What do you guys think?

Trylobyte · Apr 15, 2020

So I have been messing with the scape and letting it sit for a couple days each time to make sure its one I will want to keep before I move on to officially starting the tank and being stuck with something I may not like down the road. I am working with the "Marcos Reef Saver" rock from BRS, and got 5 pieces of small foundation rock, and then 20lbs of the shelf rock. I tried the minimalist scaping and honestly not my cup of tea as I want more corals than fish. I also had up 2 little island type shelves but they barely reached 1/3 of my tank height keeping it separate. As I am running the "Current USA Orbit LED" (Not IC or Pro models) I really need the height especially if I want to get some more moderate light corals.

Now I do like this scape, it has lots of holes and cave systems for flow, fish and inverts to get through. Provides plenty of estate for corals and stacks up in shelves to allow me to still keep things separated with proper husbandry. However, there are points in the back that I will not be able to clean (very few), and on the sides there are 3 points of the rock that aren't quite far enough from the glass for a magfloat to get (but I do have a nice long handles scraper/sponge that should be able to get it) and the hole front I have a magfloat or more in clearance (its a bowfront). I am hoping that with a sufficient snail crew and the chaeto that algae shouldn't really be that big of an issue on the norm (I expect some outbreaks especially when first starting the tank) but I could even get in with a toothbrush if needed.

So before I go through and glue some of these rock points (that's what my dipper cup is for to set the glue hehe) I wanted to get some thoughts from you professionals in here lol. I tried to get pics of the tunnels/holes/openings as well as a top down, straight ahead, and straight down pics to help see.

Auquanut · Apr 15, 2020

I think you've answered your own question. You like it. That's all that matters in the long run. For what it's worth, I like it too. Looks like you have plenty of hidey holes for fish and surface area for corals. As long as you're confident that you'll be able to clean the glass, I'd say go for it!

Copingwithpods · Apr 15, 2020

After my last aquascape I'll never put rocks next to the glass ever again. Those spots were always dirty and ugly. And although I told myself I'd try to find a way to clean them I never did. It was an eye sore and I always regretted it. IMHO that's the only thing I would change. It makes maintaining the tank easy and most importantly quick. Scraping the glass is already a chore, no need to make it a multistep chore.

Trylobyte · Apr 15, 2020

Auquanut said:
I think you've answered your own question. You like it. That's all that matters in the long run. For what it's worth, I like it too. Looks like you have plenty of hidey holes for fish and surface area for corals. As long as you're confident that you'll be able to clean the glass, I'd say go for it!

Thanks! I was definitely trying to make sure the fish had plenty of places to hide and make sure flow could get through. There is also quite a bit of negative space as well so plenty of room to swim for the fish I planned on having (ocelleris clown pair, purple firefish or royal gramma).

Copingwithpods said:
After my last aquascape I'll never put rocks next to the glass ever again. Those spots were always dirty and ugly. And although I told myself I'd try to find a way to clean them I never did. It was an eye sore and I always regretted it. IMHO that's the only thing I would change. It makes maintaining the tank easy and most importantly quick. Scraping the glass is already a chore, no need to make it a multistep chore.

I can clean the glass at those points, the sides I reach easily with my algae scraper/pad, and the back I could get with a toothbrush if really needed. The area where the tank is sitting, the sides and that are not really viewable also. The right side is facing a wall, and the left side only has about a foot of clearance next to my entertainment center. But it was the most level area and also no where near direct sunlight (don't like the glare on my 65" 4k UHD curved Samsung either lol). I do see your point though in it being multistep to do one task, but I was under the impression the magfloat doesn't get everything anyways and eventually you have to go through and scrape and get all the areas it doesn't get (seams and such). But before I glue I will try to work up the nerve to chisel just a bit off to try and get more clearance while keeping the same scape. I just suck at chiseling