New 220 gal reef

[luckbox7]

Hey guys just got into reefs and this is my first aquarium. It is a 220 gallon tank and I wanted to get some feedback on my rockscape...please feel free to give me some criticism as this is my first time doing this and not sure if im doing it right. I havent finished yet but should I leave the top a little open to allow space for some future corals to grow?

the third picture is a semi cave but i think the pictures are not portraying it correctly and also my shirt is distorting the colors a little.

 

[don_chuwish]

Do you like how it looks? Doing it 'right' is very subjective. You have more than enough rock and good nooks & crannies for fish to go hide in. Beyond that it's personal esthetic sensibilities.

 

[ReefSapper]

I agree with Don, so long as you like it than its perfect! One thing to keep in mind is the little U shaped cave type features can be difficult to get flow through and difficult to clean the sand if you are going that route. I have a similar looking U cave in my 50g and love it so im not trying to discourage you just keep the cleaning piece of it in mind.

What a great first tank, looking forward to seeing it filled up!

 

[luckbox7]

I agree with Don, so long as you like it than its perfect! One thing to keep in mind is the little U shaped cave type features can be difficult to get flow through and difficult to clean the sand if you are going that route. I have a similar looking U cave in my 50g and love it so im not trying to discourage you just keep the cleaning piece of it in mind.

What a great first tank, looking forward to seeing it filled up!

thanks and hopefully it turns out how I want it to...I just dont want to have to change a bunch of things in the tank once the water fills up

Do you like how it looks? Doing it 'right' is very subjective. You have more than enough rock and good nooks & crannies for fish to go hide in. Beyond that it's personal esthetic sensibilities.

yes you are right that "right" is very subjective however i was more interested in seeing if there are things that an experienced reefer would see that I cannot...like the comment about having a cave will not have very good flow and hard to clean.

also the left side is more or less just a wall of rocks so not many places to put corals so should I add a couple rocks in front of it? and build up from there to add more surface area?

 

[don_chuwish]

Personally I would go with less rock. The assembly on the right is fantastic - but then the 'wall of rock' on the left does detract from the balance and visual appeal. Turn it into a smaller structure than on the right and you'll be in Japanese rock garden territory.
Counter-intuitively, too much rock can make it too crowded for adding coral. Also, if you want to keep the glass clean, don't put the rock too close to the sides. Leave 2-3 inches of space at least.
I try to get the individual rocks to blend better so they don't look 'stacked'. But honestly, once stuff is growing on them it's not really noticeable.

 

[luckbox7]

Personally I would go with less rock. The assembly on the right is fantastic - but then the 'wall of rock' on the left does detract from the balance and visual appeal. Turn it into a smaller structure than on the right and you'll be in Japanese rock garden territory.
Counter-intuitively, too much rock can make it too crowded for adding coral. Also, if you want to keep the glass clean, don't put the rock too close to the sides. Leave 2-3 inches of space at least.
I try to get the individual rocks to blend better so they don't look 'stacked'. But honestly, once stuff is growing on them it's not really noticeable.

I just can't seem to stack them higher with stability without that many rocks... How do you suggest I do it? Should I make it like an island of rocks?

 

[don_chuwish]

I was thinking staying lower on the left side so it visually slopes down from the right to left. An island like the one on the left in this excellent scape by @ihavecrabs would look nice:

 

[reefndude]

I think if you took some of the rocks on the left and stood them up instead of laying flat would open it up and look nice. It will five you more caves and more options to place coral. That's how I place most of my rocks

 

[LoneStarReef]

I agree with the “wall of rock” statements above. Can you find some larger pieces that would work for the left side? Looks like you are trying to use way too many smaller pieces. And with that big of a tank, they look a little bit out of proportion in my opinion.

 

[dutch27]

If you're handy you could drill the rocks and use some small PVC pipe or acrylic rod, to epoxy them together how you want them. You could try getting rid of that free standing rock in the middle, and using it as a bridge create some open space in that space on the left, which would also add some negative space between the two islands of rock, which I think would look nice. In the end it's all up to what you think looks good though.

 

[Radman73]

Agree with the wall of rocks comments above. Regardless, secure the rocks together. You'll kick yourself later if they come tumbling down with coral on them and you have to figure out how to put them back together. I really like the right side!

 

[Broadwave]

I personally like your layout... however, I would definitely take about 1/3 off the rock stack on the left.

 

[luckbox7]

wow thanks for all the responses...I will try to rework some of the rocks on the left side but remember there is still way too much space above the rocks. the tank is 30" tall with the rocks only about 17" high so there is still over a foot of space to the top of the water. some tall corals and anemones should cover that space.

also I dont have bigger rocks so ill see what i can do...im filling up my tank now and have already put in sand so not sure if its going to be a good idea to work the rocks on the bottom glass but again we will see.

thanks again for the quick responses...as a new reefer its a lot more work than I thought lol.

 

[Ocean Lotion]

wow thanks for all the responses...I will try to rework some of the rocks on the left side but remember there is still way too much space above the rocks. the tank is 30" tall with the rocks only about 17" high so there is still over a foot of space to the top of the water. some tall corals and anemones should cover that space.

also I dont have bigger rocks so ill see what i can do...im filling up my tank now and have already put in sand so not sure if its going to be a good idea to work the rocks on the bottom glass but again we will see.

thanks again for the quick responses...as a new reefer its a lot more work than I thought lol.

I would suggest that your final scape includes rock from front to back. Most people end up with wit a one dimensional scape by not doing that

 

[luckbox7]

So I just tried to add some rocks in front of the wall on the left to add some surface area for corals...it doesnt look too bad but will take everyones opinions into consideration later when I move them again.

however I was anxious to put water in the tank so instead of moving them i decided to just add water lol...overall I am pretty pleased at how its turning out. here are a couple pics of the tank and sump with a diy algae scrubber.

let me know what you guys think and thanks for all the feedback

 

[Ocean Lotion]

Looks nic. If you are fishing for ideas try making your right or left rock wall shorter in length and the other side longer making the peaks of the walls about 1/3rd from each end. The shelf in the center is too "centered". Take a pic before changing so you can put it back if you wish you had not changed it. Fun stuff.

 

[luckbox7]

Looks nic. If you are fishing for ideas try making your right or left rock wall shorter in length and the other side longer making the peaks of the walls about 1/3rd from each end. The shelf in the center is too "centered". Take a pic before changing so you can put it back if you wish you had not changed it. Fun stuff.

thanks...i also want to start a build thread...where do i start one of those?