Strategic coral placement can make your corals look more colorful/brighter!

[Queenofreef]

When I started my second build a few years ago, It made me pretty sad. I couldn’t tell why I thought it was ugly but it just was. With my previous tank, I had this l“aha!” moment one day where I pictured the direction I wanted to go and how I wanted corals to grow in eventually. But with the new build, it just never “came together” even though my tank was reaching maturity, corals were healthy/happyand I loved my aquascape.

Ended up receiving some of the best advice from a buddy that completely changed the way I’ve thinking about coral placement and these little changes made my tank finally come together! I made a video that goes into depth about strategies for individual coral placement and planning your coral layout as a whole, would love it if you guys check it out.

Let me know what you think

 

[Silent]

Great advice, good job.

 

[Queenofreef]

Great advice, good job.

Thank you so much, I appreciate that!!

 

[sawdonkey]

This is great in concept but not in reality. So much more goes into it. For example, I’m not going to highlight a red digi with green acros, because I’m going to put digis down low in less prime real estate where the light is lower.

Also, when I stock my tank with coral at first, it’s gonna be a bunch of nubs. I’m not going to know which corals will take off and which ones will lay dormant. That complimentary coral might grow six inches in that time.

This is something to think about, but it’s far down on my list of concerns. Nice video though and it’s good to see you where the real reefing discussions go down

 

[lilkiwi930]

You did amazing on the video!!! Thank you

 

[Queenofreef]

This is great in concept but not in reality. So much more goes into it. For example, I’m not going to highlight a red digi with green acros, because I’m going to put digis down low in less prime real estate where the light is lower.

Also, when I stock my tank with coral at first, it’s gonna be a bunch of nubs. I’m not going to know which corals will take off and which ones will lay dormant. That complimentary coral might grow six inches in that time.

This is something to think about, but it’s far down on my list of concerns. Nice video though and it’s good to see you where the real reefing discussions go down

 

[intricate_reefer]

Great tips, I like it!

 

[Queenofreef]

I completely agree with what you’re saying! The examples I used were just to explain the concept in an easy way, and of course there’s a lot of factors to take into account. The technique is definitely not perfect, but i think it’s a cool way of thinking about grouping corals/planning a type of initial layout. It has helped me think about my coral choices in terms of the overall look of the tank and what corals I look out for (I have a bit of a tendency to group tons of green corals together for example lol).

Looking back, I’m not really happy with my explanation either. I could of definitely explained it better and made it more clear that it’s a “way of thinking about things” rather than a hard-line rule to placing corals. Thank you for taking the to watch my video and giving me this feedback, I really appreciate it!

 

[Funston07]

Nice video, I'll have to keep that in mind on my next build. Thanks.

 

[CavalierReef]

Thank you for sharing your expertise. I'll patiently await sawdonkey's improved video.

 

[Reefs anonymous]

Thanks, that’s definitely a consideration for coral placement but there’s so much more to consider when Aquascaping. Coral growth pattern should be a huge consideration too.

 

[Rbjames]

Thanks - enjoyed it

My tank is pretty much all reds and greens - need to save up for some of those other colours.

 

[Fishtitious]

Thanks for the video. It was a well thought out presentation that showcased your effort in contributing to this hobby.

Now, if only I could find the right complementary color to highlight my currently brown sps sticks...

 

[Ardeus]

I think that more important than making things pop, is to make an harmonious looking tank.

It’s very difficult when you want one of each thing, so I try to focus on repetition, to make the tank look more cohesive.

I prefer no to go overboard with color contrasts and instead create contrasts in light and shadow and do whatever I can to enhance depth.

Congrats for focusing on this neglected subject.

 

[Zionas]

I wonder how many of my fellow reefers follow placement guidelines on retail sites like LiveAquaria. Do you find them to be accurate for the most part, or not very accurate?

 

[Reef_Obsessed]

Oh man, I wish I would have seen a video like this before I had an established tank. Great tips and I’ll be sure to follow this next time I decide to make changes

 

[Kamate]

As a new reefer, thanks for the tips!

 

[kzitzman1]

Well done video. It was really good that you started out by saying the need of the coral is the first thing to think about and to be careful not to place the wrong corals next to each other if one can be predatory. But after doing that, it really is a great idea to put two colors that are on the opposite side of the color wheel. I hadn't thought about that specifically and looked at my tank and see areas where I've done that subconsciously and other areas where I didn't could do different. It will be helpful for future landscaping. Thanks.

 

[Queenofreef]

Thanks, that’s definitely a consideration for coral placement but there’s so much more to consider when Aquascaping. Coral growth pattern should be a huge consideration too.

I agree - there are a LOT of considerations to make in terms of aquascaping/coral placement. I just decided to focus on only one component of it for this video for simplistic purposes. I mentioned the importance of coral growth patterns, but couldn’t dive into it in depth of the sake of this video because it’s a whole topic in itself. This is a part of a series I’m doing though, and I do plan to discuss that in detail next!

 

[Queenofreef]

Well done video. It was really good that you started out by saying the need of the coral is the first thing to think about and to be careful not to place the wrong corals next to each other if one can be predatory. But after doing that, it really is a great idea to put two colors that are on the opposite side of the color wheel. I hadn't thought about that specifically and looked at my tank and see areas where I've done that subconsciously and other areas where I didn't could do different. It will be helpful for future landscaping. Thanks.

So glad it was useful for you! It really is a subconscious thing we always do (for the most part) because corals just look better in those arrangements. But once you consciously think about the color wheel in placement, you really can’t unsee it and it becomes something you always do without noticing!