Is this enough rock habitat for fish?

[Pepper Reefer]

Hello, I am currently designing my aquascape with clay for the rough design before making it with marco rock.

I know that it is very different from the clay to the rock, so it will be difficult for you to answer, but is this enough habitat for fish / inverts?

I wanted to have a little cave on the left side, and a main island with many swim throughs / areas to hide inside of it + an overhang for a skunk cleaner shrimp.
I really like the negative space aquascape design - but I am worried that I am doing it wrong / am not creating enough living space for my future fish. My tank is 75 gallons, 48" x 21" x 18" for perspective

I have read that it is important to have swim throughs / hiding places, to decrease aggression & allow fish to escape from others
Is there anything that I am missing / doing wrong?
Do I need more nooks, crannies, and swim throughs for my fish & inverts to be happy?
Thank you very much for your advice!

 

[JTP424]

Cool concept and approach to the build.
Do you have an idea of how many fish you plan on having?
Are the heights of the clay representative? Or will the "rocks" be taller? Like, halfway up the tank, more than half? etc.
Throw some dimensions on there

 

[Pepper Reefer]

Cool concept and approach to the build.
Do you have an idea of how many fish you plan on having?
Are the heights of the clay representative? Or will the "rocks" be taller? Like, halfway up the tank, more than half? etc.
Throw some dimensions on there

>Do you have an idea of how many fish you plan on having?
Initially only 'worker' / clean up crew fish & inverts, so maybe like 10 at max, probably less - but overtime I may start adding more, if I can maintain a very strong copepod population dragonets would be cool for example - so that could tick up to like 15 many years from now. In general much smaller fish sizes as well - primary focus on the coral
>Are the heights of the clay representative?
Representative in that ones that are taller / larger in clay will be taller in rock - but not perfectly to scale!
The main, center structure would be at maximum 2/3 up the tank
The smaller, round rock on the right side with 3 corals on it would be 1/3 the height of the tank - located on the bottom right 'rule of thirds' intersection
So about 6 and 12 inches respectively

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Your stocking really is the only thing that will dictate, but in my opinion, that's a lot of coral mounting area and not much for fish.

I tried to build aquascape so that every fish in the tank can escape if they want to. Caves, ledges, pass-throughs, areas hidden from your view will give most fish a safe feeling.

 

[Pepper Reefer]

Your stocking really is the only thing that will dictate, but in my opinion, that's a lot of coral mounting area and not much for fish.

I tried to build aquascape so that every fish in the tank can escape if they want to. Caves, ledges, pass-throughs, areas hidden from your view will give most fish a safe feeling.

>that's a lot of coral mounting area and not much for fish
I think you're right - that's what I'm worried about - I designed too much for the coral, and not enough for the fish

 

[Jekyl]

Your stocking really is the only thing that will dictate, but in my opinion, that's a lot of coral mounting area and not much for fish.

I tried to build aquascape so that every fish in the tank can escape if they want to. Caves, ledges, pass-throughs, areas hidden from your view will give most fish a safe feeling.

This

 

[JTP424]

Awesome, I think you're going to be happy with what you come up with.
Definitely agree with all the other points too.
Buy the rock you think you will need, and build a structure at a time. you can always add more rock to your scape as you go. More difficult to remove. Maybe build that big structure in the back... wait a few months with it in the tank and up and running, then add more?

 

[Tcook]

Not enough rock if that is close to scale imo. This is a 55 gal that I had 18 years ago that had plenty of hiding places. Tang police, the statute of limitations has run out.

 

[LordofCinder]

Personally IMO its not enough for a saltwater tank. Not only does rock provide hiding spots, shelter and security for the fish, it is also the surface area for nitrifying bacteria that keeps the animals alive. You can't have too much surface area, but you can have too little, IMO this idea is 'too little'.

 

[Pepper Reefer]

@LordofCinder @Tcook @JTP424 @Jekyl
I really appreciate all of your advice!

What about this? (pretend the cream is purple)
I tried to add more hiding places & swim throughs on the back side of the left euphyllia rock, added another big structure similar to the main center one - so there will be two large structures with hiding places & swim throughs

Is this enough for the fish to thrive? or should I do even more than this? (also is it enough rocks for nitrifying bacteria?)

I was planning on doing ~75 pounds of rock for the 1:1 rule (75 gallon tank) - will also have a lot of ceramic media balls & slab in sump

 

[Tcook]

@LordofCinder @Tcook @JTP424 @Jekyl
I really appreciate all of your advice! View attachment 2937760What about this? (pretend the cream is purple)
I tried to add more hiding places & swim throughs on the back side of the left euphyllia rock, added another big structure similar to the main center one - so there will be two large structures with hiding places & swim throughs

Is this enough for the fish to thrive? or should I do even more than this? (also is it enough rocks for nitrifying bacteria?)

I was planning on doing ~75 pounds of rock for the 1:1 rule (75 gallon tank) - will also have a lot of ceramic media balls & slab in sump

75 will be a good starting point. I think I had trouble visualizing how the clay translated to LR. To me the same volume LR for those clay structures would be closer to 15 lbs.

 

[atoll]

More is more when it comes to rock.

 

[Jekyl]

If planning on 75lbs in the tank, buy 100. By the time you smash it with a hammer to make smaller pieces.... when building keep in mind that every cave or swim through basically equals 1 fish you can keep. They all need their own hiding / sleeping place.