Need help with your aquascape?

[Zilongsrc]

Can I get some feed back on my structures? It seems my tank isn’t as nice as the others on here and I can’t figure out why.


Any tips are welcome!

 

[lfelipess]

Hi! I am following and learning a lot from this brilliant topic.

I am about to move to a bigger tank. I will double its width, from 25 to 50 inches.

Following your advice, I will avoid 90° angles, leave empty spaces in the sand and create two different sizes islands.

One of them is an artificial rock. I would create the other one with the individual aragonites that I have, lower in heigth.

My "problem" is a huge montipora that I don't want to abandon, but it is taking huge space and making too much shadow.(photo below).

Any clues about where to place it in the new tank? Thanks a lot for sharing your2 knowledge.

 

[Ardeus]

Hi, i'm considering changing a lot of my rock work and possibly restarting the tank, have you got any thoughts for me please?

I like the structure on the right.

The one on the left has horizontal lines and 90 degrees angles that prevent it from looking natural to me.

 

[Ardeus]

I would really appreciate your feedback on how I have set-up the rocks in my Red Sea Peninsula 500 tank. Both the front and back set of rocks have caves that are not easy to see in the pictures.

The 3 structures with different heights make it interesting.

Some suggestions

Slightly rotating the cave will make it more interesting.

Getting the smaller structure to the right will open up that area.

 

[Ardeus]

I’m only 4 months into this hobby. I free scaped it I didn’t scape it outside of the tank, honestly I didn’t know what to do with these rocks they are pretty unique . What do y’all think ? Too much ?

I would break it into 2 structures with very different sizes and heights. Giving priority to the creation of bays over arches will make it more interesting.

 

[Ardeus]

Can I get some feed back on my structures? It seems my tank isn’t as nice as the others on here and I can’t figure out why.


Any tips are welcome!

Your layout has very well defined straight lines and right angles, it's symmetrical and that make it look artificial.

I would suggest 2 separate structures with different sizes and heights. Avoid horizontal or vertical lines and symmetry.

 

[Ardeus]

Hi! I am following and learning a lot from this brilliant topic.

I am about to move to a bigger tank. I will double its width, from 25 to 50 inches.

Following your advice, I will avoid 90° angles, leave empty spaces in the sand and create two different sizes islands.

One of them is an artificial rock. I would create the other one with the individual aragonites that I have, lower in heigth.

My "problem" is a huge montipora that I don't want to abandon, but it is taking huge space and making too much shadow.(photo below).

Any clues about where to place it in the new tank? Thanks a lot for sharing your2 knowledge.

I would move it close to one of the sides of the tank to reduce the shadowing problem. It's a stunning piece but it needs to be framed with other corals around it, so I would avoid putting it too isolated or high in the tank.

Given that you will have a much wider tank, you can also try putting it towards the back.

 

[Zilongsrc]

Your layout has very well defined straight lines and right angles, it's symmetrical and that make it look artificial.

I would suggest 2 separate structures with different sizes and heights. Avoid horizontal or vertical lines and symmetry.

Awesome. In the process of getting new live rock. Will post updated picture when done!

 

[Niterunner77]

Any good info or direction would be great on my tank. I just feel like it has so much more potential. Tank is a 180g (72x24x24) I recently inherited some rock and just fit it where I could. I think their might be a little too much and kinda looks too uniform. Maybe too high also?

 

[Headhunter]

@Ardeus

Wow, this thread is a total emotional roller coaster…never realized how bad my aquascape was till reading through all 24 pages. My OCD is kicking in and I’m ready to obsess on my new reef tank aquascape. I have a 120G (72L x 18w x 28h). I watched the videos ~30 times, so here’s what I learned thus far.

Current: Rock mess is way too symmetrical and way too much rock. Too many different types of rocks too – doesn’t look natural. Have too many vertical lines.

Goals: Need 2 asymmetrical structures with no horizontal or vertical lines. Must be off center…need caves & bays, different heights and sizes, don’t split tank in middle.

Challenge: zero artistical talent with 60 lbs of Key Largo Rock + 20 Key Largo Prime Cuts sitting in salt water in a big brute.

Please HELP!!!!

 

[Headhunter]

sorry, better side picture...

 

[Niterunner77]

Ok, I read back through the posts and tried to get a new layout that I was happy with! This is what I came up with! Two separate islands, one is taller, they are off centered, tried to not get any flat lines or flat drop offs, one is more towards the back..... what does everyone think?

 

[NY_Caveman]

Ok, I read back through the posts and tried to get a new layout that I was happy with! This is what I came up with! Two separate islands, one is taller, they are off centered, tried to not get any flat lines or flat drop offs, one is more towards the back..... what does everyone think?

Personally, I like it much better.

 

[noahreefer]

Sorry about all of the blues. Just recently redid it what do you think??

 

[Niterunner77]

Sorry about all of the blues. Just recently redid it what do you think??

I personally think it looks great! You look to have a similar size tank to mine. Is yours a 180G?

 

[noahreefer]

I personally think it looks great! You look to have a similar size tank to mine. Is yours a 180G?

Thank you!!! And yeah it’s a 200

 

[noahreefer]

Thank you!!! And yeah it’s a 200

It’s a Visio believe

 

[sawdonkey]

Sorry about all of the blues. Just recently redid it what do you think??

I like this simple type scape. I think a simple scape with 2 or 3 islands is perfect.

Couple suggestions:
-make one island slant toward the front and the other slant toward the rear and maybe even make them overlap a little.

-Maybe bend one of the islands into a slight “c” shape

-Slightly different heights would give it more interest.

-Maybe throw in a small island where you grow lower light corals? I’m talking like 2 inches above.

Make sure that no matter the layout, that your rocks slope up towards the back so you can showcase corals. If the structure is too vertical, higher corals shade the lower ones.

Something like this before and after. I marked with high low and medium to show slope:

 

[noahreefer]

I like this simple type scape. I think a simple scape with 2 or 3 islands is perfect.

Couple suggestions:
-make one island slant toward the front and the other slant toward the rear and maybe even make them overlap a little.

-Maybe bend one of the islands into a slight “c” shape

-Slightly different heights would give it more interest.

-Maybe throw in a small island where you grow lower light corals? I’m talking like 2 inches above.

Make sure that no matter the layout, that your rocks slope up towards the back so you can showcase corals. If the structure is too vertical, higher corals shade the lower ones.

Something like this before and after. I marked with high low and medium to show slope:

Gotcha I’ll play around with it tomorrow thanks!

 

[Ardeus]

Ok, I read back through the posts and tried to get a new layout that I was happy with! This is what I came up with! Two separate islands, one is taller, they are off centered, tried to not get any flat lines or flat drop offs, one is more towards the back..... what does everyone think?

The two islands are a concept that isn't difficult to achieve and the results look very good if you follow those guidelines.