Looking for advice on how to make my tank look nicer.

[noahcw]

The vast majority of your beneficial bacteria is on the large rock. Removing the rubble won't negatively affect it.

I agree with others, get rid of all that rubble that is junking up the sand bed. Just my personal preference though, but I would also separate those rocks a little so the fish can swim through / around each rock. I have never liked the look of 2 or 3 rocks stacked so close together. Could super glue some pieces of rubble to act as spacers a little between the rocks.

I'll try that out! Thanks

 

[noahcw]

Is it worth or advisable to stock anything more/else?

 

[noahcw]

Looking for advice on this, when I got it I decided to elastic it between two smaller rocks so it could stand, it's since grown between them and questionably attached. so as it is, it sits on top of the larger rock attached by nothing, but is doing really well in that spot. Is it worth trying to glue it to the larger rock, or should i put it on the sand bed?

 

[naterealbig]

Take some of the rubble out of the sand bed, and add some pink, green, and orange frags, maybe even a RBTA or a Gold Hammer.

This. Remove all the small rock pieces, clean your back pane, and show off some bright white sand. The negative space is important, and you don't have any with a dark background and rubble anywhere. Do this, and your tank will look completely different.

 

[noahcw]

This. Remove all the small rock pieces, clean your back pane, and show off some bright white sand. The negative space is important, and you don't have any with a dark background and rubble anywhere. Do this, and your tank will look completely different.

Any advice on cleaning the back?

 

[DonTavo27]

Any advice on cleaning the back?

You can scrape the back with an old credit card.
don’t be afraid to add coral, just make sure you’re dosing calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium for starters. You can dose Kalkwasser through your ATO reservoir, if you have one, and dose magnesium manually, but test test test for at least the first week daily, until your know how much your parameters swing daily, and how much of everything you’ll have to dose to keep with up with the demand. It’s easy once you’ve got it all dialed in.

 

[naterealbig]

Any advice on cleaning the back?

 

[noahcw]

You can scrape the back with an old credit card.
don’t be afraid to add coral, just make sure you’re dosing calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium for starters. You can dose Kalkwasser through your ATO reservoir, if you have one, and dose magnesium manually, but test test test for at least the first week daily, until your know how much your parameters swing daily, and how much of everything you’ll have to dose to keep with up with the demand. It’s easy once you’ve got it all dialed in.

I have no experience with dosing, any product reccomendations?

 

[naterealbig]

I have no experience with dosing, any product reccomendations?

Doesn't get any easier than this. Calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, major /minor trace elements in a 1-part liquid. Can be dosed by hand, once per day. No equipment necessary.

 

[noahcw]

Doesn't get any easier than this. Calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, major /minor trace elements in a 1-part liquid. Can be dosed by hand, once per day. No equipment necessary.

I'll buy some now

 

[Fishbird]

I'll buy some now

Are you seeing a consistent drop in calc, alk and magnesium throughout the week? If you're not, you don't need to dose those elements, and doing so could actually be harmful.

 

[noahcw]

Are you seeing a consistent drop in calc, alk and magnesium throughout the week? If you're not, you don't need to dose those elements, and doing so could actually be harmful.

I've never tested, I just change water every week and everything seems okay. Should I be testing?

 

[noahcw]

Took some advice here, started scraping the back (it's pretty tough), cleared most of the rubble, and spread the rocks apart. The toadstool is closed because I ticked it off and I have to find a new place for it with good flow. I'm also working on the algae, it looks worse with the edit in the picture. But anyways, what do you guys think?

 

[Terry Mattson]

My tank is 18 months old. I purchased dead barnacles to place in sand around rock work. Fish and copods love them. I attach coral to that etc. My brickwork has many caves stacked on top of each other. It helps with elimination of dead spots. The tank is a 93 gallon. You want to keep some room fir corals to grow together.

 

[noahcw]

My tank is 18 months old. I purchased dead barnacles to place in sand around rock work. Fish and copods love them. I attach coral to that etc. My brickwork has many caves stacked on top of each other. It helps with elimination of dead spots. The tank is a 93 gallon. You want to keep some room fir corals to grow together.

That looks great

 

[naterealbig]

Are you seeing a consistent drop in calc, alk and magnesium throughout the week? If you're not, you don't need to dose those elements, and doing so could actually be harmful.

Great catch here. At a minimum, you want to check alkalinity. If it is dropping, you want to add just enough All4reef to keep alkalinity constant.

 

[naterealbig]

Took some advice here, started scraping the back (it's pretty tough), cleared most of the rubble, and spread the rocks apart. The toadstool is closed because I ****** it off and I have to find a new place for it with good flow. I'm also working on the algae, it looks worse with the edit in the picture. But anyways, what do you guys think?

Wow - looks so much better already!

 

[noahcw]

Wow - looks so much better already!

I'm finding the top half feels empty, do you think I could do something to maybe fill it or make it look more full

 

[naterealbig]

I'm finding the top half feels empty, do you think I could do something to maybe fill it or make it look more full

Personally, I'd leave it open. This space is where your corals will grow into. . It will also allow for some great flow, as your corals get big.

 

[naterealbig]

Maybe if you have a small rock you could add it to the top right of the structure. This would still leave it open, and add a cool depth effect, and maybe help it look jus a little less bare.