Designing my perfect aquascape

[Scooter21]

Im getting ready to build my rockscape
Ive been tossing around ideas and thinking about this for a long time. I really want to have a plant in place before I start gluing. My tank is a 36 gallon bow front. What I want to go fo is an LPS dominant tank that is super colorful. Some of the show piece type tanks if you google image search "nano reef tank." Where they are basically covered wall to wall in different colors. At first I thought I would do one of the "negative space aquascapes" but now I'm thinking it just won't allow me to schivleve my goal of tons of coral. I've started looking at some rock shapes on the site "dream aquascapes." I would never pay those prices, but the designs seem like I could easily replicate it. Do you guys have any opinions? I think a big thing I'm struggling with is a see rocks that look nice but they have no coral to visualize and then I see finished tanks I like but they don't have before pictures. I need some side by side pictures to really get an idea



I've attached a picture of an negative space aquascape, a couple designs I'm now looking at and then a finished tank that I like.

 

[Scooter21]

Other considerations of mine are that I want to incorporate some caves for diamon watchman goby in the sand, a spot i can try to get an anemone to stay for the clowns, some caves for the shrimp and blenny.

I think I can accomplish most of that by just making the caves in smaller rock before I start and then fixing those caves in place to build the overall structure. Now sure what I need to consider for the clown habitat, though

 

[TinnysReef]

I watched tons of YouTube videos before starting mine. I'm setting up a monster tank and know once it's done it'll be hard to move anything after ... which is probably a good thing because I'm a meddler when given the opportunity.

This BRS video on HNSA aquqscaping I think was the most helpful of the several hours I watched.


I love all the bottom dwellers and inverts so making lots of homes for them was my goal.

 

[Scooter21]

I still haven't started, but I'm getting ready to. I found some rocks locally for $1 a pound and bought about 45 pounds. What's making this complicated is that I've also decided I want to make this a floating rock scape. I've got all the supplies now. Rocks, plexiglass, foam, epoxy, superglue, egg crate. I've started building the brackets that the rocks will attach to, but that's all the farther I've made it

 

[bradreef]

I would simply use super glue and baking soda then rock dust. I think you will find that you dont need 45 lbs and much will go in a sump

 

[bradreef]

All the scapes above can be built with glue and baking soda and solid.