Sharkbait19
10K Club member
Hi,
I’ve been having trouble with deciding whether or not to redo my Fluval 13.5 aquascape. This has especially been in mind since my last water change, when my big structure tipped and now feels like an accident waiting to happen.
Here’s how it currently looks:
I’m conflicted, because I absolutely love the scape’s appearance, and don’t know if I’d wind up liking the result of redoing it.
Here are the pros:
- Fills the tank out nicely, and adds depth (only from the side view, though).
- Showcases a good number of corals
- Keeps an open water column for the fish.
- Looks very natural, and is an excellent hideout for fish and inverts
- Has the look of a “busy reef” that I was initially going for
- Seems to be working well at the current moment. Every coral and creature seems happy and healthy, and I’d hate to do something stupid that would change everything.
- It’s just overall very nice looking. There isn’t really an angle that I look at and say “that looks ugly”.
Although I’m proud of the evolution my tank has gone through, I feel as though the rockwork has been flawed from the start, especially when I look into the future of the corals. It all started when I decided to purchase my live rock from petco, where the only options were bulky cookie cutter choices. Any rock that looked like it could be worked with had either aiptasia or was not for sale.
So here’s the cons:
- The top rock has always been precariously placed, and has tipped many times. It’s only a matter of time until a coral is crushed.
- The pistol shrimp always messes with the scape, and removing the threat of rocks/corals being tipped would be beneficial
- Adding corals is often difficult and frustrating, due to the limited area. I want more colorful lps but it’s not easy to find long term spaces
- The overhang rock eliminates about a third of sandbed space and potential for lps corals.
- The corals look good where they are as frags, but continue to overgrow their areas (for example, sinularia is getting too big and often gets stung)
- Xenia should ideally have its own island, but the main rock structure being in the center causes extra islands to be impractical.
- Cleaning the glass is simply inconvenient. There’s a whole area that I cannot reach because the rock is too close to the wall.
If I could work with my current scape, I’d love suggestions, because I definitely love how it looks, just not how it is working out. Aesthetically, I feel as though it is perfect, and needs no more details, but am uncertain of what will happen when corals start to grow and touch, stinging each other. The top rock being unstable also bugs me. To reinforce the structure with putty I’d probably have to move the top rock, and at that point, I feel like I should completely change it’s position.
If I could somehow fix the top rock problem, should certain corals be moved around to help open space for future pieces? To add more color to the tank, are there any species you would suggest, and if so, where should they go? I love the natural color in my reef but only some zoas, GSP, a leather, and my trumpet stand out in blue lighting.
In short, I love my scape’s appearance but feel as though it has become far too inconvenient, especially in the long run. I’m of the opinion that rearranging to an island scape would allow for more corals and open sandbed, and then I could use frag rubble to create small arches. I’d like to keep the “busy reef” look that my system currently has, but equally want a more open area to play with in the future. So what are your thoughts? Should I change it up, or work with what I have? If you think the current setup works, what suggestions do you have to open it up a little?
I’ve been having trouble with deciding whether or not to redo my Fluval 13.5 aquascape. This has especially been in mind since my last water change, when my big structure tipped and now feels like an accident waiting to happen.
Here’s how it currently looks:
I’m conflicted, because I absolutely love the scape’s appearance, and don’t know if I’d wind up liking the result of redoing it.
Here are the pros:
- Fills the tank out nicely, and adds depth (only from the side view, though).
- Showcases a good number of corals
- Keeps an open water column for the fish.
- Looks very natural, and is an excellent hideout for fish and inverts
- Has the look of a “busy reef” that I was initially going for
- Seems to be working well at the current moment. Every coral and creature seems happy and healthy, and I’d hate to do something stupid that would change everything.
- It’s just overall very nice looking. There isn’t really an angle that I look at and say “that looks ugly”.
Although I’m proud of the evolution my tank has gone through, I feel as though the rockwork has been flawed from the start, especially when I look into the future of the corals. It all started when I decided to purchase my live rock from petco, where the only options were bulky cookie cutter choices. Any rock that looked like it could be worked with had either aiptasia or was not for sale.
So here’s the cons:
- The top rock has always been precariously placed, and has tipped many times. It’s only a matter of time until a coral is crushed.
- The pistol shrimp always messes with the scape, and removing the threat of rocks/corals being tipped would be beneficial
- Adding corals is often difficult and frustrating, due to the limited area. I want more colorful lps but it’s not easy to find long term spaces
- The overhang rock eliminates about a third of sandbed space and potential for lps corals.
- The corals look good where they are as frags, but continue to overgrow their areas (for example, sinularia is getting too big and often gets stung)
- Xenia should ideally have its own island, but the main rock structure being in the center causes extra islands to be impractical.
- Cleaning the glass is simply inconvenient. There’s a whole area that I cannot reach because the rock is too close to the wall.
If I could work with my current scape, I’d love suggestions, because I definitely love how it looks, just not how it is working out. Aesthetically, I feel as though it is perfect, and needs no more details, but am uncertain of what will happen when corals start to grow and touch, stinging each other. The top rock being unstable also bugs me. To reinforce the structure with putty I’d probably have to move the top rock, and at that point, I feel like I should completely change it’s position.
If I could somehow fix the top rock problem, should certain corals be moved around to help open space for future pieces? To add more color to the tank, are there any species you would suggest, and if so, where should they go? I love the natural color in my reef but only some zoas, GSP, a leather, and my trumpet stand out in blue lighting.
In short, I love my scape’s appearance but feel as though it has become far too inconvenient, especially in the long run. I’m of the opinion that rearranging to an island scape would allow for more corals and open sandbed, and then I could use frag rubble to create small arches. I’d like to keep the “busy reef” look that my system currently has, but equally want a more open area to play with in the future. So what are your thoughts? Should I change it up, or work with what I have? If you think the current setup works, what suggestions do you have to open it up a little?
