Planning With Purpose

If you're reading this, you are probably an aquarium geek (fish geek, coral geek, generally cool person, whatever you want to call us...) Maybe you've noticed that for a long time, pretty much everything in home aquatic husbandry world could be described with the phrase “more is more.” Some examples include concepts like these: bigger tanks are easier to maintain, more flow means better everything, more rock makes more stability, more light means you can grow more corals and the list goes on.

Now, some if not all of these ideas are inherently true. Conversely, applying this idea to everything in home aquatics leaves us in a world where all the aquariums look very similar in the end. Now, in the dominance of painted faux rock, this is even more true! We'd like to put forth the idea that while perhaps initially underwhelming, a well-planned display will result in an aquarium that is both unique and visually more compelling than one where the aquarist just keeps adding anything and everything. Sometimes, less is more. Our Ecoscape Reef rock is incredibly porous, providing ample surface area for beneficial bacteria and makes the rock very light weight. This rock is designed with a realistic appearance to mimic well-established live rock.

Start with a clear vision of what you want your aquarium to be, painted in broad strokes. How big is it? Where is it in your home? Perhaps most importantly, what will live in the aquarium? Do you want your aquarium to be a peaceful oasis, or a swarm of activity? Should it be a smear of brilliant color, or a monochrome world with intensely colorful highlights? This stage of planning is about getting started on a pathway that is intentional and not reactive, do a lot of research, make drawings and lists. To help you, we have many informative articles on this website that will be of great use to you; everything from Species Spotlights to a huge variety of Tank Care articles.

Now that you have a vision for what you want to accomplish, start to nail down some details. This plan will need to be grounded by a budget, and it's better to be upfront with yourself about what you can afford to get done well, rather than attempt to execute a half-baked idea. You might start out thinking that a 400-gallon peninsula style, room divider tank is the plan, and maybe it stays that way, but you'll know whether or not this is a good idea once you price out your tank, stand, filtration units, rock, substrate, and livestock. Your LFS (local fish store) is an incredible resource for this information and will be happy to help you plan. Next, if you really want a tank that big, you're going to need structural analysis of your floor's construction; once your planned aquarium gets over 100 gallons or so, you need to think about if your floor can support it. Water weighs roughly eight pounds a gallon, and this means that a 150-gallon glass aquarium, fully set up with lights, filters, rocks etc, can get up to the 1500–1600-pound range! It might not be the thing for your attic play space. Conversely, it would be totally fine if it is going to sit on a ground-supported concrete slab. The point is, plan an aquarium you can actually achieve (and then plan that 400 gallon one for when you can achieve that!).

Decide what will go into this aquarium by applying what you know about the general vibe you're going for, to the size and equipment you're planning to have and overlay that with what gets along, what co-exists and what just fights. Are you planning to have corals? Which ones? Will your fish and or invert choices enjoy those corals for a snack? Honestly, this may be the hardest part of your journey. It can be difficult to figure out what fish will get along and what won't. The world is full of advice like “most of the time” and “should be ok” and this is because individual fish have different mental make ups. Some of them are cuisine curious, and some are not; some are evil buggers, and some are less so. We can make some generalizations about what will work and what won't, and they are going to be pretty accurate, most of the time, but we're talking about nature here, and there are always wild cards.

Now, start to come up with a plan for the general décor / layout of the display, for the vast majority of us, this means a rock scape. There's lots of ways to do this, but most of us here start with a rough drawing. It doesn't matter if you're rubbish at art, no one is going to submit your sketch to the Louvre (probably.) This is purely a reference drawing for you. Draw a rectangle on graph paper that matches the scale of the aquarium; do this for the top-down view, and the front view. Then start to scribble in it. Layout where you want open space and where you want rocks. This doesn't need to be too detailed. When you go to actually add the rocks, some will fit and some will not and the plan may change a little bit and this is okay, just stick to your general layout and theme and avoid the “more is more” trap, unless the look you want is a rock wall, then go for it. Consider adding “islands” of rock into this design, this allows you natural barriers. These barriers can be very handy in forcing coral and algae growth to stay where you want it to.

On the topic of coral and algae, for those of you who want to have living elements like this in your design (or perhaps clams and other inverts,) this is also time to start thinking about how they will work in your aquarium. For example, let's say you love the subdued coloration and amazing motion of a large toadstool leather coral, if you place it properly and care for it well, it will become a glorious central feature of your aquarium design. Where you initially place it will be a big part of how the aquarium matures. Give things enough space to be their best selves and think proactively about how you will plan both the other inverts and the filtration around them. The toadstool in the example above would really pop if you used some blue or red mushroom corals around the aquarium nearby. All these corals will do well together, have similar needs and do best with similar kinds of filtration (run some carbon). Keeping your display to a purposeful list different colors and forms will make an amazing and cohesive display that is focused.

In the coming weeks, we'll outline a few different display ideas that you might try, or may at least serve as inspiration, and if you're lucky enough to have multiple tanks to experiment with, you have the luxury of doing several different kinds of displays! Generally, the tanks that look the best in the long run are tanks that have a plan that allows them to develop into a picture that is recognizable from across the room (and are well maintained!) Whether the look you want is a forest of beautifully colored sticks, or a field of sand and seagrass-like algae, or an aquarium fully populated by rose bubble anemones that will not stop making new ones, these displays can all be striking and gorgeous if you start with a plan and move toward the end goal with intent. So, what are you waiting for? Head to your LFS with a list of questions and a clear vision and tell them Quality Marine sent you.