aquascaping reefer madness for first timer

[DentedBrain]

Hey all,

Firstimer reefer here. IM Nuvo 8 gallon. Using only Fishheads "real reef" rock (which personally is not as attractive as real stuff but I support the concept). About 12 pds (6 pieces). Cheap cell phone pic so best available. But can't find happiness with aquascape. Tried dozen different configurations. On the plus, those 2 caves go through to the back for flow. Does it look too busy, cramped? Would like more bare sand but then couldn't create those ledges. Comments, suggestions welcome. Since so new, still trying to figure out what I want to do with this in terms of corals. Though will be limited just on stock setup. Remember, first timer, be gentle...but honest. thanks in advance.

[Tankjunkie0481]

Personally I like it. Just make sure you don't have any dead zones in terms of water flow.

[DentedBrain]

ok, thanks. Absolutely beginner in every sense of the word. So learning as I go, hence nooby questions. How does one know where a dead zone is? I have the stock pump up to it's max 92gph. How does one know what is enough flow? Any thoughts appreciated.

The rocks are pretty holy, and the two caves do go completely through to the back. Nothing touching on glass sides and back.

[KafudaFish]

The rock work looks really good.

If you look at your sand and see waste build up like a snow drift then that is considered a dead zone and will degrade water quality over time.

You can blast your rock work etc. with a power head prior to doing a wc to collect the build up.


At 92 gph that seems like enough (11.5 turn over per hour) but I push over 300 in my 5.5 (no sand) and sometimes feel like it would be greater.

But sometimes less is more and if you have good flow with "just" the 92 then ok.

One thing that you can do to see your flow patterns is to drop some flake or pellets into the tank and watch where they go and where they settle.

[saltyjarhead]

Looks good to me man. My brother has one of those set up and I really like them. I have the bigger 30 gal version.

[x3thelast]

looks pretty good but like it was said before, make sure you have minimal dead zones. low flow is okay, dead zones arent.

[DentedBrain]

Ok, dead zone importance noted. I guess time will tell as I stock more. Right now I'm just finishing cycling and ending a lovely diatom bloom. Brown snow drift everywhere. I was certainly trying to achieve everything with the scaping.....asthetically pleasing, stable, enough surface area for corals, open flow areas, etc. Not crazy about the boxy look inside the boxy cube but will just have to leave it alone now and move on. Let it settle and start to slowly stock. thanks for everyone's helpful comments.

[james1990]

Looks good, consider what you plan on keeping. If you want corals that need more light, make sure you have the level rock space to keep them closer to the light. On the flip side, a lot of bottom corals like acans, plates and such need space on the sand bed. Looks good though

[x3thelast]

hopefully wont be boxy anymore once you've got it stocked and the corals properly placed :D