Critique My Scape!

[Frag Factory]

Hello Everyone,

 

I'm just getting back into the hobby after a 6 year break with a 12" cube ADA 30c!

 

I've tried to do a lot of reading about aquascaping because my last tank was god awful, everything looked "off" and corals looked out of place no matter what I did.

 

So the tank is view-able from 3 sides, let's start with the right hand side which is next to my couch so will be a primary viewing side.

 

Right side:

 

The front:

 

Left side:

 

From both sides I kind of see a teddy bear sat up, this was not intentional 😂

 

How do you feel I did? Could anything be improved?

 

The main rock structure touches the sand in 3 places and is kept about 1.5" off the floor, it's made up of 4 rocks plus a couple of bits of rubble to add more "shelves" to put coral on.

 

The rock in the sand is something that needs to stay, I'm a huge xenia fan but I don't want it on my main rockwork.

 

Your thoughts and criticism would be appreciated highly!

 

Thank you

[mitten_reef]

I like it.  

 

If I must change one thing, I'd turn the main rock structure about 30 degree pointing the "front peninsula" toward the tank corner.  I imagine if you look down right now, it's shaped like and "L" with both sides parallel to the tank walls. I think by turning it slightly, you would get even better visual depth of your rockscape in the front view because you're looking at that front peninsula too much head-on, and it's hard to tell the gentle slope upward that it has. 

[Frag Factory]

12 minutes ago, micoastreefing said:

I like it.  

 

If I must change one thing, I'd turn the main rock structure about 30 degree pointing the "front peninsula" toward the tank corner.  I imagine if you look down right now, it's shaped like and "L" with both sides parallel to the tank walls. I think by turning it slightly, you would get even better visual depth of your rockscape in the front view because you're looking at that front peninsula too much head-on, and it's hard to tell the gentle slope upward that it has. 

Funny you say that... I actually moved the scape today to be more flat towards the back and move it closer to my input/output for my closed loop 😄

 

I'll try it out tomorrow and get some more pictures up, I think you're 100% right. 

[sadie]

it looks cool.  I agree with micoastreefing, about turning it just a bit.  Also , what are those round black things behind the rock in the sand?

[Frag Factory]

Just now, sadie said:

it looks cool.  I agree with micoastreefing, about turning it just a bit.  Also , what are those round black things behind the rock in the sand?

Those are the input/output for my closed loop/canister filter system. Those and the ATO sensor are the only visible equipment for the tank.

[Clown79]

Looks good. I like the rockwork.

 

I too love xenia and it has a bad reputation for being a weed but it depends on the tank and it's also so very easy to prune.

[Frag Factory]

6 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Looks good. I like the rockwork.

 

I too love xenia and it has a bad reputation for being a weed but it depends on the tank and it's also so very easy to prune.

I agree in a nano, my last tank was a 3' x 3' x 2' shallow cube and that was tough. It got everywhere 😆

 

Despite it being 4am here I decided to go for the rotate. 

 

Due to the nature of my strainers rotating means I have to move the rock forward. 

 

 

 

 

 

I might have a play with rerouting the output strainer, either with elbows or going for a low profile strainer and swapping the input/output around.

 

Thoughts?

[Clown79]

I like the way it looks.

 

Once coral starts growing, the rock disappears 

[sadie]

yup, I like that better.  That is a cool looking rock!  Is it one solid piece?

[Frag Factory]

3 minutes ago, sadie said:

yup, I like that better.  That is a cool looking rock!  Is it one solid piece?

Several pieces (4 I think) stuck together, took a while with a hammer and chisel to get it right 😄

 

I bought 5kg to play with, about 3kg is in the tank the other 2kg is in my canister filter.

 

You can see some of the joins in purple miliput if you look closely, the penninsula is a separate piece, so is the small shelf sticking out. The back also has a lot of miliput acting as a "foot" get the rock at the right angle. 

 

If you ever use it I found it took a while to set so I ended up using cable ties as improvised clamps while it set. It worked well.

[A Little Blue]

Planing on coral type and placement is more important than plain rock. 

[Andreww]

Looks good, and youve got great suggestions from others so far, although if I may say one thing, sand will make your tank and that rock look even bigger and cleaner. Fiji pink is a good choice ....crushed coral only looks good in big tanks .

[ReefCap]

If its still possible I think adding another rock to the top, adhering it to the right side to make another overhang would give you more room to add corals, another hiding spot for a fish or invert, and would help with the rule of thirds and golden ratio, also maybe scoot it over to the left slightly. Golden ratio and rule of thirds makes or breaks a great aquascape. 

 

Still a super cool aquascape that looks seamless like it is one single rock!

 

EDIT: have you consider painting the back black? would hide the ATO sensor and wires more and would make the vibrance of the corals pop even more. Rustoliom makes a nice flat black paint that can be applied to glass easily. I can see why you wouldn't want to after paying for an ADA tank. There are also films that can be used as well so its not as permanent. 

 

EDIT 2: Last one i promise. I love the intake/outlet idea but how do you plan on cleaning out the canister? As soon as you remove the top of the filter and break the seal, all of your tank water will flow out very quickly. Do you have ball valves in line to cut off flow before opening the filter?

[Osmium]

I don't think you could have done much better with your rock placement, it looks great! But coral placement is going to be way more important. What kind of corals are you thinking of putting in it?

[Keeper of my nieces Ocean]

Looks great! 

[Alx]

Looks real good!