Rate my aquascape

[NakiFantaki]

I would use some small rocks and rubble to try and elevate some of the middle about 4-6 inches off of the sand bed. It would make another swim through.

Good idea. I might need to take a hammer to some rocks to get some smaller pieces but it's definitely worth a try! Thanks!

 

[NakiFantaki]

I think you have a lot of great spaces for corals. Is the towel about the size of the tank? I would even consider moving both sides in a couple of inches so as corals grow on the rocks you still have room to clean the glass.

My thoughts on removing the middle rocks and making two islands: the way you have it there is lots of room for corals that attach to rocks. If instead you are going with corals that like to be in the sand, then remove some rock. I personally imagine a huge zoa garden in the middle of yours with some lps (hammer, duncan, etc) that move in the currents on those nice islands.

Whatever you decide it will look much different with corals. I would keep the height as it is. Many can easily get 10" or more tall in a year, and you will want that vertical space.

With the latest BRS videos about marine pure removing nitrate (or not) I'm not convinced that more rock is better. There are several advocates that feel that less rock is better since you can clean the detritus easier, thus removing nitrates better. My own opinion is to go for what you really like the look of, then practice good husbandry to help with nitrates and phosphates (water changes, vacuuming, amount and what you feed, not adding frags with a bunch of algae into your system in the first place)

The towel is the size of the tank minus 2 inches on all sides to make room to clean the glass.

 

[NakiFantaki]

How deep is your sand bed going to be (if you're using one)? You want your rocks to be placed prior to the sand so burrowers don't wreak havoc on what you've created.

How wide is the tank? I have a 75g (48x18" footprint) which leaves a pretty narrow area to play with if you want space all the way around the rock work (I didn't want any rock laying against the back of the tank). To help mitigate this, drag the lines out at 30-45° angles toward the front of the glass; this will give the perception of depth where the really isn't much.

Is that really 55lbs of rock? The image below has roughly the same amount of rock and 3-6" of the rock is covered in sand. I'm not a fan of artificial bridges as suggested above but we all have our preferences so play around with a lot different options. I used .5" OD PVC to mock up my rock structure before I actually built and epoxied it together.

I'm going with a sand bed around 1 to 1 1/2 inch. I really like your scape. Yep - that's right around 50-55 pounds of rock.. that rock in the right side is HUGE and weighs 15 pounds easily. I will definitely drag those angles out when I play with the rocks again. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow.

 

[NakiFantaki]

Trying to figure out what to do with these rocks?? It's dry rock from Marco rock. Should I let them sit in saltwater for awhile or just RODI water? I'm not looking to pre cycle them... just want to get the PO4 out

 

[jrwoltman]

Trying to figure out what to do with these rocks?? It's dry rock from Marco rock. Should I let them sit in saltwater for awhile or just RODI water? I'm not looking to pre cycle them... just want to get the PO4 out

I started with Marco Rock too and I didn't even rinse them.