M.A.S.C President
M.A.S.C Webmaster
