What is important to you when aquascaping your aquarium?

revhtree · May 25, 2012

What is important to you when aquascaping your aquarium?

Looks, functionality for fish and coral, space saving, lbs per gallon, etc.?

Also please share pictures if you have them.

image sources

Sushi's from nano-reef.com

k2parkstar · May 25, 2012

Well looks is obviously important, but a sometimes overlooked necessity is flow. You want to make sure you don't have dead spots for detritus buildup.

wysiwyg · May 25, 2012

i went for look and functionality for my fish

cdness · May 25, 2012

Openness for flow and swim room with a good amount of real estate for placing corals.

SDguy · May 25, 2012

cdness said:
Openness for flow and swim room with a good amount of real estate for placing corals.

Same here... openess, plus, never ever having another rock slide, so I did pillars.

caudill187 · May 25, 2012

I have traditionally thought in terms of lbs/gallon and room for corals and in retrospect this has resulted in me having too much rock. My next setup will be more geared toward flow and room for fish to swim, with coral space a close second. I have always thought that corals needed to be placed up toward to the top, so I've filled my tanks with rock, but I've learned that corals, even acros, don't need as much light as I thought.......

fsu1dolfan · May 25, 2012

In the beginning it was whatever i could build up that didnt fall. Now i go by the "less is more" theory...for flow and looks.

BarbH · May 25, 2012

When I set mine up I was trying to keep in mind of flow and also functionality for the fish, providing them with hiding spots while still allowing room to swim.

jonbar1 · May 25, 2012

Early on, it was a case of collectoritis so basically "where can I fit this rock that this coral came on". Now a days, after a couple years "studying" freshwater planted styles like Iwagumi I'm more inclined towards an aesthetic balance. Many peninsula tanks achieve what I like with large rock scape on one side and a smaller offset island on the other. Setups with "bommies" I also like and any dramatic overhang that quickly draws your attention and gives a more three dimensional feel.

Of course knowing what I like and creating it seem to be two different things.

Rockadile · May 25, 2012

little of everything in my case.

Calvertbill · May 25, 2012

I wanted flow and I wanted hiding places so I built a framework of 3/4" PVC and placed all the LR over the frame. At on point I even built a Koralia PH into the rockwork but the smallest one I had created too much flow. I think I'll follow up on this someday with a PH closer to 100-200 gph range.

Steelerfan747 · May 25, 2012

revhtree said:
What is important to you when aquascaping your aquarium?

Looks, functionality for fish and coral, space saving, lbs per gallon, etc.?

Also please share pictures if you have them.

image sources

Sushi's from nano-reef.com