Scaping, getting from point A to B

[BryanM]

So this is my tank today, its still new for sure....

This is a random, likely much larger tank, than we havem but it is more the goal than how we've started today.

I'm trying to wrap my head around trying to get from my tank today, to something that looks like this random tank shot I found.

My primary gotcha in my head is I spent a small fortune on the live rock, and it FEELS to me like we have way too much of it..... and I did try and make places for fish to hide, etc. I'm fairly happy with the live rock layout, but it does not seem to me that I can get from A to B, with the live rock amount, and placement, we have today.

I'm very open to ideas. My idea at the moment is to try and redo the live rock, focusing on High to Low, left to right, in the tank, getting lower and lower the farther right I get, into a flat sandbed maybe 1.5ft wide, so I have room for things that like to grow bigger, etc.

All help greatly appreciated, TY!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I don't think its fair to compare a tank full of rock to a tank full of coral. Coral looks better than rock any day in any picture.

I think aquascape needs to :
-provide enough rock for biofilter (which you did)
-provide lots of little caves and cracks and hiding space (which you did)
-provide coral mounting space (which you did)

Personally I think your aquascape looks good, I like the rock wall look.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

So this is my tank today, its still new for sure....

This is a random, likely much larger tank, than we havem but it is more the goal than how we've started today.

I'm trying to wrap my head around trying to get from my tank today, to something that looks like this random tank shot I found.

My primary gotcha in my head is I spent a small fortune on the live rock, and it FEELS to me like we have way too much of it..... and I did try and make places for fish to hide, etc. I'm fairly happy with the live rock layout, but it does not seem to me that I can get from A to B, with the live rock amount, and placement, we have today.

I'm very open to ideas. My idea at the moment is to try and redo the live rock, focusing on High to Low, left to right, in the tank, getting lower and lower the farther right I get, into a flat sandbed maybe 1.5ft wide, so I have room for things that like to grow bigger, etc.

All help greatly appreciated, TY!

Your aquascape looks fine! Once you get it filled with coral and other forms of life, it’ll look similar to the pictures you see online. Everyone’s tank has to start somewhere. It doesn’t just magically turn into one of those dream tanks overnight, haha.

 

[BryanM]

To clarify some, I wasn't intending my tank to look like the reference pic, certainly not day 1, or really ever.

But it seems to me a lot of the larger corals need more room for growth than my tank looks like it can support (at least to me). It's more about the amount of room, or lack thereof, that I'm worried about.