Aquascape - how much sand exposed??

[jcm1229]

I have a 3 month old 37 gallon tall (30x12 footprint). I have about 42 pounds of LR mostly vertical in the rear 1/2-2/3 of the tank. Not a lot of "shelf" areas for corals. My only coral thus far is a ricordea rock with about 18 polyps sitting on top of my rockwork. I'm thinking about adding a few more pieces of rock about 1/2 height of my rock formation to give a tier effect. This may consume most of my "open" sand area in the front 1/3 of the tank. I see several pics of reef tanks where corals aqnd rock go from the front glass to the back glass with little or no sand visible.
Is this desireable?? What are the pros/cons of this method??

Suggestions??

 

[plankton123]

jcm,

Short answer is 'what ever turns you on'. The long answer is if you really want to research the aesthetics then buy a book on bonsai gardens and/or a book by Murano (spelling). Most folks like a couple inches of sand band and at least a 1/3 exposed so the tank looks 'balanced' and you can actually place clams in the open sand area or watch hermit crabs fight for territory.

Good luck

Scott