Help! I could not make a nice aquascape to save my life!

[HarryPotter]

you're at 2/3rds the way up not 1/3rd btw. I try to stay away from 2/3rds because its pretty easy to have corals all the way up to the waters surface and receiving too much light that way.

 

Don't worry if textures don't go together right now, in a few months it'll all look very uniform with growth on it.

 

I liked v2, the 2 islands approach is pretty tried and true and usually looks good. Tonga makes a great base to grow matting stuff on or mounting sps on but its pretty useless asides from adding interest or a look of movement in a tank.

 

If you are still up for trying other scapes try one at 1/3rd the waters height with a scape similar to the 2 islands or your first scape, should let you place a fore middle and background of corals if you have something similar to your first.

So you would ditch the large piece on the left, and just go with a lower multi-island/valley look?

 

Problem is I have softies (Zoas), LPS (trachy, Duncan, frogspawn, torch,etc), sps (green slimer and assorted beautiful neon montipora), a da clam.

 

I need to run the Radion at least at 75% intensity, which would burn any softies or LPS up top.

 

My thinking with the 2/3rds was that the bottom 1/3rd would be filled with LPS & Zoas, and the middle 1/3rd w. Lucinda (my maxima clam), LPS, etc

[Mike Savage]

If it were mine I would remove the flat pieces and see how it looks. The other rocks have great texture and the corals will grow above them. The flat pieces don't look right to me and they are shading everything below them.

[hey]

So you would ditch the large piece on the left, and just go with a lower multi-island/valley look?

 

Problem is I have softies (Zoas), LPS (trachy, Duncan, frogspawn, torch,etc), sps (green slimer and assorted beautiful neon montipora), a da clam.

 

I need to run the Radion at least at 75% intensity, which would burn any softies or LPS up top.

 

My thinking with the 2/3rds was that the bottom 1/3rd would be filled with LPS & Zoas, and the middle 1/3rd w. Lucinda (my maxima clam), LPS, etc

 

you would be surprised how well corals adapt to lighting changes even with some pretty serious intensity (mine are under a 250 halide) and while some corals won't tolerate a middle tank or above placement (zoas) others adapt pretty well.

 

the trachy is obv going to want lower light too, monty duncan frog torch can tolerate high prefer med, monti im not familiar with your exact one obv mid to high and the slimer likes high ime. maybe a dual island with one higher than the other would suit you, can put the trachy and zoas in lower light areas around the tall island that way you could even find a way to attach that tonga branch outward at an angle of sorts off the middle of the tall island to mount sps on.

[HarryPotter]

If it were mine I would remove the flat pieces and see how it looks. The other rocks have great texture and the corals will grow above them. The flat pieces don't look right to me and they are shading everything below them.

Sounds great! I'll be keeping the ReefCleaners rock and perhaps one small flat piece for Lucinda, and leaving the rest in the NanoCube

 

Oh did I mention the boss said I could keep the cube?!!! Originally she said I could only have one tank, but changes her mind!

 

It will probably become a frag tank, to finance my next coral purchases.

 

I'm hoping for an Australian Elegance Coral OR a beautiful gold torch coral.

#Go LPS Or Go Home

[HarryPotter]

 

you would be surprised how well corals adapt to lighting changes even with some pretty serious intensity (mine are under a 250 halide) and while some corals won't tolerate a middle tank or above placement (zoas) others adapt pretty well.

 

the trachy is obv going to want lower light too, monty duncan frog torch can tolerate high prefer med, monti im not familiar with your exact one obv mid to high and the slimer likes high ime. maybe a dual island with one higher than the other would suit you, can put the trachy and zoas in lower light areas around the tall island that way you could even find a way to attach that tonga branch outward at an angle of sorts off the middle of the tall island to mount sps on.

Just saw this- great ideas! I will redo tomorrow JUST using ReefCleaners and (possibly) the single tonga branch. The branch is really nice IMO- nice and purple with years of coralline

 

THE BOSS SAID I CAN KEEP THE NANOCUBE TOO! WOOT WOOT! I'll use my extra rock in that

[ajmckay]

Admittedly I didn't read through this entire thread, but IMO I think the scape would look more pulled together if you keep the types of rock to a minimum. For example it's tough to mix shelf rock, "reef rock" and branch in a small tank. Sticking with one type of rock will go a long ways to making a scape look more appealing.

 

Also, I think the "Less is more" concept applies to most tanks - especially small ones. With so little available sand bed don't waste time trying to make caves or large overhangs. Plus whenever I try to make caves I usually end up with a scape that looks like I stacked a bunch of potatoes... Haha funny analogy I know, that's just what it ended up looking like. Overhangs are cool - but sometimes reduce the

 

Finally, I think the tallest structures should be in the back with the shorter in the front. This helps maintain a depth of field.

 

Anyways - it takes time but I'm confident you'll come up with something good. Just make sure it's stable and has some places for coral placement.

[VW_TDI_02]

Having "valleys" like you have in some of the versions helps build depth in the tank. As others have said, having smaller pieces in front of larger pieces also helps create depth.

 

I think the best advice is simply to take your time. Once you think you have "the one" then take a night and then look at it in the morning. Hell, toss a blanket over the tank if you need to. Just take a break and then tomorrow look at it with fresh eyes. If you're still happy with it then keep it but if not then try something else and repeat. It's a lot easier to move and change rocks around now than when you have fish swimming around and corals glued on...

[DocReef]

I think take 2 looked the best IMO. Keep the same types of rocks, make some valleys, and split up the rocks so they don't look like just a pile of rocks, and leave some room on the sand bed.

[QballV1]

Just some random advice (well more my opinion) on scaping. Don't worry about uniformity. Things don't really match in nature, so why make things like uniform in your tank? I see in most of your scapes the rocks are basically inline with each other near the back of the tank. Mix it up a little. Bring some close to the front, have maybe 2 islands on either side of the tank, one closer to the glass than the other. And perhaps try making the one closer to the back the higher of the 2.

Guys worry too much about how a scape looks straight after the tank has been setup. I always try envision what corals are going in and how things will be a year down the line when they have grown out a bit.

[Sancho]

i like take 3. But i guarantee you wont be able to recreate any of these and you will drive yourself into further madness.

[HarryPotter]

Thanks everyone!

 

Lots of great advice here- I really appreciate it.

 

I will be getting rid of the tonga branch, and perhaps even the vertical shelf on the left.

 

The proposed aquascape (V5) will use the same type of rock (ReefCleaners), and be less uniform in terms of placement.

 

I am going to try a simple two-island look, one about 1/2 way up the tank and one 1/3. They will be placed unequally on the horizontal (width) plane as well.

 

Taller island in the back, shorter in the front. I will try to avoid touching the back glass though!

 

Thanks everyone- and don't worry I am not constantly changing it. I spent about an hour and a half yesterday, and will spend another hour or so this afternoon

[dillct]

I try to aquascape looking down into the tank rather than through the front pane. You want evenly lit rocks with minimal shadowing, this will maximize the real estate for coral placement. I wouldn't stack higher than half the tank is tall to allow for growth.

[HarryPotter]

V5: Kept valley, ditched tonga, and lessened overall amount of rock. What do you think?

[Matteo]

I like the two Island look. You should stock with small swimmers. Neon gobies to watch perched on the rocks and maybe small fish like chromis or something to school between the two. What were you thinking for live stock? also the floor space is going to be awesome for frags softies and lps

[HarryPotter]

I like the two Island look. You should stock with small swimmers. Neon gobies to watch perched on the rocks and maybe small fish like chromis or something to school between the two. What were you thinking for live stock? also the floor space is going to be awesome for frags softies and lps

 

Im hoping (its a 45 gallon, btw) to have a pair of clowns (One black/white, one maroon), a cleaner shrimp, and a dwarf angelfish. I won't rush it though, as I do not have a lot of expierience with fish themselves.

 

In terms of coral, its going to be LOADED! The entire contents of the NanoCube will be in there- Zoas galore, a bunch of Montipora and assorted LPS.

 

[Matteo]

oh awesome! Maroon clownfish are my absolute favorite clown fish

[HarryPotter]

The deed is done. 100% transfer to new tank! Pics later

[Matteo]

nice! check out my aquascape thread. I think I want to change it to the two island look. I like arches but Idk

[HarryPotter]

nice! check out my aquascape thread. I think I want to change it to the two island look. I like arches but Idk

I will!

 

Corals are looking fine. Lucinda is recovering and beginning to make byssal again.

 

Open brain looks pretty mediocre/bad, but I blame the manual handling. It secreted a lot of goo while I held it, so I hope it will reinflate tomorrow.

 

Radion Set to 65 intensity on radiance.

 

Custom schedule arriving shortly