Need some General advise...including aquascaping...

[ps2cho]

Tank has been up for 9 months now. I am not happy with the aquascape. I feel like its too much like a pile of rocks. I want to simplify it.
Its a 30x31x15 60G DT.

1) I figure first there is too much rock, right?
2) Having trouble finding inspiration, since there aren't as many shallow square reefs out there. Anybody know of a good one?

Also my sand bed went all brown. Its not algae...its almost like the sand clumped, then clumped with fish poo and turned brown. I have some fresh Caribsea Argonite that is a larger grain. How much should I change out at a time? I want a nice clean sandbed.

Any other general advice?

Other than that, my parameters have settled down nicely.
10 dkh
440 ca
1300 mg
1.025 salinity
3-5 nitrates
.04-.08 po4

 

[JOKER]

I think if it were me I would work from the back first and have a nice center piece and have a couple structures to the sides. As for sand it looks like it is shallow so I would think you could remove a pretty good amount at a time.

 

[ps2cho]

Whats the best way to remove the sand?
I tried scooping it with a dog food scooper, but it seems inefficient and I'll be at this all day.

I also don't really want to shop vac it because I'd like to attempt at not sucking up any worms/snails that are hiding in the sand.

 

[rosieosieee]

how high up is the tank? do you usually view from the side or the top? when aquascaping think about the side that is viewed most, then from there i would create a centerpiece. i LOVE making little arches, it helps with flow rather than having "mountains". maybe try building "up" and creating dimension by having taller towers and shorter pieces.

 

[ps2cho]

Its high up -- always from the sides.
Including the tank, its 5.75ft up.

 

[rosieosieee]

ok, so in the rear portion of your tank, i would try to build "up". nothing is in the top quarter of your water. then in the forward section of your tank.....do what pleases you. little mounts, pillars, or arches.

 

[rgsa8892]

To be honest everyone else's tank will always look better than yours in your eyes. I would look at other tanks and wonder why I can't get mine to look that good then I would get people to say the same about mine. I think your tank looks great with the freestanding rock work and open swimming area

 

[TheSaint216]

Crappy pic but its 24 x 24 x 12, I used all Tonga. Create some Flow. Id move your rock around so it looks like its going from one of the front corners around to the opposite back if that makes sense.

 

[ps2cho]

To be honest everyone else's tank will always look better than yours in your eyes. I would look at other tanks and wonder why I can't get mine to look that good then I would get people to say the same about mine. I think your tank looks great with the freestanding rock work and open swimming area

True that I guess....

Maybe I just need to change the back corner a little. I feel like its just dead space because I cannot put any corals directly in front of the pump, and its so close to the back wall the fish can barely have enough space to go there anyway.
As suggeted above, I think if I build up a little it will free up more space.

 

[christopher.reinert]

Me personally, I would style up the rocks in the center and make it tall and spiraled.

Create caves and entrances. And allows the fish to swim around the tank.

 

[jayhawk]

I like what you have. There is plenty of space for corals that are placed on the bottom. There is plenty of space for corals to grow on the rocks. The only thing I would suggest is creating depth. The rock in the front appear to be taller than some in the background. I would shorten the front so the rocks get taller/bigger as it goes towards the back. Other than that, once the corals thrive and grow out, you will have a great looking tank.

 

[Robink]

I like the way your tank looks. I guess it's all personal preference. I think mine needs improvement...)

 

[moneyman6891]

Siphon the sand out with a hose from a gravel vacuum. I'd take it out in sections, 1/4 a week or whatever you are comfortable removing.

As far as your scape, have you thought about a rock structure coming out of the water?

 

[ps2cho]

So I took the advice here and started going upwards.

Its a little cloudy with all the sand that churned up, but I think I like this much better. It feels like the fish can make a full lap around the tank now rather than being stuck in the center.

I still might make a few adjustments such as the rock with the pink birdsnest that is up front (I think the rock is too tall for being at the front) so I will remove the birdsnest and remove that rock.

Once that is done, I can start cleaning up the sand bed so its a nice uniform color with no dead shells and general trash covering it.

 

[JOKER]

Like the new look!!

 

[ps2cho]

Playing around with the D5000...Man photography on reef tanks is hard...

Any tips on that?
I set it on a tripod,
Manual mode.
Auto white balance
Auto f/stop
800 ISO (read online lower is better?)
2 second timer before the shot.

Anything else to change to get a better shot?

 

[JOKER]

A red piece of plastic like in those cheap glasses for kids will knock lot of the blue out