My FOWLR 4 ft X 2 ft X 2.5 ft

[TFMANIAC]

well, I have very little live rock in the tank since there's actually load and loads of it in the sump tank. I decided to just put enough rocks in there for some of the smaller fish to hide. It's also to provide the goby type fish some hiding room.

Anyway here's the tank shot.

The inhabitants...

There are a bunch of Chromis in there, 7 I think.

1 Clarkii Clownfish and his Anemone

2 Banggai Cardinals

1 Foxface Rabbitfish

1 Klein's Butterflyfish

1 Midnight Dwarf Angel

4 Blue Damsels ( not sure exactly what kind as their tails are not orange )

1 Firefish Goby

1 Yellow Watchman Goby

1 Black Fin Dartfish

1 Red Diana Hogfish (I think that's what it is )

1 Ruby Head Fairy Wrasse

1 Bristle Star

1 Cushion Star

1 Orange Star

5 Sand Sifter Stars

There's a small 1 foot tank that I've propped up in my sump where I keep a whole bunch of Hermits.

[pweesng]

Just checking, is there any reason why you don't want to have too many rocks in the tank?

Because i think (i might be wrong) that besides live rock as part of your filtration system, it also provides the fishes with hiding place, and food.

Another plus point i can think of, if you have coral that require more light, if you have a higher rock placement, you can put them up there so that they can get more light.

But i can also "see" (literally) the benefit of having less rocks as in your case... i can see all the fishes...

[mansiz]

Do you have any live rock at your sump tank? Live rock will be greatly required for the bio filtration. Although your tank size is large enough, but do not e that the number of fishes you have is quite a number. Do check out your ammonia and nitrite, hopefully they are zero.

[TFMANIAC]

pweesng: Yup, The main reason for having such a scape is to allow the fish to have all the swim room they could need. As for them having sufficient hiding spots, there's actually quite alot of them available for the fish. In the early morning, just before I head out for work, it looks like there isnt a fish in the tank. Each of them have their own sleeping spots. I'm not intending to have any corals in my tank hense it being in the FOWLR section. Having height for corals is not an issue for me. True enough, I can easily do a head count for my fish. They are always ever present.

mansiz: There is actually 6 times more liverock in my sump than in the display tank. It may seem like quite the overkill but it keeps my Nitrates at 0 and all my fish alive and healthy. The only casualties that happen are due to fights between species that do not like to coexist.

[pweesng]

pweesng: Yup, The main reason for having such a scape is to allow the fish to have all the swim room they could need. As for them having sufficient hiding spots, there's actually quite alot of them available for the fish. In the early morning, just before I head out for work, it looks like there isnt a fish in the tank. Each of them have their own sleeping spots. I'm not intending to have any corals in my tank hense it being in the FOWLR section. Having height for corals is not an issue for me. True enough, I can easily do a head count for my fish. They are always ever present.

mansiz: There is actually 6 times more liverock in my sump than in the display tank. It may seem like quite the overkill but it keeps my Nitrates at 0 and all my fish alive and healthy. The only casualties that happen are due to fights between species that do not like to coexist.

Hi, can you share how to keep your nitrate at 0? i am also trying to do that too... AFAIK, live rocks doesn't do that... does it?

[TFMANIAC]

Hi, can you share how to keep your nitrate at 0? i am also trying to do that too... AFAIK, live rocks doesn't do that... does it?

just a massive amount of live rock for me.

[Ketchup]

hmm, i feel u can have more live rocks.. make some nooks and crevices as well as some small bridge/overhang. Some fishes don't like much light. Also, imo, i think sometimes not as nice to have all the fishes out swimming... it's nice to see them play some hide and seek!

[TFMANIAC]

Well, if I ever chance upon some awesome branch or bridge like pieces of Liverock, I'll definitely add to the scape.

For now... it's kinda like a 'mountain peaks above the clouds' effect for me.

[tench1]

Hi fellow reefer!

Nice to hear of your 0 nitrate achievement!

Mind sharing with us pic of how your filtration works?

seems to me, your signature doesnt indicate any skimmer...

Ten

[Terryz_]

Bro, maybe a low rockscape... Add a bit more small rocks... It will look nicer.. and still have a lot of space for the fishes to swim...

[kueytoc]

Go for TWIN-PEAKS aquascaping.

[TFMANIAC]

In due time bro... in due time... i'm sure many of you are always on the look out for that perfect piece of Liverock.

[cdckjn]

My low-tech low-light FOLWR 2ft tank is similar to yours; only that my main tank has about more rocks than yours, but these rocks are reasonably big. My sump is also 2ft and has a basket full of live rocks.

I like to give the hiding places for the fishes to sleep/rest at night as I do sometimes do a head count when they are all sleeping (they tend to sleep inthe same place every night).

But to each his own, I like the mountan-in-the-clouds way that you have done it, it is actually very pleasing to the eye. But "in the view of aquascaping" the lower 1/3 of the tank should have rocks, gives it a more stable impression. If I were you, I will try to raise the "mountains" higher to about 1/3 of the tank". This will give the impression of mountains rather now "a bit Bukit Timah". Cheers.

Good Luck!

[tangfan]

well, I have very little live rock in the tank since there's actually load and loads of it in the sump tank. I decided to just put enough rocks in there for some of the smaller fish to hide. It's also to provide the goby type fish some hiding room.

Anyway here's the tank shot.

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0803/TFMANIAC/tank120110.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

The inhabitants...

There are a bunch of Chromis in there, 7 I think.

1 Clarkii Clownfish and his Anemone

2 Banggai Cardinals

1 Foxface Rabbitfish

1 Klein's Butterflyfish

1 Midnight Dwarf Angel

4 Blue Damsels ( not sure exactly what kind as their tails are not orange )

1 Firefish Goby

1 Yellow Watchman Goby

1 Black Fin Dartfish

1 Red Diana Hogfish (I think that's what it is )

1 Ruby Head Fairy Wrasse

1 Bristle Star

1 Cushion Star

1 Orange Star

5 Sand Sifter Stars

There's a small 1 foot tank that I've propped up in my sump where I keep a whole bunch of Hermits.

very lively tank, how long did the fish take to settle in?

[cdckjn]

If we think of it like this. The total volume of the display tank and the sump tank if our Ocean. If the live rocks are in the sump and there is little in our display tank, the "dirt/impurities" will get pump to the sump to be cleanse and back to the main tank. It is ok.

But if we want lots of rocks in our display ( for disply of corals etc) then we also need lots of equipment to maintain the system, then the sump will be full of equipment which we have to continue to maintain and check so no space.

My take on this is - Let nature do its job naturally. We just enjoy the setup once it is setup and matured.

[Ketchup]

if i do a FOWLER tank, i will actually buy lots of tonga branch liverock and point everything upwards... it should be pretty cool