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Saltwater Aquascaping: Making a beautiful and functional aquascape
Last updated on November 23rd, 2023
Introduction to Saltwater Aquascaping
Saltwater aquascaping for reef tanks seems like a lot right at the beginning of setting up a reef tank. It feels like this is your one chance to set up the perfect look for your aquarium. Though there are a lot of benefits of setting up the aquascape right the first time, nothing is truly permanent. You can slowly make changes later if you need.
There are a number of different techniques and types of saltwater aquascapes. There are a number of different artistic approaches that can be used to help create a great looking aquascape. Additionally there are saltwater aquascaping ideas that will be more about function that about fashion. Lets dive in and look at some key aquascaping ideas for your reef tank!
Table of Contents
- Artistic Topics in Saltwater Aquascaping
- Saltwater Aquascaping Considerations
- Types of Saltwater Aquascapes
Artistic Topics in Saltwater Aquascaping
First and foremost, your saltwater aquascape is something you have to look at every day. Rather than just throwing a bunch of rocks in the tank and hoping for the best, why not make it a piece of art! Not good at art? Don't worry, I will walk you through saltwater aquascaping from an artistic point of view to help you keep your living art!
Rule of Thirds
The rule of thirds is rather simple. Using painter's tape, put a line 1/3 from the bottom of the tank, 1/3 from the top, 1/3 from the left, and 1/3 from the right of the tank. The most important parts of your saltwater aquascaping should be in the spots where the lines cross. That is because your eyes will naturally be drawn towards these spots.
I like to plan for different types of coral to be in these spots. Plan your saltwater aquascape in such a way that these locations are ideal for your favorite coral. Think about coral such as zoanthids near the bottom 1/3 marks, or even LPS like euphyllia coral. I have found that the bottom 1/3 markers are great for plating montipora (monti caps) because it prevents them from shading other coral. The top locations are an ideal placement for SPS coral like acropora!
In addition to the ideal locations for the main focal points, there are ideal lines to try and follow with your aquascaping. The image above shows a couple of these lines, but there are many more options. The ideal lines are from the corner of any of the boxes to any other corner. Drawing that straight line to the edges of the aquarium. You don't have to follow the full line either. These lines simply provide a guideline for ideal paths for a breath taking saltwater aquascape.
Negative Space
One more topic I wanted to cover in terms of artistic approaches to saltwater aquascaping is to remember that negative space can be just as stunning as positive space. Negative space is simply the absence of something. For example, you could aquascape the rock to follow the line from the top left focal point to the bottom right. Then the top right component utilizes negative space.
Another piece of this is utilizing negative space within the rock work. You can utilize shelves and arches to create holes, or negative space, in the rock to build an even more beautiful saltwater aquascape.
Saltwater Aquascaping Considerations
When creating a saltwater aquascape, we get hung up on the idea on where to put the rock, but we forget what we are really doing. We are creating a home for coral, fish, and other reef creatures. We need to remember what we are planning for when create this aquascape.
Space for coral
First off, we need to remember to plan space for coral. Branching coral like acropora, as well as leather coral and gorgonians, all need space to grow in all directions. Additionally, remembering that if a large coral is near the top of the tank, it can prevent light from reaching coral underneath it. Make sure to use all three dimensions. It's not just height and width. If you plan to put a large coral near the top of the tank, plan your aquascape to have that focal point either farther back or closer to the front than the other corals. When aquascaping your saltwater tank, think in 3D!
Space for fish to swim
Another thing we often forget is to provide space for fish to swim. A number of fish, including tangs like the Sohal Tang, are very active swimmers. These fish need a sufficient amount of space to swim. One way to do this is to create a lot of arches that the fish can swim through. Your saltwater aquascaping can also utilize depth and/or pillars to separate the rock walls. Providing multiple smaller walls or pillars with space between them will give these fish more than enough space to swim around and through them.
Don't block flow
Another saltwater aquascaping idea we tend to forget is that we don't want to block flow. Much like providing open space for fish to swim, we want to keep space between rocks to allow the water to flow between them as well. This prevents waste like uneaten food from settling. It also allows better gas exchange, meaning a better pH level. Finally, this negative space allows more coral to receive flow from less pumps, saving you money on extra powerheads!
Keep aquascape away from the glass
The last main concept we will want to keep in mind is to keep the saltwater aquascape away from the glass. One reason is to prevent rock from falling and hitting the glass. Other reasons to maintain space away from the glass is to allow room for a glass scraper to clean the glass. You will also want to be able to pick up coral and such that fall to the bottom of the tank. You will also want to be able to remove, move and add powerheads in order to provide maintenance to these powerheads as well as replace them as needs. All of these reasons combine makes it important to keep space away from the glass.
Types of Saltwater Aquascapes
There are a number of types of saltwater aquascapes based on the type of rock you are using. The classic rock piles and rock walls, shelf rocks creating lines, and most currently is negative space aquascapes using tonga branch rock or creating open structures by breaking other types of rock and glueing these rocks together in such a way that it creates open spaces and caves that fish can swim through. Let's look at a few types of saltwater aquascaping ideas to help decide what is best for you!
Standard Rock Walls and Rock Piles
The way of the past. Blocks flow Doesn't utilize space well. Hard to clean around and behind
Shelf Rocks
Shelf rock aquascapes provide a number of ways to create arches, caverns, and places for coral to grow without blocking flow. These saltwater aquascapes often create walls and use other, standard rocks to create height. These shelf based aquascapes provide a great deal of benefits mentioned earlier, but they do come with one disadvantage. Shelf rocks generally require being balanced on other rocks. Meaning you will want to glue these rocks together or they are almost guaranteed to fall.
If you're interested in shelf rock aquascaping, pick up some Flat Aquascaping Rocks here.
Negative Space Aquascapes (NSA)
The most popular saltwater aquascape currently is the negative space aquascape, or NSA. This aquascape is all about creating a series of arches and holes out of rock. Almost like a jungle gyme for fish. It provides a large amount of space for coral to grow, and plenty of space for fish to swim through. It also allows for water to flow through and around the aquascape. Checking all of th boxes for aquascape considerations.
For more information, here is a video from Bulk Reef Supply.
If you're interested in negative space aquascaping, pick up some Base Aquascaping Rocks.
Conclusion
This article discussed a number of details about saltwater aquascaping. The main topics included artistic concepts of aquascaping, details to consider when planning your aquascape, as well as a few different types of aquascapes. Hopefully this gave you some insight into the different details involved when aquascaping your saltwater tank!
If you're looking for dry rock for saltwater aquascaping, check out some options from Marine Depot:
- STAX Rock Flat Aquascaping Rocks by Two Little Fishies
- CaribSea South Seas Aquascaping Base Rock
- Reef Revive Dry Aquascaping Rock
If you're still looking for more saltwater aquascaping ideas, check out 11 saltwater aquascaping ideas from Marine Depot.
If this article was helpful, please share it with others to help them with their saltwater aquascaping!
About the Author
John Krenzer
John is a Software Engineer with a passion for saltwater aquariums, as well as the founder and president of Reef Stable. He started in the aquarium hobby as a child with a 20 gallon freshwater aquarium. His interest in aquarium life grew and in 2008, John set up his first saltwater aquarium.
Today, John maintains an over 300 gallon reef tank system, consisting of a 120g reef and a 210g reef. These large tanks are contained within the same system, sharing a sump as a means to reduce total maintenance and increase total water volume.
John writes articles for the blog as a means to learn about more reef aquarium topics. These articles act as a reference for the readers as well as himself. John updates these articles frequently to provide additional information or make corrections as new information becomes available.
If you would like to request an article, tank tour article, or to collaborate, let me know via the Contact Me Page!
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