Iwagumi Rock Setup Guide

[Jaap]

Hello,

could someone explain how rocks are placed for an Iwagumi style aquarium? A step by step guide that explains that we place the largest rock first and smallest last, at which angles do we place rocks so that they match, where do we place small rocks and where large rocks?

I found that Iwagumi means: Sanzon-Iwagumi - Buddhist triad stone arrangement. Large stone with 2 smaller stones in a triangle. So I guess there should be a rough guide on how to setup the stones...

Thanks

 

[Nelson]

http://www.aquajournal.net/na/iwagumi/index.html

 

[SuperWen]

Got a few questions asking about rock arrangement...tried to explain it, the main rock placement at the golden ratio, supporting rocks to make it more natural flow and all, even provided the link : http://www.aquajournal.net/na/iwagumi/introduction.html. But still, I guess some people just can't grab hold the basic idea especially if just using words, lol. So, I am going to explain it using numbers, since everything else in this world are being described using numbers, one way or another, from our age, our weight, how much money we got..erk..golden ratio, rule of third to an ideal figure for a lady, 36-26-36!, lol...

The way I see it, firstly it is about ratio or proportion. I am using the 3-2-1 ratio when selecting three rocks for example where 3 > 2 > 1 (> is bigger than, lol) and the ratio among these three rocks are :
i. 3 is the biggest rock
ii. The main 3 (the main rock) is approximately 2/3 of the height of an aquarium.
iii. the second rock is 2/3 size of the biggest rock(i)
iv. the third rock is 1/3 size of the biggest rock(i)
v. the third rock is approx 1/2 size of the second rock

Repeating this through out the layout, from left to right (depending where the main rock is), front to back etc as shown in this layout...A to D (left to right), E (to the front),F (to the back)...

Well maybe not perfect, only a rough guide for me, already fine tuned the aquascape, see the latest picture, lol. And that is only about ratio, there is also about flow, the rock textures, usually in one 'direction or flow' normally to show the forces of nature at work, like water or wind 'creating' (more like corroding, lol) the rock's 'personality'...

Regards

source: http://www.my-mac.net/forum/viewtopic.p ... a&start=15