less is more aquascaping?

[jhale]

I've slowly been taking out coral and rock from my display.
As it opens up I'm liking the look more and more.

I think if I could make some tough choices and remove more small colonies I would be left with just a few large colonies of acropora, a few acan colonies, some chalices, a goniopora, some large purple mushrooms, and two clams. In addition to decreasing the rock I have been lessoning the bio-load.

I'll post some pics tomorrow when the MH come back on.

I was curious if anybody else had a more open aquascape? Post some photos please.

For my next tank I'm planning on one rock island for the SPS to grow on and more open water for the fish to swim in.

 

[EXPEDITION]

I'll be setting up a new tank right after Christmas,& will be going with the open aquascape.I would love to c some pics.Taggin along.

 

[jhale]

I forgot to mention an important part of the plan is to get the largest skimmer I can reasonably afford. Something will have to make up for the lessoned bio filter.
Perhaps a large macro algae tank as well.

 

[reefman]

i gradually take out rocks. from 100 lbs to about 70 lbs what i think i have now. i'm think with sand n tank getting more establish, lr can be minimal, as long bio filtration is met.

 

[autoponicz]

im a big fan of open aquascape too....once the colonies grow out..it looks really nice ....

the japanese tanks has very minimal rock and thier corals looks really healthy

 

[tsinkoy]

I have a "newer" tank, and I like the open look. I have two major islands, and am working on stocking it up. I'm trying to think of more creative ways of having caves and structures where fish can hide at, while maintaining the open look.

Here's a look. This one is right before I added 10 lbs more of rock, and currently, those two islands are connected by a rock bridge that doesn't take away from presence of the separate islands.

I have about 60 lbs of live rock in a 75G.

 

[EXPEDITION]

tsinkoy,can you give us a little more detail on your setup,IE skimmer size,fuge or not,& stability of water params.

 

[tsinkoy]

tsinkoy,can you give us a little more detail on your setup,IE skimmer size,fuge or not,& stability of water params.

I have a 20G sump, with Chaeto and some LR, not a substantial amount, maybe 5lbs. My parameters have been stable, ammonia 0, nitrites and nitrates <5ppm.

The rest of my set-up is in my signature.

 

[Cloud1921]

In my old 90g, I stayed with only two pillars.
This kinda gave more room to appreciate the fish and it looked pretty darn good.

I really like the Japanese style tanks and have considered aquascaping to one. The problem is that you will have limited space for coral placement, with consideration for size as well.

To offset the lower biofilter, maybe have a dsb or keep it remote.
Maybe have lots of rocks in the sump?

 

[KathyC]

Jon..didn't you do a less is more aquascape once before using the acrylic rods and creating pillars? Why did you change back to more rock or has your tank just grown in a lot? Very nicely I must say!

 

[jhale]

hey Kathy, I did not change back, I've been taking out more pillars. I'm down to one tall one, and I lowered all the rest to make room for coral to grow.

 

[Deanos]

Jon..didn't you do a less is more aquascape once before using the acrylic rods and creating pillars?

Yes :tired: I'm waiting for the "None is More" thread.

 

[ReefBum]

Here is a picture of my tank when I started it this past April. Just over 200lbs of rock in a 225g tank.

http://www.reefbum.com

 

[sanjay]

Here is mine with about 225 lbs of rock, a few months after setup.

sanjay.

 

[tsinkoy]

I take it back. My version of open space is being able to see most of the swimming space in the tank, so hiding places aren't really hiding places.

Here's my tank after adding some more rock. (I guess this is still pretty open.)

 

[ellebelle]

Not as open as some of these, but still a lot more open than my old tank. 40Br with about 40 lbs of rock.

 

[NYreefNoob]

my pic's dont relly show how open my rock work is, i think the biggest part of it is piecing the right piece's together i hardly have any rock touching the bottom and most piece's of rock are bridge's leaving alot of open room in the rock area and alot of hiding and cut out piece's

 

[boozeman]

heres my fav.

 

[EXPEDITION]

Nice tanks everyone.

 

[Bob 1000]

I've always liked the open tank too... For this reason I keep a large sump..180 main and 125 sump/refugium...This gives the fish more swim room and the rock is mostly on the bottom...