Jaw Dropping Tanks: What does an incredible reef tank look like to you?

[OmarSan]

Definitely mixed
I take the opportunity and show everyone my mixed aquarium

 

[Mmarlar]

Wow!!!!! Those are some gorgeous tanks!!!

 

[living_tribunal]

The best sign of a healthy reef tank are nice firm stools from your corals.

That’s all that matters.

 

[PicassoClown04]

The ultimate mixed tank. Still in its early stages but I’ve got acros, blastos, a scoly, goni, toadstool, zoas, RBTA, RFAs, shrooms, hammers, torch, chalice, birdsnest, GSP, Xenia, cloves, Duncan, acans, leathers, everything. And it’s all doing well! I’m super excited to watch everything grow

 

[pcon]

Why no NPS option! Mesophotic biotopes are the bees knees.

But mostly it's not having the same boring fish. Tons of excellent coral tanks are made absolutely pedestrian by the fish selection.

 

[JCTReefer]

That's also one of my all time favorites, it's a shame that there's no video of this tank.

I tried to create a top 10 of the most beautiful reef tanks on youtube and after looking at hundreds and hundreds of videos, I had to reduce the top 10 to a top 7.



It's incredibly hard to create a really well aquascaped reef and I have yet to see a single one that gets near the beauty and harmony of the top freshwater scapes. These people are light years ahead of us in knowledge of how to make a tank look beautiful.

The biggest sin of reef tank aquascaping is the lack of sense of depth and it's something that good freshwater aquascapers master, creating tanks that look miles deep.

Oh yes Ardeus, I know how you feel about reef tank aquascapers! Lol. I’ve read many of your post on reef2reef and YouTube. I’ve watched many of your videos also. Some really good content. Your tank is beautifully laid out btw. Too much to talk about in a single post. I too wish there was a video on this particular tank!

 

[Victor_C3]

Pictured below are two of my favorite tanks of all time and are what I’m generally striving to make my aquarium look like.

Large, mature colonies coupled with a nice touch of open space work for me.

But aside from that, I believe that the setting of the tank in a room is just as important as what is inside of the tank when it comes to making a jaw-dropping aquarium.

A good looking aquarium won’t hold my attention long if the rest of the room is piled with trash and is generally disgusting to be in.

My apartment reeks of divorced middle aged guy with its lack of curtains, art/decorations, and a pull-up bar, but I believe I created a spot for my aquarium that invites a person to sit next to my aquarium and enjoy it.

Now I’ve just got to work on the algae problem and get some mature colonies in the tank. Maybe in 3-4 years it’ll look the way I want it to...

 

[Regular_Reefer]

Hope he doesn’t mind the call out but one of my favorites can be seen on this thread (Philips CoralCare Gen 2 - my tank journal) Courtesy is @pharazon

 

[pharazon]

Hope he doesn’t mind the call out but one of my favorites can be seen on this thread (Philips CoralCare Gen 2 - my tank journal) Courtesy is @pharazon

Very kind of you, thank you!

As for me, I’m all about the SPS dominant/mixed reef life

 

[WallyB]

I have to Admit that achieving an SPS dominant reef is the Ultimate Trophy. (A skill trophy)

I feel that way.... since to get to SPS conlonies from Frags is a challenge, and takes ultimate attention and care. No accidents, mistakes, or Slack in Maintenance. Long Term success is even more difficult from what I've observed over the years, following people's threads.

I've been building up the Skills over the years (5+) with countless failures [lessons learned] with a (110G) SPS only Tank.

I chose SPS ONLY to avoid the complexity of meeting the diverse requirements of MIXED TANK.
(Lighting, Flow, Water Parameters, Nutrient Levels, etc), and to avoid issues with Toxins, Coral Bio Battles, and Terriorial Stings.

I'm getting close to figure out SPS. Thought I had it nailed down, till one more thing caught me off guard last week while on vacation (and away from home).

That's why I have a 2nd Tank (90 Gal) with NO SPS (for last 20+ years). I've played with Various LPS and Soft corals and it's changed many times over the years, as corals have outgrown the Tank (either Pruning or Removal).

I have recently started up a 3rd Smaller 35 Gal Tank. Kind of a Frag tank but with Fish and Live Rock.
Tried SPS and it was a bust, so am going with Soft Corals (Mushroooms, Zoas)

It's perfect since whenever I have a setback on the SPS Tank, I don't have a total let down to give up the Hobby.

If I could only have ONE Tank it would be a LPS tank since it's visually very appealing since LPS move with flow, colors are great, good variety available, and simpler to maintain.

 

[dwref]

I pretty much agree with everyone on these tanks. Whether it be a mixes, Softie, LPS tank. With the right fish, lights, flow, to each there own as long as it is a mature tank. But my 2cents, of the one shown here, I have to give my vote to OmarSan, what a beauty. Once agin, not stepping on anyones toes, nor knocking anyones tank or tanks, its all up to the person having the tank & willing to put there time in that shows a true reef tank. IMO

 

[Picklepentagramsforjesus]

macro alge domenate tank with zoas and a bubble tip anemone I would Love feedback if this would actually work but

 

[Oldsalt]

Boy do I feel like an amateur after viewing some of these beauties. I was FOWLR until ~ 2 and a half years ago. The learning curve has been both amazing and costly! I'm getting there, albeit slowly.

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

I like a fish focussed reef tank, where the corals work around the fish. I like pretty corals, but the fish interest me more, especially ones like angels and butterflies. Theres lots of nice corals that will still work in that instance. The fish just make the tank for me, as you can form a bond and have interaction with them. I like tanks which have unique fish too, something out of the ordinary, not necessarily rare or expenisve, but something not everyone has, as things like the typical green chromis, yellow tangs, flame angels etc bore me a little after keeping fish for a decade, not to say they arent beautiful, I've just seen them a gazillion times lol.

 

[Pntbll687]

Clean glass, clean sand, you can just tell it's been cared for.

But the number one thing for me is the right light for the tank. Everything looks crisp under the right light. It could be a "whiter" look on a softy tank, or the stick tank that has the right amount of blue with just a little pop to it.

 

[WVNed]

I wanted a big tank for big fish with some stuff for them to swim around so that's what I made.
No battling stuff. Beyond that I had no requirements on how they turned out.

 

[uhgster1]

I love my mixed reef. A single coral type while beautiful tends to be boring if you’re not “in the know”, I.e. non-reefer. Most people ooh and ahh at a mixed reef full of movement and color.

 

[living_tribunal]

I vote for NPS Reef (Although I'm a bit biased).

Here's my NPS dominated tank

I also focus on little inverts that live within the reef!

Insane tank!

 

[robbyg]

My wife use to say if it ain't got fish it's not a fish tank.
I think @WallyB kind of contradicted then confirmed what my experience has been and that is that the most difficult tank to keep is a mixed tank that has lots of SPS. It takes a lot of equipment and work to keep everything in balance but once done IMHO you have a true slice of the reef.

I love all types of corals but I also love to see lots of really nice fish swimming around.

 

[H3rm1tCr@b]

What I want to see in an incredible tank is an aquascape of soft corals and macroalgae. Anemone shrimp cuddled in their anemones, porcelain crabs in nooks of the rock, feather duster worms, yellow sea cucumbers, you get the idea. Fish wise I would look for dartfish, shrimp gobies, and pygmy gobies of every sort.