So the tanks are basically un-aquascapable. None the less I got a very good deal on a 4 month old setup with ai prime hd upgrade, refugium, in tank media basket, pumps skimmer, so on. Makes for a great little coral tank in a small room. I have ran biocube before and really appreciate how little they evaporate and how little they cause rust around them.
It's a 32 gallon, so I orderd 40 lbs of Carib sea life rock. I think I only used 15 lbs. I knew I wouldn't use 40 lbs, but the 40lb box was same price as 20lb. I thought I would at least be able to fit 25 lbs in. Putting 2/3 of the rock in the tank just looked like, well, the first tank I ever aquascaped, a pile of rocks. There simply isn't enough room in these tanks to fit a lb/gallon unless you make a big pile and stack against back wall. So I took out a 5lb rock. At 20lbs I was able to create a descent structure similar to what it has now but it still looked like too much rock. Now down to 15 lbs and it looks descent to me, but not sure hwo practical it is for long term grow out.
What gives? Do you really have to drill and pen/attach and build a structure out of the tank for it to look good?
So beyond looks, Will this structure give me enough real estate to have a good looking coral tank a year from now? This will be sps up top with some small acan, zoa, and Ricordea gardens at bottom, and possibly a small well placed frogspawn or hammer. Starting with all WWC frags. Plan to add some additional 18" reefbrite pro strips to get rid of shadowing and all corals growing into the center. This should all me to have sps growing up and towards back of tank off back of rocks and of course visa versa.
With my rock structure only coming up about 1/2 the height of the tank will it always look empty up top? I see a lot of nanos on the taller side where they have rocks going about 3/4 or more up the height of the tank, some all the way to the top.
From your experience, and your opinion, should I add more rock back and get the aquascape higher? And am I completely missing the goal here with a nano scape for a coral tank? Have you done something like this in a small tank and later wish you had put more rock in so you could add more coral to make it look more natural? All feedback welcome.
It's a 32 gallon, so I orderd 40 lbs of Carib sea life rock. I think I only used 15 lbs. I knew I wouldn't use 40 lbs, but the 40lb box was same price as 20lb. I thought I would at least be able to fit 25 lbs in. Putting 2/3 of the rock in the tank just looked like, well, the first tank I ever aquascaped, a pile of rocks. There simply isn't enough room in these tanks to fit a lb/gallon unless you make a big pile and stack against back wall. So I took out a 5lb rock. At 20lbs I was able to create a descent structure similar to what it has now but it still looked like too much rock. Now down to 15 lbs and it looks descent to me, but not sure hwo practical it is for long term grow out.
What gives? Do you really have to drill and pen/attach and build a structure out of the tank for it to look good?
So beyond looks, Will this structure give me enough real estate to have a good looking coral tank a year from now? This will be sps up top with some small acan, zoa, and Ricordea gardens at bottom, and possibly a small well placed frogspawn or hammer. Starting with all WWC frags. Plan to add some additional 18" reefbrite pro strips to get rid of shadowing and all corals growing into the center. This should all me to have sps growing up and towards back of tank off back of rocks and of course visa versa.
With my rock structure only coming up about 1/2 the height of the tank will it always look empty up top? I see a lot of nanos on the taller side where they have rocks going about 3/4 or more up the height of the tank, some all the way to the top.
From your experience, and your opinion, should I add more rock back and get the aquascape higher? And am I completely missing the goal here with a nano scape for a coral tank? Have you done something like this in a small tank and later wish you had put more rock in so you could add more coral to make it look more natural? All feedback welcome.
