what would you like to see in a tank

[Jeff]

now everybody has seen the sps tanks with about 100 or so different types of frags that seem so busy that there is almost too much to look at. don't get me wrong, they are gorgeous and i know i could never achieve it but to me they are lacking something. i wonder what a large tank would look like with only 2 types of fully grown sps. imagine a tank with a couple of very large mature green slimers and one or two acros of another color dominating a tank because of their size just like in nature. or maybe a lagoon reef with large mangroves and softees and macro growing in it. what are some ideas of a tank that you would like to see.

[aquasport24]

That's would be a great idea. It would give your tank a clean look and alot of open space for the fishes to swim. That what i had planed to do to my 200g , but i have on self discipline. I wanted to have just 6 SPS, but end of with around 66 at one time.

[Jeff]

i think that is most peoples problem, no self controll, me included. then the wife would look at the tank and say there is not enough, we need more corals.

[Kyle46N]

I kind of kept myself from the overly crowded look by creating rock work that has alot of overhangs and caves. Thise creates alot of shade. I fell in love with the aquascape first, so now I have to work around that. And the fish have more room to swim.

[hobogato]

i think that is a major point of importance kyle.... many people do the rock wall and pack em full of corals like a fruit stand. although the variety and color are beautiful, the tanks seem to be lacking something. i know i have done tanks like that in the past and that is the way i felt. a great natural looking aquascape can really make a tank look like a chunk of the reef vs a frag tank on steroids.

*disclaimer - please dont be offended if you like the rock wall reef look, i mean no disrespect. just my personal preference :)

[coraline79]

I am the same way. I am all abou the rockwork. I am the same way with my cichlid tank, it is just as important and the fish themselves. I love the coral, but a. I can't afford a ton of them b. I like to watch the fish swim through the rockwork.

[Gilbert]

"As far as what i would like to see in a tank"
i like to see one of these being raised
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk89/Gilbert1606/malin.jpg
IT'S A BABY MARLIN

[FireWater]

I know when I 'scaped my 90 I had a grand vision in my head - what I came up with in the end was more like I needed to go see the eye doctor. I am happy with it, but like all things I now know what I would do different next time. The more I learn and am involved with the hobby my wants change. I am now planning for the next tank - a large footprint, minimal rockwork, a fish list that includes schooling fish(anthias, chromis, etc), a couple of "gotta have!" sps colonies, many lps, and matts of color(palys). Main thing I want is open room for everything to grow and not looked cramped.

[brewercm]

I agree about that idea, especially in the larger tanks. I have found that in the smaller tank like my 58 I'm setting up I just don't really have as much room to deal with rock work and the look I'd like to see. I want to keep all the rock from getting too close to the glass so I can keep it clean. At the same time it means that the plans have to be more limited in what I can do. I was thinking about changing up the rock work and all a little bit before I go any farther with this one though. Maybe this weekend I can get a couple of hours to play a bit.

[CoryDude]

Took the mistakes I learned in flower gardening and transferred to reef-scaping. Always leave ample room for the species to grow. It looks bare in the beginning, but saves you time/headaches in the long run when they fill in the empty space.

[RayAllen]

Its been a while but on reefcentral a guy had a tank where he let a single Plate SPS take over and it was amazing. Pretty much stretched across the entire aquarium. Its casted a shadow over the bottome half of the tank and gave it a very natural apparence.

[ErikH]

Oddly balanced rockwork, elevated above the sand to provide more total surface area. Fish in every area, like gobies/blennies in caves, psuedos in a school, and tangs racing in and out of open rockwork. It is hard to keep rock off the sand in large portions and then stacking rock on top of that to take full advantage of the height in a tank. I always felt that Felipe had an amazing knack for aquascaping.

[ErikH]

Oh, and large tanks with one or two rocks in the display. Give a feel of vastness, which there is alot of in the ocean!

[BioCube14]

i like the stuffed with sps look hehe

[Texreefer]

I will be doing this with the rebuild.. It will be a single low rock outcropping in the middle of the tank with room for fish to swim through and a natural rocky bottom jutting toward the front of the tank that will be a natural area for clams, gorgonian, ETC.. 6 or 8 colonies of choice sps allowed to grow up and the rest filled in with lps and encrusting corals. the fish list will be long and probably take quite a while to complete. I will have a large school of chromis and Anthias, and probably 4 tangs, ( orange shoulder, Naso, Maybe a Mimic and Desjardini) a couple of Angels and a few wrasses.. basically very similar to what I had.. I miss them

[CynthiaM]

I loved the overhanging plates...w/their multiple layer and color variance it made the tank a little more natural. Even though majority of the rockwork was upright towards the back, we manage to create caves and single out a few pieces of rock by themselves. This is how it used to look. The plates eventually got too large shadowing the large squamosa and started to loose some of its zooxanthellae and we had to remove the plates. After having the same aquascape for the past 2-3 yrs, we are considering in rearranging and if I can get my husband to agree and let go some of the corals, I would love to give it a more open look. http://www.maast.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=2265&stc=1&d=1231981378

[hobogato]

wow! very nice cynthia!

[cpreefguy]

wow! very nice cynthia!
I 2nd that! Any full tank shots?

Also, I like a very minimalistic look: see glass box design.
Minimalistic tank/stand/equipment with minimal rockwork and a few choice fish and corals

[gjuarez]

I am going to get very creative with my rockwork on a 75g i will be setting up pretty soon. I am sure many of you will like it. I want small schooling fish too