Please help me Aquascape my new tank!

[jasoqueso]

Hi Guys and Gals! I’ve been stalking this group for a while but this is my first post. I got my first reef tank! I need some advice on how to structure my rockscape and where to add corals. I like the left and right structures well enough but I am not fond of the center pillar. I’ve been thinking about adding more love rock once I figure out a design. I have removed all the green hair algae since these photos were taken.

I’ve taken care of fresh water tanks for years but have no experience with salt water. I was gifted this 65g reef tank that has been running for 2 years. It has 2 clowns, 2 damselfish, a 6 line wrasse, an emerald crab, a handful of hermits, 2  anemones, and 1 zoanthid. Here’s the parameters if you want them. Salinity is 1.025, PH 8, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 2.5ish, and Temp 79.4.

 

[glb]

I wouldn’t add any more live rock once you have livestock in the tank. It could cause a small ammonia spike. You could rearrange the middle column to something you like better. Good luck!

 

[blaxsun]

The best advice I can give you is to design the rockscape for the fish - not for you. This means lots of ledges, crevices, caves, tunnels and general hiding spots. You want to allow enough area to get in and clean/scrape when needed - but you need to have lots of space for the fish to sleep at night and otherwise retreat to when they're stressed.

This is a low profile rockscape in my 160-gallon display which is basically 3 large slabs of Marco shelf rock laid on top of one another. I've then integrated various islands, arches (etc.) among it. You probably don't want a "low profile" look for your tank in order to maximize real estate, but hopefully this will give you a few ideas of what fish and inverts really seem to like.