Aquascaping with sps growth in mind

[marino420td]

I'm looking for advice from you sps gurus on aquascaping my new 120 gallon tank. What did you do? What would you have done differently if starting over?

I hate the "wall of rock" look of many tanks (although there are many spectacular tanks aquascaped in this manner). I prefer open spaces and less rock. This is where I'm at so far but I'm not sure I am completely satisfied. There are no rocks touching glass. I wanted it this way for better flow and ease of cleaning the glass.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b39/marino420td/120%20Gallon%20Set%20Up/mini-IMG_8789.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b39/marino420td/120%20Gallon%20Set%20Up/mini-IMG_8784.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b39/marino420td/120%20Gallon%20Set%20Up/mini-IMG_8788.jpg

The Marshall Island rock has a lot of holes for frag placement and I really like the shapes. But I was thinking of taking the left pier down a bit to open up more space in the tank for swimming room and coral growth.

Lets hear your ideas and experiences. I want to get it perfect before adding any corals.

[reefdood]

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/73279rightside01_01_05.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/73279leftside01_01_05.jpg

This is how I did mine last year. Almost just like yours. :)

[panic]

I like the space in the middle. Maybe push the one on the left back for some more growing room in the front bottom.

I started with something like that and now have "the wall." I did my rockscape and then added all of my corals. Several were on big rocks that filled in all of the negative space. Keep that in mind if you add corals attached to rock.

[kozmo02]

your rock work is too bunched up, and you are going to run into issues not only with water flow through the rock work but also coral placement because they are going to end up growing into each other, i would try to space it out more for better water flow and for more growth room for future SPS.

on my old 90 gallon I made the mistake of packing things in too tightly with the rock work and it really limited me on coral placement.

[Tritonian]

I agree with your hatred towards the "wall-of-rock" aquascape. Its a difficult thing to create a spacious yet well balanced natural look. I've changed mine twice. With SPS in mind I tried my best to plan. But it all changed when I actually recieved my SPS.

There are large colonies and small frags. So I tried to understand how certain SPS species grew and also their likes and dislikes..,not all like massive flow, or being directly under a halide.

Version 1
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j235/Tritonian/FTS_01.jpg

Version 2
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j235/Tritonian/DSC02241.jpg

Oh.., just so you know my tank is not that blue - stupido camera:P

Monti Caps need cliff space to span out and layer them selves or be places on a pinnacle.
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j235/Tritonian/Monti1.jpg

Stag Acros need lots n lots of space, they grow fast, wide and really space out their tips. Make sure not to put them too close to your halides.., it will help them to color up more. A friend of mine actually had to put a magazine above his massive colony, so it reflected light rather than a direct blast. It went from pale blue to electric blue with purple tips.

Monti Digi's - they're the same as above. Super Duper fast growers. The tips will grow way before they ecen base themselves.
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j235/Tritonian/DSC02172.jpg

Millipora's & Gemmifera's - Are more plate like colonies and will look beautiful as a center piece on a pinnacle or layered in an array.

Your best bet is to try and create cliffs and think bonsai. It's really quite similar when you think about it.

Here's a pic from the Screensaver Sim Aquarium
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j235/Tritonian/sa-T4.jpg

I really like this.., and I'm goin to eventually try and replicate it in my own reef.
Absolutely stunning.

good luck. Remember you can always change things around, but don't do it too often. I'm still trying :)

[LBCBJ]

I honestly like it...nothing original, but it looks good. I'd definitely add a little more height to the stack on the left for aesthetics and for a little extra room for placing corals

[King-Kong]

Cap your peaks off with corals that will grow tall and up.

Place monti caps and items that might shade on edges and cliffs so that they can grow outward (and be sure they wont be shading anything).

Instead of placing a really cool piece of live-rock at the top of a peak, make it the star place for your favorite coral. An example is the right island I have in this tank shot: http://www.d3f.org/misc/fish/90g/a03-fulltank-big-mille.jpg

Remember, in time, it is the corals that make the tank -- not the live rock. I think a good rock-aquascaping will look understated because It is the corals that give it that WOW appearance.

If you remove the corals from my favorite tanks, you will find very small amounts of live rock, and arranged in a way that lets the coral colonies become full.

[marino420td]

King-Kong, that is the approach I'm taking. I hesitate to make the piles any taller because I want that space for coral growth. I was even thinking of chopping the pile on the left down a little to give an asymetrical appearance. I agree that it is the inhabitants that make the tank, not the rockwork.

I really like the right side. It may not appear in pictures, but there are plenty of places for coral frags.

What should I do on the left?

[King-Kong]

The right does indeed look beautiful. You've got the arch/hole in the upper middle, and then the capped off rock top (which id just replace with an equally large coral). I like it a lot.

The left lacks a unique aesthetic quality to it. While the rocks merge well together to make it seem solid, it might suffer from the "pile of rocks" syndrome we try to avoid :P

Really, the left might just "work" once you get the corals in. I dont think every rock pile/section has to be a work of art. Instead you may wish to highlight certain piles or coral collections, then make other piles less conspicuous. Also, the rock pile will give a place for your fish to hide away into. My only "pile" serves that purpose quite well -- my fish LOVE to sleep and retreat inside of it, so it has to count for something!

Honestly, I'd just leave it as you have it, because I think you've created an aesthetically pleasing and unique scape that will let your corals grow and be shown off, and allow the fish a place to swim around and inbetween.

Way better than any wall o' rock!

[marino420td]

The one thing I do like about the left you can't see in the pictures above. On the left end, there is a really nice cave that will be a great retreat for fish. Here are some pictures from the end.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b39/marino420td/120%20Gallon%20Set%20Up/mini-IMG_8727.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b39/marino420td/120%20Gallon%20Set%20Up/mini-IMG_8726.jpg

Not sure if you can tell but it is pretty cool.

[achillesheel]

http://www.cvreefers.org/gallery2/d/28029-3/P1010371_001.JPG

my 180 with "minimal" rock work

[Cody Ray]

The less rock the better IMO. The less rock the more space the corals have to expand and grow.

[marino420td]

very nice achillesheel. How long has your tank been set up? Did you start with frags or colonies?

[jay24k]

IMO you want to keep the rock work lower. Tunze's and other powerheads will be tough to aim in a tall rock work tank. I went through a 4 to 5 hour aquascaping tonight and what a PITA. Do it right the FIRST time.

1. NO MUSHROOMS - EVER!!!
2. NO Zoos on rockwork unless it is seperate
3. NO xenia unless it is on the glass.
4. NO Green Star Polyps also.

Just some advice I've been battling with. I'll never get rid of the mushrooms unless someone makes a way to kill em.

[DarkXerox]

jay24k is right, I made sure that I kept my 29g free of corals that I would not consider to be a problem, unless they were isolated on their own small rocks (ie easy removal). Check out my red house to see how I also kept LR to a minimum.

[marino420td]

Jay, I am following your 4 rules on this tank.

Here is a picture of my 65 gal which is overrun with GSP, Zoos and Xenia.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b39/marino420td/mini-IMG_6972.jpg