Rate my scape

[Parent_usmc]

just changed my tank over a few days ago. Had an idea in my head for an aquascape. After 2 hours of fighting with the tank running I settled on this design, coral are not in there final homes and still have not epoxyed everything. Looking for constructive criticism and or tips! Cheers

 

[Parent_usmc]

 

[Reef.]

I like it, did you try the scape with just one arch? I like the separate island look, may work if you removed the lower of the two arches but that’s just being picky, down to personal preference...have you left enough space to clean the back wall though?

 

[Krzydmnd]

looks good! Different levels for different coral, and some 'lagoon' areas for the sandbed, I like it. Just make sure you have enough room on the right side to get a scraper back there!

 

[Parent_usmc]

Yes! I made sure my scraper fits around all the walls and nothing touches the back wall

 

[Parent_usmc]

I'm just nervous not enough light will hit the bottom. I image it will be fine but if I do keep any sps they will surely be up top

 

[andrewkw]

It's not bad - when it's filled in I'm sure it will look great but a few things :

I don't like how symmetrical it is. The middle lines up perfectly with the middle of your tank and this look is only magnified by the doors on the red sea stand. There also is not a huge height difference between the sides of the arch. Of course if you place corals that grow to different heights you can achieve greater height variance that way. Finally it looks like the left does come towards the front slightly more then the right, but one more rock would make this more pronounced.

 

[canadianeh]

I agree with what @andrewkw said above. I would try to avoid symmetrical design. It makes it more man made than natural look. Unless, if you are trying to go with "man made" look.

I would maybe keep two islands with only one island has an arch. Or, maybe use one arch to link two islands.

As long as you like it, that what matters the most

 

[Parent_usmc]

I'm going to play around with it later today and see what I can come up with!

 

[Arricefe]

Solid 8

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

I like it. Pack it with sps and have fun.

 

[Barnabie Mejia]

I like it, my only suggestion would be ( assuming the arches are just sitting on each other and not yet glued/ epoxied) I would take the right arch and move the right contact point to the left point of the base rock ( looking at the skull, just to right of it... if that makes sense) and then lean the arch towards the back of the tank to give it the effect of looking lower. this will help reducing shadowing and give you a little more realestate for coral. that's what I did to my 75g.

I hope I described it well enough for it to make sense...


Barnabie

 

[Brew12]

Arches always look great in a new tank, but I don't know of any mature SPS systems that use them. The main reason is surface area. Visualize how many coral colonies you can put on them with each being around 8" in diameter. I did arches in my first tank and it didn't make it a year.

This setup taught me three important lessons. First, traditional arches are too narrow to support coral diversity. Second is that how the rocks look without coral doesn't matter nearly as much as how it will look with coral. Third is that the top of the rock should never be within 12" of the top of the tank unless done for a specific reason.

 

[Parent_usmc]

Arches always look great in a new tank, but I don't know of any mature SPS systems that use them. The main reason is surface area. Visualize how many coral colonies you can put on them with each being around 8" in diameter. I did arches in my first tank and it didn't make it a year.

This setup taught me three important lessons. First, traditional arches are too narrow to support coral diversity. Second is that how the rocks look without coral doesn't matter nearly as much as how it will look with coral. Third is that the top of the rock should never be within 12" of the top of the tank unless done for a specific reason.

Do you have any pictures of the system now

 

[Brew12]

Do you have any pictures of the system now

That system was torn down at the 1 year mark. I was very unhappy with my rockwork and didn't care for the shape of the tank.