Aquascape feedback?

[pbuckalew]

 

[pbuckalew]

I’m aquascaping a new 120 gallon setup and would love some feedback on my scape. I have never done one so large.

 

[Coral reefer]

Feel like it looks pretty good, might need to leave some room behind it between the back wall and rocks for flow/cleaning ability.
Are you going to try to cement it together? If so I would break it into like 3 separate pieces rather than one huge one

 

[Mr. Seahorse]

Looks good

 

[MichaelB]

+1 keep about 3 inches from glass on all sides maybe more room on the front if you plan sand bed type corals. The rocks at the top I would consider bonding a few of them together to ensure they won't be a tumbling risk. You also will want to be able to remove sections of rock should you want to frag stuff or you ever getna pest of some type so you can treat or scrub the rock. One massive rock fused together there will pretty much nothing you could do beyond basically breaking down the entire tank or just living with it in terms of future problem solving options.

3 or more structures bonded together is what I would go with. You can do it in a way that it seems one peice just takes a little thought.

Over all it looks good with a few modifications refrenced above.

 

[PizzaOven]

2nd what @Coral reefer and @MichaelB said. Speaking from experience. I had to move my reef tank across town, and having separate removable rock structures glued together made moving everything easier.

 

[PjFish]

Depending on the size of your fish maybe increase the size of the upper arches since any coral growth them arches just shrink plus as others mentioned if their not stable large fish/hands/nets will easily knock arches over! Honestly I don't glue rocks since like the options of removing them for any issues but after 25 years of stacking rock walls/ fireplaces for a living lol comes natural. Also Im a fan of bridging rocks on the first level which creates caves/tunnels at sand level front to back which actually can help overall stability and hiding spots
Add a soda can/water bottle for scale in the pics will be easier to observe rock sizes..
Looks good!

 

[tribbitt]

The spaces you leave have to accommodate not only your hand for cleaning, but also the growth of corals. Lots of corals like to be mounted to the sides of rocks growing outwards so you want to account for that

 

[H2OPlayar]

IMO, you have a lot of good hides for fish, but I would try to add more negative space in the middle. I get a little bit of a "rock wall" feeling and if that is what you want, you got it. My thought would be to see if you can use the cement to turn some of the middle rocks on their sides to create more negative space in the middle of the tank. And like the others said, make 3 individual structures that can be placed uniquely.

 

[PjFish]

Also creating different heights of arches/ pillars for a natural look to get away from the level wall look maybe

 

[PjFish]

With a drill bit and pieces of pvc easy to peg rockets together with no glue for stability plus can easily slide apart later if need be works good for large pillars etc

 

[dangalang]

I like the overall shape. I can't tell how high the rocks are from the photo, but make sure they're not too high, give those corals some room to grow!

 

[Kensington Reefer]

Fish need room to swim
If properly cared for they will grow and so will the corals
Both result in LESS room to swim

 

[ReyDeFarts]

Nice rocks! And nice foot print to play with. Definitely listen to what @Coral reefer mentioned about working with smaller sections. I took his suggestion for my tank, significantly smaller than yours, and so glad I didn't glue all my structures together. I've had to make adjustments and actually break a couple pieces to accommodate better flow and maintenance space after it was up and running for a few months. Would have been hell trying to do that as a single structure.

My approach to this, I'd get my chisel and hammer out to start breaking some of the chunky pieces into smaller pieces. Then you can start cementing and designing 3-5 pieces that can seem to be a single piece. It would open up more swim throughs throughout the scape without the bulkiness of some of those rocks.

 

[pbuckalew]

Feel like it looks pretty good, might need to leave some room behind it between the back wall and rocks for flow/cleaning ability.
Are you going to try to cement it together? If so I would break it into like 3 separate pieces rather than one huge one

Great advice thanks.

 

[pbuckalew]

Thanks so much, everyone! Incorporating this advice and will repost. I love this community!

 

[Alexander1312]

I did not see this mentioned, but use less rock relative to your tank size than you feel like you want to use. The rock itself creates issues later as it sucks in all kinds of stuff that will be released later into the tank when its ‘full’. Therefore, less is more. Instead, get some good sand which will help with creating enough size for surface for beneficial bacteria and which is easier replaceable. Also, focus more on alive real estate such as corals vs dead stuff such as rock for decoration purposes. This will better build up a stronger and more stable biome.