Minimalist Aquascaping

I'm just getting a 150DD going trying to create an aquascape with very little in contact with the bottom:

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You have a very nice selection of corals, MR! Lovin' the NPS. Is that gorg a NPS (the one with the polyps out, bottom left)? Where did you get it, and all of your other corals?
Are you having any probs with that Elegance being on the rocks?

Thanks StepLionfish! I have quite a few NPS in the tank. All of the Gorgs are NPS. I picked it up from my LFS. They had the mother in a tank for 8 months with no sign of dying off, so I thought it safe to try a frag of it out. So far so good. Most of my corals come from Vivid Aquarium (my LFS). I've picked up a few pieces at random aquarium meets and shows. I know the Elegance is supposed to be on the sand, but at it's current size, no flesh touches the rock (although sometimes the flesh does touch the zoas). It's base is pretty long. If I need to, I can orient it more perpendicular to the rock. I'd been checking out that piece for awhile. It was sitting on eggcrate for about 5 months at my LFS. Most of the hard to keep stuff I watch for awhile before trying my hand.

My Gonoiporas and Alveporas are all over a year old at this point. My red and yellow lady finger gorgonians are coming up on a year soon as well.
 
Looks great, MedRed. Well done !

Must be nice having one of the best shops in the World as your LFS. Im sure youve had some great conversations with Dave ...

What a great guy. Enjoy stopping by there when im in town
 
Love your thread, Med! Following along. So... how do you keep coralline off that acrylic overflow box? I'll be making a box soon and would like to keep mine pristine. Thanks.
 
Love your thread, Med! Following along. So... how do you keep coralline off that acrylic overflow box? I'll be making a box soon and would like to keep mine pristine. Thanks.

Thanks zeebies! Steve from inTank made me a custom, smooth overflow panels to replace the textured ones that were originally a part of my overflow. I scrape the overflow periodically or whenever I see any coralline growing. I just use the acrylic version of the "blade" found on the Kent Proscraper and scrape by hand. Doesn't take long at all. I mag float the glass daily and scrape any algae that's stubborn.
 
I'm really loving the minimal aquascape look and plan on doing it on my next build. I had a quick question. Is the one pound to gallon rule not entirely true? Clearly, many of you run way less than one pound to gallon and I assume all of your levels (ammonia,nitrite,nitrate) are controlled. Or do you have all of your rocks in your sump? Basically, what I'm wondering is can I get away having, say 50 lbs of rock in a 150 gallon tank?
 
the rocks per gallon is a rule of thumb. i have a minimalist aquascape, and rocks in the sump. additionally i use biopellets for carbon dosing to reduce nutrients. i guess that most of the people with minimalist scapes do one or another thing to keep their tanks nutrient low, but thats just what most other people do ;) what im trying to say is, it works. as long as you have your means to reduce nutrients.
 
Didn't see to many large tanks with minimal rock. Mine is not completly minimal but is far less rock then normally seen in a large tank. There is a large arch in the center with two medium archs, one per tank side. None of the rock touchs the tank walls and every arch is tall enough for full size tangs to swim under. There is around 10 inches from the front of the tank to the center arch so the fish have plenty of swimming room.

Here is the tank when I first set it up in October2011
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Here is the tank from April
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And here is a FTS with a recently added nem... the focus of the tank...I am also picking up another 3 magnificas this weekend while on vacation. I will eventually cover the whole center of the tank in magnificas.
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Mine!

<a href="http://s1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc492/linkinreef/?action=view&current=Untitled-1-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc492/linkinreef/Untitled-1-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
 
the rocks per gallon is a rule of thumb. i have a minimalist aquascape, and rocks in the sump. additionally i use biopellets for carbon dosing to reduce nutrients. i guess that most of the people with minimalist scapes do one or another thing to keep their tanks nutrient low, but thats just what most other people do ;) what im trying to say is, it works. as long as you have your means to reduce nutrients.

thanks for the reply
 
i like that the lagoon type is seen more often these days. id only like to see one fully grown out :D

very nice tank, mavjoy!
 
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