Looking for constructive criticism on scape for 135 gal cube

[ScottD]

Hi everyone,

Looking for some constructive criticism on my rock layout. It’s for a 135 gal cube (3’x3x2’) that is viewable on 3 sides.

My goal for the tank is to give the fish plenty of areas to hide, but still able to have some flow through it and not looking like one big blob of rock. I’m not a fan of the minimalist or nsa style scapes as I feel it doesn’t give enough hiding areas. I e tried to keep everything a minimum of 4-5” off the glass to give room around it for maintenance. For now this is going to be fowlr but plan on adding corals down the road. Will probably be mostly softies but may mix a couple lps or sps in on the top.

For flow I’m planning on 3 or 4 MP40’s on the back wall and one on the back of the left side.

For fish I’m planning on a clownfish pair, Foxface, bristletooth tang, some wrasses, gobies, and blennies of some sort. Maybe a small school of something that would swim around the top of the tank.

I’d say I’ve used up around 100-110 pounds of rock out of the 150 lbs I bought so far, so still have some more rock I could switch out or use in places.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Scott

 

[exnisstech]

Plenty of places for fish and coral. I tend to like structures of varying hieght but those are in rectangular tanks. I think yours is perfect for a cube. It should look sweet once you get some coral covering the rock.

 

[Northern Flicker]

Honestly I got nothing. It’s good!

 

[ScottD]

Plenty of places for fish and coral. I tend to like structures of varying hieght but those are in rectangular tanks. I think yours is perfect for a cube. It should look sweet once you get some coral covering the rock.

Thank you. I tried to vary the height some but with it being a cube and being viewable on 3 sides I found it difficult to do it. I also threw any idea of symmetry and balance in the individual structures out the window as well because it just wasn’t working.

 

[ScottD]

Honestly I got nothing. It’s good!

Thanks

 

[ScottJ]

I like it! And when you get coral, you have room for some islands here and there. Going to be a nice looking tank.

 

[Lavey29]

Looks fine for cube design tank.

 

[shcrimps]

should oder 5-10lbs of aussie liverock from tank stop to get some different textures to scatter around (bonus for it having cool stuff and great bacteria amongst it)

 

[ScottD]

should oder 5-10lbs of aussie liverock from tank stop to get some different textures to scatter around (bonus for it having cool stuff and great bacteria amongst it)

I’ll take a look at them. Was thinking about getting a little maricultured rock for the sump to help jump start things.

 

[shcrimps]

I’ll take a look at them. Was thinking about getting a little maricultured rock for the sump to help jump start things.

it’s pricey but to me very worth it
completely skipped the ugly phase
got some cool sponges, clams, and even a couple corals too
also the occasional micro white and pink chiton

 

[maroun.c]

Looks nice. I might just compact the rock.a bit to get a bit more empty space between rocks and glass for some.nice corals on sand bed if you want those or else for some space for corals to grow so u can still.access the sand easily or clean the glass without breaking corals.

 

[ScottD]

Looks nice. I might just compact the rock.a bit to get a bit more empty space between rocks and glass for some.nice corals on sand bed if you want those or else for some space for corals to grow so u can still.access the sand easily or clean the glass without breaking corals.

Thanks I’ll take a look at that and see what that does to the structures.