Mimimalistic reefscape not for me thanks

[atoll]

Why? Well the fish I keep come from areas of the reef where there are lots of hiding places areas to escape and chill out with lots of places to seek out and sleep at night with little competition for those places. I believe my reefscape with lots of rock with caves and overhangs give my fish lots of places to get away from it all should they wish and lots if choice to sleep at night. I keep Damsels blennies dwarf angels small wrasses and the like which like to stay near the reefscape and are not open water swimmers. I believe this in turn not only gives them an environment they are familiar with but reduces stress and makes fir healthier fish not just in body but in mind.

 

[Bpb]

Why? Well the fish I keep come from areas of the reef where there are lots of hiding places areas to escape and chill out with lots of places to seek out and sleep at night with little competition for those places. I believe my reefscape with lots of rock with caves and overhangs give my fish lots of places to get away from it all should they wish and lots if choice to sleep at night. I keep Damsels blennies dwarf angels small wrasses and the like which like to stay near the reefscape and are not open water swimmers. I believe this in turn not only gives them an environment they are familiar with but reduces stress and makes fir healthier fish not just in body but in mind.

You answered it pretty decisively. It depends on what your goal is. Bear in mind also, coral colonies serve as amazing homes for fish. Every one of my smaller fish retreats into a coral colony now rather than the rocks

Damsel into one particular stag
Sixline wrasse into a birdsnest
Royal gramma between narrow plate openings in a montipora
Fairy wrasse into a different montipora
Chromis into a stylo colony.

That is about as natural as it gets

 

[atoll]

You answered it pretty decisively. It depends on what your goal is. Bear in mind also, coral colonies serve as amazing homes for fish. Every one of my smaller fish retreats into a coral colony now rather than the rocks

Damsel into one particular stag
Sixline wrasse into a birdsnest
Royal gramma between narrow plate openings in a montipora
Fairy wrasse into a different montipora
Chromis into a stylo colony.

That is about as natural as it gets

I should have mentioned corals but then I consider them all part of the reefscape anyway. Some people spend ages over their reefscape getting it just so. I don't as once you have established corals like acros it will look little like how you scaped the tank in the first place anyway.

 

[atoll]

My goal is always to try and create as natural an environment for my animals. Like I always say follow mother nature as much as is reasonably practical and you won't go far wrong after all she has had millions of years to perfect her ways and you can't improve on what she has achieved. [emoji5]

 

[fernalfer]

I added a lot of rock as well for some hiding spaces but also left lots of spots for SPS corals. The rock on the left is 18 different rocks glued together. lol

 

[atoll]

I added a lot of rock as well for some hiding spaces but also left lots of spots for SPS corals. The rock on the left is 18 different rocks glued together. lol

Yes IME you can strike a balance between lots of rock and places for both coral and fish. IMO an open structure with plenty of rock works very well. However, you still require a fair amount of water circulation of the right type again striking a balance. EG, in my RSR250 I currently have as well as a 2 outlet return pump, 2 x MP40QDs and a 130 gyre. I think I have now settled on placement of all 3

 

[fernalfer]

Yes IME you can strike a balance between lots of rock and places for both coral and fish. IMO an open structure with plenty of rock works very well. However, you still require a fair amount of water circulation of the right type again striking a balance. EG, in my RSR250 I currently have as well as a 2 outlet return pump, 2 x MP40QDs and a 130 gyre. I think I have now settled on placement of all 3

Yeah me too. I have 2 maxspect gyres. 2 jaebo RW-15s and 1 more powerhead for the rear bottom to keep detritus stirred in my bare bottom. I also have 2 Return pumps returning flow.

 

[Ashish Patel]

I went minamalist but honestly endedup adding multiple new structures and wish I had more structures. the problems with truly minimal space for corals is they will grow into each other when they couldve been spread out futher. I feel fernelfer example is what one should strive for since its minimal rock but has the ability to add corals in different levels and give multiple zones for coral growth and fish hiding space is important.

 

[Sod Buster]

fernalfer looks good. Really like the jail cell in the middle structure. That scape will be interesting to look at w/out any water in the tank.

 

[fernalfer]

I went minamalist but honestly endedup adding multiple new structures and wish I had more structures. the problems with truly minimal space for corals is they will grow into each other when they couldve been spread out futher. I feel fernelfer example is what one should strive for since its minimal rock but has the ability to add corals in different levels and give multiple zones for coral growth and fish hiding space is important.

Ashish I'm glad you noticed because that is exactly what i was going for. More rock for hiding places for fish. Different levels and zones for corals. And the fact that i can space them out so they have room to grow in without being to cluttered. Also left alot of space for good flow, the highest rock is at 14 inches on a 24 inch high tank.

 

[fernalfer]

fernalfer looks good. Really like the jail cell in the middle structure. That scape will be interesting to look at w/out any water in the tank.

Thanks Sod. Can't wait to actually get it in water.

 

[Jordan Prather]

I tried to get the best of both open tunnels and swimming room for my tang buts plenty of rock for my smaller fish.

View attachment 20190221_004137.jpg

 

[vetteguy53081]

Great gluing and shape. Thought it was one original piece !!

 

[JAM-MAN]

I added a lot of rock as well for some hiding spaces but also left lots of spots for SPS corals. The rock on the left is 18 different rocks glued together. lol

What glue did you use?

 

[atoll]

I added my first reasonably hardy SPS frags yesterday as testers. Simply placed a a few crevices for now to see how they fare.

 

[HB AL]

Can’t agree more, my tanks is loaded with rock, corals and 14 fish, triggers, tangs, clowns etc... and they are a happy, healthy group of fish. Probably wouldn’t be able to have the mix and amount of fish in a minimal aquascaped tank. Here’s a recent fts.

 

[hart24601]

As for the original question of why - because people like it. What more reason does one need? Who is to say the fish people keep in those tanks are any worse off and how would one even measure that? What does one consider minimalistic, I don't see it defined anywhere so the whole thing is subjective from the start. Once can get into how crowded tanks decrease system volume and swimming space if one goes to the other extreme. I am pretty sure people can justify however they want to keep their tank with a huge list in either direction but not many quantifiable metrics.

 

[atoll]

As for the original question of why - because people like it. What more reason does one need? Who is to say the fish people keep in those tanks are any worse off and how would one even measure that? What does one consider minimalistic, I don't see it defined anywhere so the whole thing is subjective from the start. Once can get into how crowded tanks decrease system volume and swimming space if one goes to the other extreme. I am pretty sure people can justify however they want to keep their tank with a huge list in either direction but not many quantifiable metrics.

That wasn't my origional question in fact it was a question was posed to myself not as you suggested. I gave my reason and opinion as to why I don't care for it I never asked why they do I just gave my opinion, others are entitled to a different view of course.
As to what people consider is minimalistic I would suggest most people on here have a reasonable view on what constitutes such. There may however be variations on what people consider mimimalistic just as people they will with what constitutes a wall of rock. What I was talking about and prefer is the middle ground with still plenty of rock but with how its used with lots of caves and overhangs used in it's construction. However I am repeating myself now. Much will depend on the fish you keep and providing for thier needs reducing stress in the process.

 

[truepercs]

Just because it is a minimalist aquasape does not mean it will not have plenty of hidings spaces.

If done right it will have both rockwork for hiding and plenty of swim room.


I really think you can have both....

There are some really nice aquariums out there.

 

[Monkeytank]

Your comment about spending a lot of time aquascaping and then it looks nothing like the rock design when corals grow on it is something I agree with. Major structure elements can be worth working on when planning rock placement, but too much detail and fretting over little aspects is probably just wasted time.