Anyone replicated a reef under a Oil Rig or Pier ? *See examples*

[SomeHappyFish]

one way of addressing lighting and to keep it visually appealing and realistic might be to place the column towards the rear left or right third of the tank (in my head, i'm dividing the tank in thirds along the front panel of the tank, assuming rectangular not a cube).

in the opposite front third or most of the two thirds on the otherside, perhaps a live rock island with something dramatic like tonga branch in a pile.

with this light traditionally, you'll have some dim lighting on the back side of the column. it would be a cool place to grow some lower light corals and sponges, etc. it would probably be real interesting just to see what colonizes there with minimal frag placement.

i guess the main concern would be leaving enough space so the area behind the column didn't become a detritus trap and too hard to keep clean on the glass, etc.

Having the column sloped at a minimum 45⁰ angle could leave more space behind the glass with a more shaded area for sponges.