Thoughts on my aquascaping...

[rad1687]

I am setting up a 90, and have been playing around with different layouts for my dry rock. Right now I am leaning towards this arrangement, with a rock cove on the left and two towers on the right

This give you an idea of spacing from the top down

And this is a close up of the right tower, which I am really excited about!

I would like to hear any thoughts, criticisms, and concerns you may have. Thanks for looking!

rad

 

[echoreef]

Love the cove on the left. Not sure about having 2 towers in a 90. Have you tried rearranging to only have 1 tower and more sand and open space?

 

[dzfish17]

I like the left and right sides. The middle pile would be better without the rock on top. JMO.

 

[frankpayne32]

I love the left and right columns, especially the right. I think the center one looks unnatural though.

 

[rad1687]

I had also consider removing the middle tower! I may just put a few low rocks in the sand as more space to mount corals

Thanks for the input guys!

 

[Gold Stripe]

I am a BIG fan of open aquascaping and pillars/towers are great. I love the general layout you have.

1 thing to keep in mind is how you are going to mount your corals if its going to be a reef tank. You dont want the slope to be too steep or you will have issues with shading. The upper corals will shade the lower corals as they grow.

I made that mistake and when I started keeping harder corals (SPS) I ran out of room very quickly because I couldnt find a spot to put them that wasnt shaded by another coral that had grown in.

A lot of successful pillars are actually made out of multiple smaller rocks staggered as they are stacked so that there are a bunch of small ledges to place corals on.

Just a thought. Try and picture what it will look like 2 years down the road with fully develpoed corals and not just frags.

 

[rad1687]

That's a very helpful comment, gold stripe! I plan to keep an LPS dominate reef, with only a handful of branching sps. I have several chalices, encrusting montis, and zoas that I would like to see take over parts of the tower. Thanks again for all of the advice!

 

[snorvich]

I am a BIG fan of open aquascaping and pillars/towers are great. I love the general layout you have.

1 thing to keep in mind is how you are going to mount your corals if its going to be a reef tank. You dont want the slope to be too steep or you will have issues with shading. The upper corals will shade the lower corals as they grow.

I made that mistake and when I started keeping harder corals (SPS) I ran out of room very quickly because I couldnt find a spot to put them that wasnt shaded by another coral that had grown in.

A lot of successful pillars are actually made out of multiple smaller rocks staggered as they are stacked so that there are a bunch of small ledges to place corals on.

Just a thought. Try and picture what it will look like 2 years down the road with fully develpoed corals and not just frags.

I would agree, especially if you are going towards an SPS dominated tank. Remember, SPS needs light and flow so make sure your aqua-scape will not block light or block flow. But I am definitely a fan of minimalist aquascaping and yours looks good.

 

[Neurovet]

Update?

Update?

Update on how this looks? How did you keep the tower together?

 

[crankbait]

Looks cool to me