Hows my aquascape?
- Thread starter jebarton3
- Start date
HippieSmell
Occupy Reef Central
You're on the right track, but I'd take some rock out of the left side and see what it looks like.
Thanks for all of your inputs! So a few things, I really want to cover the center overflow because I plan on keeping my back glass clean of coralline. Secondly, I plan on adding sand I just haven't gotten to that point yet. I originally wanted 2 islands but have also considered removing some rock and giving it more of a minimalistic look.
Now I plan on adding sand tonight or in the next couple of days. I may end up removing the rock and starting over again. This is becoming the longest psrt of my journey lol.
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Now I plan on adding sand tonight or in the next couple of days. I may end up removing the rock and starting over again. This is becoming the longest psrt of my journey lol.
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JTL
New member
Take some off the left side and make a bridge to the right side. Take out a bunch of rock and look at your design. Take out, add back, my wife and I did this at least 10 times before we got something we both liked and I don't think she is done yet. That is what I get when I marry someone who owned a floral shop for 10 years. I also keep my back clean, but once you get some coral in there the black back and the overflow sort of disappear. You are on the right track.
lionfish300
New member
I agreed with mcgyvr on the sand bottom. And don't worry about how long it take at long at it look good and you like it at
FoxFace Fish
New member
At the end of the day it comes down to what you like and enjoy beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I worried about what other people thought of my aquas cape for to long. Just put it how you like and enjoy 
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
Like everyone said, personal preference.
For better or worse, the marine aquarium hobby puts relatively little emphasis on aquascaping. Contrast that to planted FW aquariums, where aquascaping is truly an art with a whole library of well defined styles, rules, guidelines, and page after page of forum threads dedicated to the subject. I would encourage any reefers who are interested to go read on some FW sites to catch on to some of the fundamentals that are harder to learn in the marine aquarium circles.
All that said, one guideline which I think is often overlooked is to try to envision the aquascape once it's covered in healthy coral growth. When you're setting up a new tank, it's easy to establish the right visual balance by filling it up with rock - but, then, once the tank grows in, things are out of balance.
In a mature system, the corals themselves can take up at half or more of the visual space. If you're truly going to account for that, the aquascape should probably contain half as much rock as you think it needs, visually speaking. At the very least, the amount of rock you use should feel uncomfortably small.
For better or worse, the marine aquarium hobby puts relatively little emphasis on aquascaping. Contrast that to planted FW aquariums, where aquascaping is truly an art with a whole library of well defined styles, rules, guidelines, and page after page of forum threads dedicated to the subject. I would encourage any reefers who are interested to go read on some FW sites to catch on to some of the fundamentals that are harder to learn in the marine aquarium circles.
All that said, one guideline which I think is often overlooked is to try to envision the aquascape once it's covered in healthy coral growth. When you're setting up a new tank, it's easy to establish the right visual balance by filling it up with rock - but, then, once the tank grows in, things are out of balance.
In a mature system, the corals themselves can take up at half or more of the visual space. If you're truly going to account for that, the aquascape should probably contain half as much rock as you think it needs, visually speaking. At the very least, the amount of rock you use should feel uncomfortably small.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
I don't mean to derail the thread, but this video is a great resource to watch one of the true masters of FW aquascaping at work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpXli4pFqMU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpXli4pFqMU
Bpb
New member
Id remove some rock as well to create more space between the rocks and the sides and not go quite so tall. I like the pathway that trails off between the two stacks. Nice touch there. I tend to prefer less rock more negative space though. But...that being said, I think in terms of sps, and I like tall acropora to occupy height rather than rock. Id also try to space the lights a little more evenly to avoid hot spotting. You picked a heck of a tank to start off with! I'm jealous
ssgss gogeta
Member
I wouldn't go as high
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der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
One more thought - consider the practical aspect of caring for the tank.
Can you fit a cleaning magnet in between the rock and the glass? How about a scrubber on a long handle? Are there any areas where a frag could drop that it would be really hard to retrieve? Are there areas between stacks that will be hard to get good flow through?
Can you fit a cleaning magnet in between the rock and the glass? How about a scrubber on a long handle? Are there any areas where a frag could drop that it would be really hard to retrieve? Are there areas between stacks that will be hard to get good flow through?
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
This is absolutely a personal preference thing and I don't mean to disagree with you, but rather provide a counterpoint. On a larger tank, I find that purposefully hotspotting can be dramatic and interesting. When lights are evenly spread out, the tank tends to look monotonous in terms of intensity. When you have areas with more light and less light, or highly point sourced light, you get shadows and contrast that can be visually interesting. This is not ideal if you want to have completely even lighting for the purposes of coral placement, but natural highs and lows (and coral selection and placement to correspond) can create more of a varied look, IMHO, when it is done deliberately.
ssgss gogeta
Member
I think that looks better good work
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