Great info...........I hope you don't mind me adding to your thread
Here are some comments from Steve Weast about aquascaping & referencing this picture from an old aquascape thread.
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...d.php?t=853513
"Greg (Bonsainut) posted the best example of aquascaping perfection. It's the one I always come back to for inspiration....and why ? ....because I believe the answer to all your aquascaping questions are right there in that pic..... you just need to notice its philosophies...
1) have just as much postive space (rocks and corals) as negative space (open water and sand)
2) Don't worry about creating nooks/crannies/caves/etc....they just will be eventually covered by livestock. Instead focus on the general rock shape that has both low and high points...perhaps even breaking the surface. Focus on large details...not small crevises (especially if you have a large tank).
3) Maintain an algae free back (and sides if possible) to create an illusion of infinite depth....contrary to what we'd all like to believe, coralline does not create an attractive back drop...only a distracting one.
4) hide all the things of man.....overflows...pumps...pipes....etc.
5) don't clutter the sand bed with a bunch of livestock....a clam or two...maybe...but that's it. Cluttered sandbeds just make the overall display look too busy. You can improve the overall display tremendously by just removing all the frags, zoas, blastos, etc that so many people seem to keep on the sandbed these days......it just distracting.
And finally....the aquascaping will have to be adjusted every so often.....growth eventually will destroy the best of aquascaping. I've seen so many tanks start off so promising, with fantastic rockwork.... only to spiral down into something less so..... just because the aquarist didn't take action to prevent its downfall or simply just over stocked it.. It usually ends up with a solid line of rock....all at the same height....covered in livestock....from end to end. There could be all the purple monsters, acans and superman monties in the world in there....but, if the overall structure is two dimensional and over crowded, it's just blah.....OR you could have the most ordinary of corals....and softies at that....as long as the rock structure follows the above guidlines, it will inspire all who view it and deliver the oooohs an aaaahs......just like the Japanese tank above.
This subject is very dear to my heart....I spent this whole three day weekend re-working my aquascaping.....it was just that time again."
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More from Steve---
"1) When I look at a tank like the Japanese tank, it just soothes my soul....but why is what I want to know....afterall, it's just a bunch of common softies. Maybe it's a Zen thing....or maybe...just maybe....it's great aquascaping......and I want to know why it's so good. So I try to break it down into its individual components....what about it speaks to me ? Definately an example of something greater than the sum of its parts.
2) I would consider an over hang a major component and not a detail. In the subject tank, it's the major components....a ridge on the left.....a mound on the right.....with an unobstructed channel....that are the stars of the show.....not tiny crevises or caves.
3/4) Hiding plumbing is easy.....you just have to make it a priority. In my case, the circulation is provided through a closed loop that is hidden by the rockwork and just jets out from nozzles hidden throughout the rockwork. The overflows are hidden by having the rock work break the surface in front of the overflow....obscuring its view from the front. Of course, hiding plumbing is more difficult if the tank has multiple viewable sides.....but, that's no excuse for not limiting their visual pollution....you just have work harder at it. In my case, my tank is viewable only from the front since it is built into the wall.....I use the rockwork to obscure all traces of plumbing from that view point....if you were to remove the rear panel and look from the rear....there would be plumbing seen everywhere. One more point...in the Japanese tank, the plumbing isn't 100% concealed....but, it doesn't scream at the viewer "here I am....look at me" like so many tanks these days. When I see plumbing, or worse powerheads, my eye goes right to it instead of the aquascapng. It's as if there was a big bee on the Mona Lisa....I just can't stop looking at the bee."
Link to Steve's old Sps reef & concepts---
http://oregonreef.com/sub_philosophy.htm
