How to make a Reef Tank Look more Natural

[Nathans_Reef]

Hi everybody, most reef tanks in the hobby consist of bright white coral sand and purple rock, has anybody got any ideas on how to make a reef tank look more like something you would see in nature?

[Tired]

Well, rock in the wild can be purple. 

 

The more biodiversity you have, the more natural it tends to look. Many different types of algae, different shapes and textures. 

 

Try this tank out for inspiration. 

 

[Clown79]

White sand and coralline covered rock is pretty natural.

 

It's what I saw in the ocean.

[Leoito]

On the aquascape side of things, avoiding "unnatural" structures is a good first step. While immense arches supported by acrylic rods can look quite breathtaking, they tend not to look the most "natural" 😉. Adding rubble on the rock structure and sandbed can also help give the impression of erosion and softens up the profile of the structure by adding a sort of "transition zone" to sand. 

Like Tired mentioned, diversity in livestock and its placement can also be a big help. 

• Depending on what you can support, adding macroalgae, feather dusters (fanworms), clams, and more uncommon corals (e.g. photosynthetic gorgonians) are all candidates for giving off a natural reef vibe. 

Build that I think (unintentionally) looks natural because of its feather dusters: 

• Spread sessile organisms to different parts of the tank, ensuring that those are areas the organism will have decent conditions. Zoa gardens can be beautiful when grown in, but spreading them out gives a more "mixed" reef impression. 

[Nathans_Reef]

10 hours ago, Leoito said:

On the aquascape side of things, avoiding "unnatural" structures is good first step. While immense arches supported by acrylic rods can look quite breathtaking, they tend not to look the most "natural" 😉. Adding rubble on the rock structure and sandbed can also help give the impression of erosion and softens up the profile of the structure by adding a sort of "transition zone" to sand. 

Like Tired mentioned, diversity in livestock and its placement can also be a big help. 

• Depending on what you can support, adding macroalgae, feather dusters (fanworms), clams, and more uncommon corals (e.g. photosynthetic gorgonians) are all candidates for giving off a natural reef vibe. 

Build that I think (unintentionally) looks natural because of its feather dusters: 

• Spread sessile organisms to different parts of the tank, ensuring that those are areas the organism will have decent conditions. Zoa gardens can be beautiful when grown in, but spreading them out gives a more "mixed" reef impression. 

Thanks, thats great 👍

[Nano sapiens]

Some good points in the posts above.

 

One thing to consider is that not only do different reefs from different geographical areas look different, but so do different areas on the same reef.  Some exceptional pictures of Indo-pacific reefs, for example, have an assemblage of corals that looks almost like they were purposely and professionally aquascaped (although many of the types of creatures present include those that we can't keep long-term in a reef aquarium which gives it that natural look and feel).

 

IME, starting off with small frags of diverse shapes and forms, and allowing them the time to blend in with each other helps to achieve a more natural look within the confines of our small reef aquariums.  Corals placed neatly and separately as if they were in a display case results in a more unnatural impression.

[Nathans_Reef]

50 minutes ago, Nano sapiens said:

Some good points in the posts above.

 

One thing to consider is that not only do different reefs from different geographical areas look different, but so do different areas on the same reef.  Some exceptional pictures of Indo-pacific reefs, for example, have an assemblage of corals that looks almost like they were purposely and professionally aquascaped (although many of the types of creatures present include those that we can't keep long-term in a reef aquarium which gives it that natural look and feel).

 

IME, starting off with small frags of diverse shapes and forms, and allowing them the time to blend in with each other helps to achieve a more natural look within the confines of our small reef aquariums.  Corals placed neatly and separately as if they were in a display case results in a more unnatural impression.

Thanks 👍

[mcarroll]

On 6/6/2020 at 10:40 AM, Nathans_Reef said:

Hi everybody, most reef tanks in the hobby consist of bright white coral sand and purple rock, has anybody got any ideas on how to make a reef tank look more like something you would see in nature?

Nothing stays bright white in nature....algae sees to it.  Even the purple Coraline algae has other organisms growing on it.

 

Really all you have to do is "not too much".  Most folks seem to over-groom their tanks...at least for the photos they post.  Gives a false impression of what a healthy tank should look like...."clean" isn't a synonym for "natural".  😃

[DNR88]

Gorgonians and leave parts of the (live) rock(s) bare, to get a more natural look.

[mitten_reef]

On 6/6/2020 at 10:40 AM, Nathans_Reef said:

Hi everybody, most reef tanks in the hobby consist of bright white coral sand and purple rock, has anybody got any ideas on how to make a reef tank look more like something you would see in nature?

This is a loaded question.  There are plenty of natural reef out there that have clean white sand and sparkling clear water that highlights the biodiversities on the reef.

 

that said, biodiversity and growth of livestocks are key.  the more coverage over sand and rock, the less it'd look as though you just glued this thing together.  

 

A few of us started a thread in aquascaping section that dedicated for a true (real life) reef inspirational images - no tank pics!  feel free to check it out, and post some images that might have inspired you to start this thread.  https://www.nano-reef.com/forums/topic/412232-true-reef-the-real-reef-inspiration/