tank rebuild - any aquascaping suggestions?

[larrynyc]

hi everyone!

i'm new to the site and somewhat new to reef building ... i'm an experienced diver and i have always wanted to create a small replication of what i see down there right in the middle of my office to make work a little less dull ... so i got a 72G bow as a gift last year (and i don't really love the bow, but i'm kinda stuck with it for now) and i've been messing around with it for 6 months ... and i spent a lot of time aquascaping my rock formations to build a reef with a lot of "shelves" ... but now that i'm adding corals to it, i kinda feel like i didn't set it up correctly to begin with.

anyway, i'm also in the process of introducing a huge 8" anenome with a family of true percs and i want to get all the corals out for that anyway so they dont get mushed by the anenome while he tries to find a home ... so while the corals are out, i am thinking of re-scaping the rock ...

"why?" you might ask ... well, i kinda feel like while the rock formation is cool, i feel like it doesnt have enough slope to it and i feel like i will never be able to cover up all the exposed rock with corals ... i don't know if i'm over-thinking this, but i kinda think that i need either some validation or advice as to how to set up the rock

some things i'm hoping to do include:
- have the right side slope high up so some corals can be positioned in front of the filter
- leaving a sandy area on the left for feather dusters and clams
- and i'm hoping the anenome makes his home on left side

this can all change based on where the anenome desides to reside ... but i still think i need some advice ... a few pictures are included below with my tank as it is now

any advice on how / where to position corals would be appreciated as well

thanks in advance!!!

 

[Len]

:welcome:

Heya Larry! Aquascaping has a lot to do with personal preferences. I like to mix it up, having high spires, low valleys, many passages, overhangs, and cliffs. There are more then enough diversity of corals to occupy each niche area, from low light to vertical sides to high light areas.

I like your idea of making the right side higher to cover the overflow box. I try to mask my reef-ready overflow box with rockwork as well (at least cover up the sharp, inorganic corners). I also like wide open sand areas if space permits.

Depending on what anemone you're getting, I can probably venture a good guess where it's going to settle down at.

Here's how I aquascapped my new tank:
http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t ... &start=100