Shallow inspiration

[KoryAqua]

anyone have a shallow reef? I’m looking for ideas. I have a lagoon (shallow) 40 that I’m looking to rescape.
I like the way it looks now but I just don’t see it working long term. I’m gonna go LPS with meat corals on the sand bed and gonis, hammers, and torches on the rocks.

Anyone have pics of their shallows they can share with me? I’m trying to get inspired

Feel free to critique my tank and offer suggestions too
I want to learn

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[DylanCameron]

I had a deep blue 80g tank setup for about 2 years (16” tall) and your scape is pretty similar to the way mine was set up. Especially for shallow tanks, less is more, and I would try and make sure your scape is interesting from the side as well as the front (utilize your depth!). Your tank looks nice, but the left side is maybe a bit too high which can limit coral growth.

I ended up moving things around a few times after these pictures, but honestly if I could go back I would have left it like this. I think when we change things around too much, the tank never finds stability!

 

[JojosReef]

I like your tank! I have the IM Nuvo 40L AIO shallow:

Downside of the shallow is that even with model rockwork, the corals on top are already getting near the water surface. Would prefer another 2 inches or so in height.

 

[happyreefer]

Nice tank, it looks like it's doing well. If there was 1 thing I would change about your aquascape, I would lower the height of rock column to the left. Typically, I try not go higher than about 1/2 the height of the tank. For example, if the tank is 24" tall then the overall aquascape height should be no more than 12" tall IMO. Seeing a lot of the water flowing is what makes tank look nice. The rock island to your right looks good, the middle rock is a little higher than I would like it to be but it looks like it's in good order because it's really just the top tip of the rock that's above the "1/2 height of the tank"; most of the rock is below. But the rock scape to the left is well above. If you can somehow lower the height, through our sense of perception, it will make your tank look bigger.

On a side note, it's hard to tell by looking at this picture alone but if I had to guess, it looks like you need a little more surface agitation. From the angle you took your picture, you should be able to see more ripples towards the surface of the water but it looks kind on the flat side. If you're not already doing so, I would try moving one of your return nozzle towards and across the surface to create more surface agitation. It's going to raise your oxygen levels in tank which is going to help keep your PH in neutral range. It's going to be awesome! By making this change, it's likely the tank is going to have less flow overall, you may need to add a small powerhead to make up for this difference. Either way, I would pay close attention to make sure that you have a good amount of flow in the tank.

Have you ever thought about getting more fishes? Having a good amount of nutrients in the tank is going to help with it's progression. Anytime you strip away too much nutrients from the tank, it's going to cause an instability in the water. A reverse spike if you will. I feel like if you were to do a weekly water change of 10% or more then you're likely exporting more nutrients than you're importing, given the amount the fishes you currently have. I'm just guessing here. You definitely want to test your nitrate and phos to see where you stand.

 

[KoryAqua]

I had a deep blue 80g tank setup for about 2 years (16” tall) and your scape is pretty similar to the way mine was set up. Especially for shallow tanks, less is more, and I would try and make sure your scape is interesting from the side as well as the front (utilize your depth!). Your tank looks nice, but the left side is maybe a bit too high which can limit coral growth.
View attachment 111022 View attachment 111024
I ended up moving things around a few times after these pictures, but honestly if I could go back I would have left it like this. I think when we change things around too much, the tank never finds stability!

Yea man I’m thinking about bringing down the hardscape to the midpoint or maybe just a little over the mid. I see it from the right side just as much as the front so I put it together with that in mind. I want to do torches, euphyllias, and Gonis on the rock work so I need to figure out how to pull that off as well.


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[KoryAqua]

I like your tank! I have the IM Nuvo 40L AIO shallow:
View attachment 111028

Downside of the shallow is that even with model rockwork, the corals on top are already getting near the water surface. Would prefer another 2 inches or so in height.

I know what you mean


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[KoryAqua]

Nice tank, it looks like it's doing well. If there was 1 thing I would change about your aquascape, I would lower the height of rock column to the left. Typically, I try not go higher than about 1/2 the height of the tank. For example, if the tank is 24" tall then the overall aquascape height should be no more than 12" tall IMO. Seeing a lot of the water flowing is what makes tank look nice. The rock island to your right looks good, the middle rock is a little higher than I would like it to be but it looks like it's in good order because it's really just the top tip of the rock that's above the "1/2 height of the tank"; most of the rock is below. But the rock scape to the left is well above. If you can somehow lower the height, through our sense of perception, it will make your tank look bigger.

On a side note, it's hard to tell by looking at this picture alone but if I had to guess, it looks like you need a little more surface agitation. From the angle you took your picture, you should be able to see more ripples towards the surface of the water but it looks kind on the flat side. If you're not already doing so, I would try moving one of your return nozzle towards and across the surface to create more surface agitation. It's going to raise your oxygen levels in tank which is going to help keep your PH in neutral range. It's going to be awesome! By making this change, it's likely the tank is going to have less flow overall, you may need to add a small powerhead to make up for this difference. Either way, I would pay close attention to make sure that you have a good amount of flow in the tank.

Have you ever thought about getting more fishes? Having a good amount of nutrients in the tank is going to help with it's progression. Anytime you strip away too much nutrients from the tank, it's going to cause an instability in the water. A reverse spike if you will. I feel like if you were to do a weekly water change of 10% or more then you're likely exporting more nutrients than you're importing, given the amount the fishes you currently have. I'm just guessing here. You definitely want to test your nitrate and phos to see where you stand.

Thanks for the Input, I agree with you on the rock work. I do have a little surface agitation and a Nero 3 for to help move things around, maybe I could use a little more surface agitation. As for fish, there’s a pink spot goby, blotched anthias, pair of clowns, spot tail Blenny, and 2 cardinals. (This was an older vid) do you think that’s enough?


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[drexel]

I have two shallow tanks, IM 25g ext and a custom 36x36x16. I'll try to post some pics soon. I love shallow (and wide) tanks. The key with shallow tanks is creating open isolated bommies that create channels, fish love it and it gives a sense of depth/contrast.

 

[KoryAqua]

I have two shallow tanks, IM 25g ext and a custom 36x36x16. I'll try to post some pics soon. I love shallow (and wide) tanks. The key with shallow tanks is creating open isolated bommies that create channels, fish love it and it gives a sense of depth/contrast.

Please do share
It’s looking like I’m gonna create 3 separate island
Torches furthest back
Gonis
And hammer in front
I also want more sand bed to make room for meats


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[Letsgotothezoo]

16-18" Height is perfect. I think that 40 Gallon as 14" height ?

I like your tank! I have the IM Nuvo 40L AIO shallow:
View attachment 111028

Downside of the shallow is that even with model rockwork, the corals on top are already getting near the water surface. Would prefer another 2 inches or so in height.

 

[KoryAqua]

16-18" Height is perfect. I think that 40 Gallon as 14" height ?

I think we have the same tank 40g lagoon
35.4” x 19.7”x 13”


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[happyreefer]

Thanks for the Input, I agree with you on the rock work. I do have a little surface agitation and a Nero 3 for to help move things around, maybe I could use a little more surface agitation. As for fish, there’s a pink spot goby, blotched anthias, pair of clowns, spot tail Blenny, and 2 cardinals. (This was an older vid) do you think that’s enough?


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Gotcha, it sounds like you have a good amount of fishes. I can't say whether or not it's enough, but I wouldn't stress too much because they're all going grow. If anything, a small 6-line wrasse and/or some Green Chromis might be something to consider.

A good amount of surface agitation gives the tank shimmer. It's not just soothing to the eye, there's a function behind it. The shimmer helps defuse the light. The shimmer breaks away direct light into series of indirect lights. For example, when you have the lights turned on high with the flow off, in some sense, you're burning corals. It's subtle but I'm just trying to make a point here. It's the surface agitation that breaks apart the direct light into a series of small set of lights hitting from different angles which, in theory, cause less stress/eliminate stress caused by higher PAR. With high surface agitation, you're able to use higher par. The only way I found to get the crazy colors from some of these corals is with high par. And I know the term is subjective nor do I have any kind of real answer in terms of numbers because I don't test for PAR, but what I can say is that low par will not help corals reach their full potential. They need a good amount of lights.

 

[KoryAqua]

Gotcha, it sounds like you have a good amount of fishes. I can't say whether or not it's enough, but I wouldn't stress too much because they're all going grow. If anything, a small 6-line wrasse and/or some Green Chromis might be something to consider.

A good amount of surface agitation gives the tank shimmer. It's not just soothing to the eye, there's a function behind it. The shimmer helps defuse the light. The shimmer breaks away direct light into series of indirect lights. For example, when you have the lights turned on high with the flow off, in some sense, you're burning corals. It's subtle but I'm just trying to make a point here. It's the surface agitation that breaks apart the direct light into a series of small set of lights hitting from different angles which, in theory, cause less stress/eliminate stress caused by higher PAR. With high surface agitation, you're able to use higher par. The only way I found to get the crazy colors from some of these corals is with high par. And I know the term is subjective nor do I have any kind of real answer in terms of numbers because I don't test for PAR, but what I can say is that low par will not help corals reach their full potential. They need a good amount of lights.

Thank you for the info highly appreciated


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[drexel]

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[KoryAqua]

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Wow that’s deeeep lol


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