Why is reef aquascaping so unexplored when compared to freshwater?

[Copedog]

Here are a couple more examples that I found. I am going to try to emulate one of them for my new ADA 60P depending on what kind of live rock I can get my hands on.

 

[ca1ore]

Other than Amano popularizing FW planted tanks though his amazing photography, I'm not sure I necessarily agree with the central premise. Seems to me there are plenty of folks with cool reef aquascapes.

 

[Ardeus]

@Copedog Those were good attempts and we can clearly see the freshwater influence.

On the first one, it would be cooler if it had live corals instead of dead coral branches. Also if there was another tiny structure on the right (like it was a small rock that had rolled down from the main structure), it would be more balanced.

If the tank of the 2nd one was a bit bigger, the canyon could be wider and there would be a bit more free space around the rock structures.

@ca1ore I don't agree with that, I think that artful aquascapes are rare. Very rarely I see reef tanks that use corals and rocks to create a painting like an artist does with paint or a sculpture does with rock.

Creating an aquascape for me is no different than keeping a reef healthy. You can do it without learning basic reef chemistry and biology, but you most likely be pleased with the results if you learn about these subjects.

Think about a living room. Imagine you love to collect chairs. It's very difficult to create a good looking room with all those different chairs. Most of us are coral collectors and that makes it even more difficult to create a pleasing result. Like a chair collector we end up with a messy looking room and without any free space on the floor. We are coral hoarders.

 

[Ardeus]

So, have setup this rock structure and I am curing it in a small tank.

What do I do with this? Here's what I have available:

- I have a few small gorgonians and I can put them there or nearby;
- I can use zoas;
- I can use GSP;
- I can use briareum;
- I can use an encrusting golden psammocora (it would take a decade to cover the rock structure)
- I can use some caulerpa behind the rocks.

I also have a diamond goby that will dig under the whole thing.

I really like the rock structure and I am even considering leaving it without corals. Or use some or all of the above.

 

[reefwiser]

You want to group in odds. 3,5,7 look to building triangles with the grouping.
The real stunning reef tanks do aquascape but do it by totally accident Do to it being pleasing to the eye.

 

[OriginalUserName]

A few reasons I think. Most people are just trying to keep coral alive and as others mentioned most are trying to collect corals, not design an aquascape.

The idea that it's hard to replicate terrestrial scapes with reefs is also part of it. Our rocks grow and change shape. FW rocks don't.

 

[Ardeus]

If you start a tank with the goal of recreating a terrestrial scape, it's not technically difficult.

Grass: GSP
Trees: pick up a dead sps and colonize it with zoas, xenias, GSP or many others. Or use a sarcophyton, kenya tree, cladiella, etc.

The hard part is how to stop being a collector. I see this as a great side project for someone that already has a reef tank. You can grow the corals you need in your main tank and move them to the other one.

 

[ca1ore]

@ca1ore I don't agree with that, I think that artful aquascapes are rare. Very rarely I see reef tanks that use corals and rocks to create a painting like an artist does with paint or a sculpture does with rock.

The we'll have to agree to disagree because I don't see it. Other than Amano, and a few clones, who outside of the Japanese are doing any of that? Even many of the Amano-influenced approaches that attempt to make a planted tank look like a forest, for example, my be artistically interesting but ultimately pointless (at least to me). Bit like bonsai trees. Perhaps the goals are just different in that most reefkeepers are trying to replicate a natural reef. There are no photographers of the caliber of Amano working on reef tanks, I'll grant you that.

 

[Ardeus]

I am not a fan of Amano, to tell you the truth. He came to Portugal and did the biggest nature aquarium of the world and I haven't seen it.

But we can separate this issue in 2 categories: replicating terrestrial landscapes and applying general visual techniques to make a tank look better to its owner.

I understand what you say about the replication of terrestrial landscapes but I will say it again: even if we don't want to apply generic aesthetic guidelines about composition, color, etc, they will greatly help the owner of a reef tank to make it more pleasing to his own eyes.

Some people don't care much how their tank looks, but most do and it's something we all can learn.

I have yet to see any real effort to replicate the natural reefs. 99% of the tanks resemble nothing like any natural reef.

 

[ca1ore]

I will also grant you that the vast majority of reef aquascapes suck. I've stopped commenting on threads where folks ask for aquascape input lest I be viewed a curmudgeonly negative. I certainly attempt to replicate a natural reef in my tank (and I always use the golden rule of thirds). I'll post a picture later and you can decide whether I've succeeded or not LOL.

BTW, I really like these kinds of thoughtful debates .... I'm not trying to troll you.

 

[reefwiser]

Man you missed seeing that aquarium what an wonderful piece of aquarium keeping it was.
https://www.oceanario.pt/en/exhibitions/temporary-exhibition/

This tank is a good aquascape reef tank.
I real reef tank build that would have a natural look would be a small section of a reef with just one coral species in the tank.

 

[dieselkeeper]

I try to treat the magnifica as if she's Marilyn Monroe: I put her on a pedestal and drown her with light and crazy flow blowing her skirt up.

Lol, I have a magnifica and do the same thing.

 

[Ardeus]

@reefwiser I don't get what his concept was. Some time has passed and maybe I will go see it next time I go to Lisbon.

Here's an aquascape I did with a friend, 10 feet deep.

 

[dieselkeeper]

That's cool. Great job.

 

[Ardeus]

I found this video by chance on a forum and some people were wondering what kind of wavemaker and filter was used in this "tank"

 

[User1]

I will also grant you that the vast majority of reef aquascapes suck. I've stopped commenting on threads where folks ask for aquascape input lest I be viewed a curmudgeonly negative. I certainly attempt to replicate a natural reef in my tank (and I always use the golden rule of thirds). I'll post a picture later and you can decide whether I've succeeded or not LOL.

BTW, I really like these kinds of thoughtful debates .... I'm not trying to troll you.

Glad I am not the only curmudgeon here...or at least my better half calls me that on some days. Your post made me giggle in that regards

 

[User1]

I'll say has an active scuba diver it is almost impossible to scale an aquarium reef tank to reflect things I see while diving around the world. Mostly what I see is a box full of water with skittles tossed in randomly. No disrespect but the corals I've seen at various depths do not look anything like what I see in a lot of tanks, including my own. It really is interesting what the eye sees under water or even on video with filters after I'm done. With my new tank that I've recently upgraded to I ended up going with a 30" tall aquarium so I can build walls and coves trying to obtain depth once things fill in.

The challenge is finding a balance of low, medium, and high light corals and some that will grow on walls. I have a feeling over the course of a year I'm going to find out this didn't work and doing a major rework on the rocks. Then again it the lyretail anthias I have are acting like I see while diving. Hovering over corals and rocks then darting into the open water column / deep area and striking food that passes by. Was hoping to introduce some butterfly fish, Millesteed possibly, that hover over and around the walls. Time will tell...

 

[ca1ore]

It is hard to scale a reef tank, given the limitations most must accept. I was recently at the Long Island Aquarium in New York and their reef tank looks almost indistinguishable from a natural reef .... but it's 20,000 gallons. My tank is 450, and I have tried to replicate natural chunk of the reef. Following the rule of thirds, the main reef section extends almost 2/3 of the way down the 8' length, and the anemone island is at the 1/3 point. I also don't personally like piles of rock that go up too high, and designed in a couple of sand 'lanes' that go fully front to back. It is satisfactory to me.

 

[Ardeus]

No matter how hard we try to control it, our tanks end up looking too full.

I know this is not possible, but if you have a smaller structure on the right side, the tank would "breath" better.

 

[ca1ore]

Growth is unavoidable, both good and bad .....

Even in 6 months, things have become more crowded. One cannot easily tell from the photos, but this tank is 36" front to back and the 'anemone island' was initially well in front of the rear right section. Unfortunately that is no longer the case. I have a bad habit of being unable to resist adding new corals and making the scape look cluttered as a result.