Need help with your aquascape?

[Pupito32]

New to the hobby and definitely want to be off to the right start. Definitely aiming at being able to provide sufficient height and space for different coral types - i know they'll need different amounts of light and flow. How do y'all balance space and utility?? I see these beautiful tanks and im staring at my rock placement confused lol.

Anyways - 21gal Tideline AIO cube. 17 34" x 13 1/5" and 16" tall.

 

[Pupito32]

New to the hobby and definitely want to be off to the right start. Definitely aiming at being able to provide sufficient height and space for different coral types - i know they'll need different amounts of light and flow. How do y'all balance space and utility?? I see these beautiful tanks and im staring at my rock placement confused lol.

Anyways - 21gal Tideline AIO cube. 17 34" x 13 1/5" and 16" tall.

I guess my biggest concern at the moment is space. I like the overall layout. It just feels way too... bulky?

 

[DmitryB]

Is the OP no longer posting here??

I noticed in one of his original videos one tank had a rock coming out of the water. It strikes me as a very original idea! I may try that when I'm setting up my tank.

 

[261988]

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[261988]

I
Any thoughts

 

[261988]

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[slingfox]

I
Any thoughts

Looks pretty good! On the third picture, you may want to put in a little more rock in the bottom left and area. I assume you are trying to do an overhand there but depending on your fish plans you may need more caves and hiding spots.

 

[261988]

I
Any thoughts

Looks pretty good! On the third picture, you may want to put in a little more rock in the bottom left and area. I assume you are trying to do an overhand there but depending on your fish plans you may need more caves and hiding spots.

Here is a video there are quite a few caves I think? Do you think I should have more

 

[slingfox]

Here is a video there are quite a few caves I think? Do you think I should have more

The right side looks pretty good from a cave and hiding spot perspective. The left side has mostly overhangs which produce some amount of safety/protection but if one fish is getting chased by another the overhangs are not an area the fish can hide in.

One way I gauge whether there are enough hiding spots or at is to walk by the tank late at night and see if all the fish are safety hidden away and hard to find. Some fish don’t hide at night (eg, my clownfish stay in the same corner of the tank all day and night) but most want a secluded spot to sleep for the night. When I didn’t have enough rockwork I had two Chromis who would the to sleep in the back corners of the tank rather than the rockwork. When I added more rock those two fish could not be found at night anymore.

 

[SlothMartin]

Any thoughts? I am not super happy but this took forever, and i am not a fan of the concrete! i tried to follow some rules, the right structure is 1.6x the length and height of the first.
However not sure if this is sufficient hiding space. I could fill in the gaps to create more caves instead of arches.
I could go higher on the right structure but wanted to leave room for coral growth.
Also i tried to slope from front to back but the refraction removes some of that from the front.
there are also 2 flat stones (currently covered by sand) which were supposed to be islands for fast growing corals. I could instead create some arches from the main structure to these islands to create a more 3d space, but then i lose the ability to isolate a coral colony there

thanks for any advice, roast away

 

[slingfox]

Any thoughts? I am not super happy but this took forever, and i am not a fan of the concrete! i tried to follow some rules, the right structure is 1.6x the length and height of the first.
However not sure if this is sufficient hiding space. I could fill in the gaps to create more caves instead of arches.
I could go higher on the right structure but wanted to leave room for coral growth.
Also i tried to slope from front to back but the refraction removes some of that from the front.
there are also 2 flat stones (currently covered by sand) which were supposed to be islands for fast growing corals. I could instead create some arches from the main structure to these islands to create a more 3d space, but then i lose the ability to isolate a coral colony there

thanks for any advice, roast away

This looks great! Try well balanced and aesthetically pleasing. You may want to add a few more rocks in the open area in the middle to provide more hiding spots for fish. Adding more structure would also provide more surface area for mounting more light loving corals. The very flat piece on the left side looks somewhat unnatural but that should not be an issue once you add coral on top.

 

[SlothMartin]

This looks great! Try well balanced and aesthetically pleasing. You may want to add a few more rocks in the open area in the middle to provide more hiding spots for fish. Adding more structure would also provide more surface area for mounting more light loving corals. The very flat piece on the left side looks somewhat unnatural but that should not be an issue once you add coral on top.

thanks for the feedback, and yes there are a couple of flat pieces which are actually the foundation rock, which i used to try to create ledges (i should have just bought some shelf rock)
but i will try to add on to the middle space as you suggested. cheers

 

[Freenow54]

Any thoughts? I am not super happy but this took forever, and i am not a fan of the concrete! i tried to follow some rules, the right structure is 1.6x the length and height of the first.
However not sure if this is sufficient hiding space. I could fill in the gaps to create more caves instead of arches.
I could go higher on the right structure but wanted to leave room for coral growth.
Also i tried to slope from front to back but the refraction removes some of that from the front.
there are also 2 flat stones (currently covered by sand) which were supposed to be islands for fast growing corals. I could instead create some arches from the main structure to these islands to create a more 3d space, but then i lose the ability to isolate a coral colony there

thanks for any advice, roast away

After you cycle the rock will change colour. If you want sand sifting gobies I think the sand is too fine. I think you have a lot of great space for Coral. Also think you have enough privacy areas for the fish. It all depends on your choice of fish. Leaving a lot of room between the rock and tank walls , check mark for that . Maybe if you lost that top piece on the right. You would have a more balanced look and way better exposure to light for Coral. I made that mistake. Just remember since you used epoxy , once it gets to a point you will have to live with it . I am not happy with mine . Its too blocky if you will like a fortress