Aquascaping Hardscape: Working with Rock and Wood

How to build the hardscape skeleton of an aquascape: arranging rock and wood, joining pieces with glue and putty, and creating slopes.

Structure first

Build the hardscape skeleton before you plant anything. It sets the composition, the depth and the focal point, and everything you plant afterwards should reinforce it. Dry-fit the whole layout first.

Working with rock

Rock-focused layouts in the Iwagumi tradition use an odd number of stones — typically 3 to 9 — with the smaller rocks arranged to echo and complement the texture and directionality of the main stone, as the 2Hr Aquarist describes. For heavy stones, Tropica recommends placing a thin polystyrene sheet beneath the substrate where the rock will sit, to spread the load and protect the glass.

Working with wood

The 2Hr Aquarist's key wood principle is to arrange several pieces so they appear to originate from a common point, mimicking the natural branch arrangement of a tree. This makes a collection of pieces read as one coherent structure instead of scattered sticks.

Joining hardscape

• Gel superglue (cyanoacrylate): good for small joints, cures faster than silicone, but does not fill gaps.
• Two-part epoxy putty: kneaded by hand, bonds pieces and cures to the hardness of rock, and fills gaps.
• Silicone, or liquid superglue used with a cigarette filter, are other common methods.

Creating slopes

The 2Hr Aquarist notes competition aquascapers make steep back-to-front slopes simply by layering rock and wood thickly, often using cheap lava rock as a hidden base and the attractive stone on the visible surface.

Sources: The 2Hr Aquarist, Methods of connecting hardscape and Aquascape styles and ideas (www.2hraquarist.com www.2hraquarist.com); Tropica Plant Guide, Hardscape and bottom layer (tropica.com).