New Tank Aquascape?

[SoAg Reefer]

Question- I just set this tank up and put water in it yesterday. Reef Octo 32 Gallon. I’ve been out of the hobby for 10 years and had a 120g reef. So much has changed since then. Does it look like I have too much rock in this tank? Ignore the lighting and mess as I am still building it. This setup will be mainly sps with zoas and some lps down low. No sand bed room really for coral on the sand bed. I like it as it provides caves and hiding spots and plenty of places for frags. However I question if this will cause issues with dead spots. Tank will have plenty of flow. Vortech MP10, the RP-M from reefbreeders that’s in it and a tunze nano in the back. The blue pics are with the ab+ spectrum and I could not get good photos so I turned the blues to 0 and increased the white to 100 just for the photo. I removed the rock in one of the blue pics on the right for some sand bed room but didn’t really like it. Critique is welcome. (Water not crystal clear yet as it was all setup yesterday).

 

[JoshO]

I would say yes, too much rock, try to allow for some space around the scape on each side!

 

[SoAg Reefer]

Thanks, I figured it was too much. I shoulda started back up with a larger tank

 

[JoshO]

I wouldn't say you've started too small! Nothing a quick hammer and chisel won't sort out!

 

[SoAg Reefer]

So I chiseled away and have two options. What do you think. First pic or second?

 

[SoAg Reefer]

Or this I kinda like

 

[SPR1968]

They look much better, if you do a search under modern reef aquascapes you'll get all sorts of ideas

Thats what I did, I personally like the 3 island type designs flowing away, and try to make it as natural as possible. There’s a picture of the rock work design for my new tank empty on the first page of my build thread in link below.

At the end of the day, it’s all personal preference, it’s your tank and you have to look at it and enjoy it.

 

[Murica]

Or this I kinda like

I like this one!

 

[SoAg Reefer]

I ended up here

 

[JoshO]

You're definitely getting there! I would still leave a few inches between the rockwork and glass for maintenance purposes! I like the most recent one the best!

 

[SoAg Reefer]

Thanks for all the input! I hate that I cant take good pictures and how cloudy it looks, but I definitely like this the best. Made some minor changes to free up the glass. Plenty of different levels for coral that have different requirements. I ended up removing about 15 lbs of rock and I'll trade it for some frags locally in a few weeks or whenever

 

[SoAg Reefer]

Finished here. Everything is set and epoxyed together