Aquascaping

[Firereptile]

I'm starting the build on my new 180 gallon reef tank very soon. I'm super excited and have been trying to plan everything out in advance. I'm wondering if anyone on here has some tips, tricks or good examples when it comes to making an aquascape for a reef. As far as I can tell there really aren't too many hard and fast rules besides allowing water to flow through it, but if anyone else know any please pass them on.
Thanks everyone

 

[Ba19Ma88]

Try to keep 3-4 inches of space around the entire inside glass

 

[Firereptile]

For fish to have room to swim?

 

[bdaley]

That and flow, people getting into the hobby tend to forget flow is vital to a reef.

 

[delta]

Not a hard fast rule but it is a good one for the viewing sides of the glass as you can also clean the glass easily. A lot depends on the look you are going for and the depth of your tank. keeping the rock off the back wall can cramp even a 24"deep tank.

But there is a lot to consider, to mention a few
tank design, overflows and such can change how one might aquascape
What types of internal pumps will you be using?
Style of reef keeping. Some like a small amount of LR as they want to let there corals fill in the majority of the tank.
Do you want tower that will require a platform base and some sort of epoxy/reef mortar
Some like to keep the LR off the sand and use different methods for doing so
Maybe you are not going use sand. so you need to consider stability and rock slides more so than a tank with sand.

It is a pretty open ended question looking for a little direction of what your are thinking

 

[Firereptile]

I just want to make sure I have an aquascape that allows space for corals of all light and water flow needs to have a space. Also I am using sand. I already have about 225 pounds of dry rock and intend to use it all.

 

[Reeferer]

Tape out your tank dimensions on a floor or somewhere you can tinker around with different aquascapes. Once you decide on a specific aquascape you can transfer it to your tank. This alleviates dropping rocks in your tank and allows for easy access and changes without accidentally breaking your tank.

 

[lex_lutha111384]

If u want to see a great video on aquascaping, go on Vivid aqauariums' website and watch Daves aquascaping video. Its awesome.

 

[P-Nut]

I always liked the island look. In a 180, you can cement some dry rock together and build 3 nice tree looking structures. I always liked that look.

 

[AnthonyF]

I am still fairly new to the hobby so please, anyone correct me if I am wrong. One thing that I feel should come into consideration is what fish you are planning to keep. And the reason I say that is whether or not they tend to do better when caves are present, or rock work where they can use that to make a home, vs making a house in the sand. So yes flow may be a key component, along with the ability to clean the glass but also, how the fish live in a natural environment is important as well. Getting back to cleaning the glass though, that is definitely important. I made that mistake and I cant really clean the glass all that well without really making m corals mad at me for a while. Good Luck!