Tips for an amateur

[jfm3]

First post, so be gentle...

Re-entering the reef hobby after 20 years away. Man, has the technology changed! After a lot of research, I purchased a Red Sea Reefer 350. I intend to make this a mixed reef with fish, inverts and LPS & SPS corals. Taking my time (and enjoying it) to set this puppy up. So, to the point of the post... How's this for an aquascape using 80#s of Caribsea Live Rock? I have another 20# case, but I'm not sure I really need it. Enough caves and gaps for fish? No pic of the side, but I have a good 4-6"s between the rock and back wall.

 

[Rjukan]

Hi and welcome to R2R!!

I'm speaking from experience: while I like the look of a lot of rock in the tank, you might want to take some out now while it's still early. I just spent a good 8 to 10 hours this weekend removing rock from my 1.5 year old reef.

If I were you I would take out the middle 1/3 of rock and leave the outer ends. It will allow more flow through the tank, better light distribution to surfaces of rock (ie more spots for coral), and more swimming space for the fish. But, it's all a matter of taste and I do like how your scape looks as is. I'm only suggesting this because of my recent work on my own tank.

Are you planning on adding sand?

 

[jfm3]

Hi and welcome to R2R!!

I'm speaking from experience: while I like the look of a lot of rock in the tank, you might want to take some out now while it's still early. I just spent a good 8 to 10 hours this weekend removing rock from my 1.5 year old reef.

If I were you I would take out the middle 1/3 of rock and leave the outer ends. It will allow more flow through the tank, better light distribution to surfaces of rock (ie more spots for coral), and more swimming space for the fish. But, it's all a matter of taste and I do like how your scape looks as is. I'm only suggesting this because of my recent work on my own tank.

Are you planning on adding sand?

Thanks for the tip & yes, I do plan on some sand -- 40# of CaribSea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink.

 

[Taylor S.]

Looks good!

 

[Waters]

I agree with @Rjukan ...I would remove some rock so it isn't the same height all the way across. It will be more pleasing to the eye to have some height differences across the whole formation. BTW, welcome !!

 

[Ruben's Reef]

!!! Welcome to R2R @jfm3 !!! Great setup and good advise from our fellow reefers about the rock scape.

 

[Streetdoc77]

Welcome to Reef2Reef ! here's a forum that would be really helpful to you . @Tips and Tricks on Creating Amazing Aquascapes.