Coral placing/aquascaping advise

[_cpate3_]

my tank is about 5 months old now and I am starting to become unhappy with my Aquascape choice when I set the tank up. Given it’s my first tank I’m not too critical but now I am running out of room to place corals based on my Aquascape and am wondering if anyone has any good ideas for if I should move things around, coral recommendations to fill in the gaps, or just general feedback.

Here’s a tank pic. I was set on a royal gramma when I built the aquascape but that changed and my clowns don’t swim through the arch. It’s definitely a mixed reef and I’m having newfound success with some acros that are finally basing out and growing so any suggestion is appreciated! Happy reefing everyone!

 

[BairCorals]

It looks good! but that's the drawback to nsa in smaller aquariums. Always run out of rock to put corals! I'd look into leptoseris, cyphastrea, and acans. Those would add some color to the lower parts of the tank and acans can be set in the sand under the arch to make it a little more lively and colorful. Of course you should turn the island rock into a zoa island, it's just begging for it! But im just a sucker for zoas...
All in all, your tank looks good! Everything looks happy and that's the most important part of this hobby! Happy reefing

 

[fishywishy]

Looks nice imo. I think you just need some brighter more colorful corals and some corals that cover that smaller rock and the tank will look good.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

the tank looks gorgeous, but yeah, those arches take up a lot of coral real estate space. All that shade is space where corals could have been placed.

No one wants the ugly rock wall anymore, but if you want lots of corals, the ugly rock wall is the best option. And its not ugly when its loaded with coral lol

 

[_cpate3_]

Looks nice imo. I think you just need some brighter more colorful corals and some corals that cover that smaller rock and the tank will look good.

What would be some recommendations? I like the idea of a zoa island that’s kinda what I was going for! But what else could I fill in to make it brighter and pop more?

 

[fishywishy]

What would be some recommendations? I like the idea of a zoa island that’s kinda what I was going for! But what else could I fill in to make it brighter and pop more?

It depends on what colors you like and what your budget is but i think you need some more bright greens, purples, yellows and red’s/orange’s so some scrambled egg or fruit loop zoas would look nice for a zoa island. You could even make it into a gsp island but that might be a bad idea. Im not to knowledgeable on encrusting corals but some really bright ones would look nice to cover the bottom of that big rock.

 

[kevgib67]

What would be some recommendations? I like the idea of a zoa island that’s kinda what I was going for! But what else could I fill in to make it brighter and pop more?

Rock flower anemones offer a lot of pop. Zoa garden offer a lot of color choices. Kryptonite candy canes can be seen a mile away. Some bright colorful and can be placed near the bottom. A couple of examples.