What lessons have your aquascape taught you?

[Queenofreef]

That's what I did. My one piece is actually made up of several pieces that can stand on their own. Make it easy to assemble in the tank.

Should've done this!! Big chunk broke off of the 220g scape when trying to place it in myself, so heavy I am a weakling

 

[ninjamyst]

Should've done this!! Big chunk broke off of the 220g scape when trying to place it in myself, so heavy I am a weakling

hahah i was definitely worried about that. I plan to just mount some encrusting monti or lepto at the connecting joints and let the corals be the glue once they encrust all over.

 

[clownfish81]

Interested in hearing about any lessons your current/previous aquascapes have taught you, or what you would change if you could go back in time!

I’ll start—
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My 40g is my second tank and first true aquascaping attempt (pile of live rock in first build). With this scape, I grossly underestimated the room corals need and left ~3-4” of space between glass and rock. Looks great empty, but not taking into account fully grown-in coral size means I almost always knock some off and angry zoas when doing maintenance. And that sucks.

If I could go back, I would’ve paid more attention to shadowing—the left side has stayed empty because of serious shadowing from the large pillar. Wish I paid attention to that in the tank prior to committing as my coral choices are sadly quite limited there now.

Recently added rubble pieces on the top ledge and arch and it’s really made the difference with this tank. My aquascape had very flat areas, making the corals look a bit one-dimensional when placed together. Looking back, I think my initial scape was too cut-and-dry, adding little pieces of rubble here and there makes the aquascape look much more visually interesting.

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With my new 220g, tried to apply those lessons and quite happy with the results. Paid a lot of attention to shadowing because wanted to give each coral “the best spot in the tank”. But this was challenging because as a newbie to large aquascaping it was hard to create height while also avoiding sharp slopes. To avoid that, focused on the transitions between heights more and made sure the slopes (?) were drawn out.

Another challenge was leaving enough room for future colonies at the top of the scape with enough space between the coral and waterline. Creating a wooden stake showing the height limit helped a LOT when building!


What are the lessons you’ve learned from your aquascapes? Hopefully I can learn some new techniques!

WOW. Your aquascapes are insane!

 

[300gallon]

I have this SWFO SKELETAL CORAL TANK just wondering if I convert to live rock do I need to remove all of the skeletal coral which by the way is very expensive or can the two survive each others company?

 

[SillyReef]

I like larger pieces that keep an open flow to bare bottom.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Reviving this conversation. What lessons have you all learned from your aquascapes?

 

[vlangel]

I have learned that it is possible to make use of height in a tall tank. I bought my 56 gallon column tank for my seahorses. When my last pony passed I went back to keeping lots of fish and softie coral and macro algae. I built up the sandbed on the right side of the tank to about 7" at the deepest part. That portion is held back by a rock retaining wall. The left side of the tank is only 1" deep. Also on the right side I have a tree like stoney skeleton coral where my rainbow BTAs live, (away from the rest of the coral, ha ha!). The display has more rock and sand than most of today's tanks but it is not the ominous rock wall of years gone by. I also have rock and sand in the 30 gallon sump. It is a very very stable tank, with only lights, return pump, heater and 1 power head. Maintenance is a 5+ gallon water change a week for nutrient export and trace mineral import.
Here is a pic:

 

[Ryebreadiest]

Don’t make the sides of your arches too steep - vertical walls are not great for coral placement.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

I wish I'd built two caves instead of just one. Everyone wanted to hang out in the cave! And then when the clowns chose the cave as the place to lay their eggs, all others were evicted. I thought multiple islands would make multiple territories but apparently only the one with a big cave was cool.

 

[vinvinaa]

i learned a person really should spend a month aquascaping and make use of all the modern tricks (acrylic rods, proper coral cements).

I also planned for almost 3 weeks on paper and tried my very best to design the setup, seeking help from R2R folks herre. In the end, I used only 1 hour to stack up all rocks together...

 

[Queenofreef]

Don’t make the sides of your arches too steep - vertical walls are not great for coral placement.

I learned that lesson the hard way

 

[DaneGer21]

I have learned to stop doing NSA’s. We preach and preach that fish are territorial but yet we make our aquascapes less and less for the fish and more what looks cool. Stop taking away their hiding and safe places…

 

[NotoriousDMC]

Rookie lesson: a mixed reef needs islands that do not touch other rock or surfaces—at all—for softies that will otherwise run rampant. Even the nice ones are a pain when they get close to your acros!!!