Importance of Aquascaping?

[Patrick Cox]

I am planning a new build and have a question on aquascaping. This will be a 100G, primarily SPS tank - 48x24x20. My question is -

I am wondering about the importance of keeping the back wall clean with plenty of room for water to circulate.

I see tanks similar to this where the back of the tank is not really accessible and I wonder if this creates problems as you really can't clean the area behind the rock and corals?

vs this type of aquascape that is more open and seems easier to clean and allows good water flow throughout the tank, including the back.

My question is not so much about aesthetics as it is about tank health.

Thanks for your comments!

 

[Dkuhlmann]

I'm curious about this as well. But what I did when I had my 200 fowlr I had enough powerheads that circulated everywhere in the tank. I think directional flow is important to accomplish when keeping clean behind rocks.

I'm curious what others have to say. But yes the second one would be easier for circulation.

 

[rovster]

Mine is more similar to the second. I purposely left the back wall clear for flow and I kept my upward growers in the middle and tables and bushies around the perimeter. Tank is still young, but I wanted access not only to clean the back wall but also the sand in the back. Tank is still young but so far it's mostly turning out how I planned....

 

[ReefCowboy]

I've had both and think the tendency as the hobby evolves is to create open flow spaces, with less live rock. Not long ago we still had the rule of lots of live rock for proper filtration and tank health, which we see these days can be overturned with extremely successful sps tanks with small amounts of them.

I like the tanks with access to the walls and between rocks for proper siphoning of the sand to keep it clean and reduce the risk of accumulation Po4 and nitrate between/behind inaccessible spots with time.

I currently have a 57 gal rimless and decided to go with a high flow, easy maintenance set up.

 

[AdamNC]

New school of aquascaping is to provide as much flow around the rocks as possible. I'm running a wall of rock but I have the back open with a powerhead providing flow back there. Also if you ever drop something back there it's easier to retrieve.

 

[Aquattro]

I've also done both, and upon tearing down each, the tank with more rock piled against the back wall was disgusting. Corals were also harder to keep colored up in that setup vs the tank with the open concept. I think flow getting all the detritus it can out of the system is important.

 

[Patrick Cox]

I've also done both, and upon tearing down each, the tank with more rock piled against the back wall was disgusting. Corals were also harder to keep colored up in that setup vs the tank with the open concept. I think flow getting all the detritus it can out of the system is important.

This is what I thought so thanks and thanks all.

Pat

 

[greaps]

Id say first and foremost it depends on what you want to look at. Personally I like open tanks with easy to clean surfaces and lots of water flow with less pumps but I'm a novice and do whatever I can to make that part easier. The easier the work, the more likely I am to do it.

 

[dendrite]

Some of these tanks with the carefully crafted minimalist looks are works of art and feng shui, which I could sit and watch all day. My 180 mixed reef started similarly but within several years degenerated into a wild growth of varying acropora,montipora , and LPS,and softies until you could not see the underlying rock shapes or distribution. I could probably have trimmed back much of the growth as a bonsai horticulturist would do toa tree, but now trim only when one coral wages war on its neighbor. My kudos to those more successful in maintaining the original plan of their tanks

 

[JPMagyar]

Great post and great question! Sadly there is no scientific research to back up the conclusions, but I have to agree that the more open the architecture the healthier the corals.

 

[JB NY]

I think it really depends on what you want. Cleaning the back glass is entirely optional and is mostly a matter of aesthetics, it has no effect of the tank or flow.

Whether to keep the back completely open or have rock up there I think is mainly a matter of choice as well. Having seen many tanks I can say that I do not think one is less healthy than the other. But it does give a different look. I like the look of keeping the back open with lots of flow around. But that is not always practical, in my case, my tank is 3 feet front to back and against a wall, there is no way I could get to any corals that are that far back in my tank. For me I have rock higher in the back to allow for easy placement of corals. So what I do is put the rock about 3-4" from the back wall, that allows enough room for circulation behind the rock structure.