Does size matter - the great debate

[AKLiving]

So, there is controversy in the house tonight. I won’t say where I stand on one of the oldest debates.

Hopefully we can put an end to the differing points of view once and for all. Please vote for which side you are on.

Be honest and I won’t judge your answer.

Going in a RSR 350 due to arrive in about 3 weeks. Plenty of time to decide. The outside edges of PVC are the dimensions of the tank.

This was my first time doing anything but a pile of rocks. Gentle critiques welcome.

3 Piece NSA

Eagle and Mech Warrior 2 Piece NSA

Video might help give a better 3D perspective.

 

[Fish Styx]

IMO the first is the best looking. That being said, you may want to lower the height to allow a little more room for coral growth. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Aluco]

I agree the first looks better, however you may end up wishing you had more room for corals, growth and all. My tanks 100g and now it's getting full of coral I wish there were more space between the front glass and the corals, rocks for fish to swim through. If it were me, even though I like how the first one looks better I'd choose the second one in anticipation to add to the aquascape with lots of happy coral.



First one all the way of a fowlr Tho

 

[gbroadbridge]

So, there is controversy in the house tonight. I won’t say where I stand on one of the oldest debates.

Hopefully we can put an end to the differing points of view once and for all. Please vote for which side you are on.

Be honest and I won’t judge your answer.

Going in a RSR 350 due to arrive in about 3 weeks. Plenty of time to decide. The outside edges of PVC are the dimensions of the tank.

This was my first time doing anything but a pile of rocks. Gentle critiques welcome. View attachment 3025172
3 Piece NSA
View attachment 3025173
Eagle and Mech Warrior 2 Piece NSA

View attachment 3025176Video might help give a better 3D perspective.

Having been in your position 2 years ago I think the 2 piece is better long term to give room to see the fish.

I would also bring the height down to a max of 50% as once coral takes off it has a way of taking over and taking up the top half pretty quickly.

Attached below my tank May 2021 and Feb 2023 - almost 2 years.

 

[AKLiving]

IMO the first is the best looking. That being said, you may want to lower the height to allow a little more room for coral growth. Just my 2 cents.

I have at least 6” to the waterline from the highest point. More in a lot of areas. Do you think I need more?

 

[AKLiving]

I agree the first looks better, however you may end up wishing you had more room for corals, growth and all. My tanks 100g and now it's getting full of coral I wish there were more space between the front glass and the corals, rocks for fish to swim through. If it were me, even though I like how the first one looks better I'd choose the second one in anticipation to add to the aquascape with lots of happy coral.



First one all the way of a fowlr Tho

I have 5-7” in front of the forward most points and still enough room to clean in the back. The 5-7” are just those 2 points which could easily be removed (though I like the eagle’s beak). Everywhere else is 8+” to the front glass. It’s been decades since I had fish and don’t remember needing more room. It’s going to be a mixed tank and don’t plan on many, if any, large fish. Do you think those 2 points should be removed for more front of tank space?

 

[Aluco]

I think as long as you don't have a bunch of empty space in the back you will be fine. What I found is when I placed the rockwork down the center and added coral to the front there was more space in the back for the fish to get around. Ideally that would be opposit. You have some nice open areas within the scape as well so most likely less an issue for yourself

 

[AKLiving]

Having been in your position 2 years ago I think the 2 piece is better long term to give room to see the fish.

I would also bring the height down to a max of 50% as once coral takes off it has a way of taking over and taking up the top half pretty quickly.

Attached below my tank May 2021 and Feb 2023 - almost 2 years.

View attachment 3025197

View attachment 3025198

I see your point. Thanks you for the perspective of after growth. It’s hard looking at too much empty space early on. Since it is 3 separate pieces I can always remove one later if I decide on keeping all 3 for now.

 

[AKLiving]

I think as long as you don't have a bunch of empty space in the back you will be fine. What I found is when I placed the rockwork down the center and added coral to the front there was more space in the back for the fish to get around. Ideally that would be opposit. You have some nice open areas within the scape as well so most likely less an issue for yourself

I agree and tried to make the back more flat and filled for that purpose.

 

[Aluco]

here's a side shot of my tank idk if you can see what I'm talking about but my corals are still babies imo and will grow in even more

 

[Fish Styx]

I have at least 6” to the waterline from the highest point. More in a lot of areas. Do you think I need more?

Depends on the look you're going for, honestly. I like to leave a bit more room than that-- usually the top 25% of the tank

 

[gbroadbridge]

I see your point. Thanks you for the perspective of after growth. It’s hard looking at too much empty space early on. Since it is 3 separate pieces I can always remove one later if I decide on keeping all 3 for now.

Yep, my tank looked pretty bare for the first 12 months as it was mainly SPS coral on the sand and rockwork.

After 12 months I started adding SPS on the top of the rocks, and they really took off 3 months later when the tank finally settled down and I had the chemistry totally under control.

This is after 14 months, where there was still quite a lot of room up top.

Having the ability to remove a rock later is good, but just keep in mind headroom for coral growth.

My rockwork is all cemented so no chance of changing it now.

 

[AKLiving]

Yep, my tank looked pretty bare for the first 12 months as it was mainly SPS coral on the sand and rockwork.

After 12 months I started adding SPS on the top of the rocks, and they really took off 3 months later when the tank finally settled down and I had the chemistry totally under control.

This is after 14 months, where there was still quite a lot of room up top.

View attachment 3025205

Having the ability to remove a rock later is good, but just keep in mind headroom for coral growth.

My rockwork is all cemented so no chance of changing it now.

Great point. I could probably break off the bases and then build a new base around the center column. That would give me another 2-3”

 

[Kasrift]

Having been in your position 2 years ago I think the 2 piece is better long term to give room to see the fish.

I would also bring the height down to a max of 50% as once coral takes off it has a way of taking over and taking up the top half pretty quickly.

Attached below my tank May 2021 and Feb 2023 - almost 2 years.

View attachment 3025197

View attachment 3025198

This is great advice, going to side track and ask what is in the bottom right? Is it a bowerbanki? Also what is in the far back left corner of this shot?

 

[gbroadbridge]

This is great advice, going to side track and ask what is in the bottom right? Is it a bowerbanki? Also what is in the far back left corner of this shot?

Back left is a heliofunghia (long tentacle plate coral), front right is a lobophylia (open brain coral)

 

[AKLiving]

Thanks for all the advice. Unfortunately the feather beaked creature no longer identified as an eagle so underwent some drastic reconstructive surgery. It decided to become a dragon. Oh well, who am I to say otherwise.

I now have 6”, 7.5”, 9” or 28%, 35%, 42% of the tank hight above the 3 highest arches. And lots of space for coral to grow and fish to continue swimming. The plain rock in the middle I’ll pull out for when I get smaller tank going.

I wound up not needing mortar but since I had mixed some up I used the small amount I had made. Using super glue and powdered MarcoRock worked excellent. Most of the time the rock broke before the joint when I started to break off the base.
“I picked the wrong time to stop sniffing glue”

 

[jabberwock]

All your scapes look good. I am just not a fan of dry rock.

 

[AKLiving]

All your scapes look good. I am just not a fan of dry rock.

I agree. My first time with dry but across the frozen tundra, where shipping costs are crazy, even dry rock is $8/lb and the only local place is a big box diseased store. I had to drive over 700 miles to get this rock and that was only worth it because I combined it with a hockey tournament trip.

 

[jabberwock]

I agree. My first time with dry but across the frozen tundra, where shipping costs are crazy, even dry rock is $8/lb and the only local place is a big box diseased store. I had to drive over 700 miles to get this rock and that was only worth it because I combined it with a hockey tournament trip.

Oh, I get it. I drove from Atlanta to Tampa for local pickup. Not an option for you.

 

[MikeG]

I like your revised scape, gives a lot of room for coral to grow and fish to swim. I was going to give that same advice as everyone else. I went through the same exact thing about a year ago and settled on this.