Almost all aquariums in the UK and Europe are designed and aquascaped in the same way. This generally takes the form of boulders and rocks piled together to produce a ‘reef’
Jonathan, being a keen SCUBA diver found this look in comparison to the diving experience unnatural. The lack of reef walls, caves and overhangs made the overall look of the aquarium static and heavy.
To rectify this Jonathan developed a synthetic rock formula for use in marine and alkaline fresh water aquariums. ( Atoll Aquarium Products 2004 )
This development allowed the hand sculpting of dynamic natural aqua-scapes and won an award for its innovation.

The production of these rock-scapes as well as improving the final look of aquariums also removed the need to fill the aquarium with ‘living rock‘. Living rock is the base structure of the wild reef, removed in large rocks and boulders and flown over to the UK for use in our aquariums. By removing the need for this product Inlands synthetic rock is eco-friendly helping to slow the destruction of wild reefs around the world and lessen CO2 emissions from the transport process.

The base structure or ‘living rock’ is composed of the dead skeletons of coral, built up over thousands of years, each generation adding an extra layer of calcium rock to the surface of the reef.
To recreate this a combination of hand sculpting and moulding techniques are used.
The main structure is hand sculpted. To add strength especially for the larger commissions this is done around a steel frame or armature . ( plastic coated marine 316 stainless steel )
Finally coral and clam mouldings are embedded into the sculpted surface to complete the
look.

Loose rock sections