5 aquarium aesthetic "pet peeves" by J. Charles Delbeek

[Mandinga]

#1 - Coralline algae growing on back wall

#2 - seeing equipment through back glass

#3 - visible pumps

#4 - visible plumbing

#5 - airstone in reef tank

[mattv]

I like my coraline

[Topher]

i'm with mattv. go coraline

[ReefSafari]

I would agree with #2,#4, and #5....but I don't mind the visiable pumps or coraline algea, with many of the newer pumps out there they can be descretely placed and often times are not all that noticable....For example the powehead hide rock that tunze makes....

 

http://www.tunze.com/fileadmin/images/product_database/6200.250.jpg

 

And out of the 4 sides where Coraline algea can grow...the back is the least of my worries...the front and sides are what I try and keep it off of....but thats just me...

 

Do people still use airstones????(scratch)

[Mandinga]

I guess I should quote the source:

Coral Magazine, Mar/Apr 2009

 

He says that the "Coralline Craze" is over. Clean and neat.

[mattv]

I like to let the coraline cover my pumps and it helps hide them. Its reefing camo.

[steveweast]

Could not agree more with all five.....and....I'd include any visible overflows or returns to the list........any visible plumbing is completely unnecessary and unacceptable....IMO. My old tropical tank was that way and so is my current cold tank. If you design the system around those five objectives, it's quite an achievable goal.

 

You have to realize though that Charles (and me) are more concerned with creating a true display tank....not a grow out tank....or a frag tank. Rows of frags on the sand....or rows of clams....or really any unnatural livestock on the sand is nothing but visual pollution. Most hobbyist tanks these days are not set up with the overall aesthetic in mind....but rather focused on individual specimens. For me.....my eye goes immediately goes to the things of man (pipes,pumps,overflows). I can't stop looking at them. To me...it's like a zit on the Mona Lisa.

 

As for the coralline on the rear panel....it just visually truncates the rear of the tank....looks flat and unnatural.....and has no place in a quality display. He is quite right.

 

For example...my cold system is 400 gals viewable on two sides. The overflow is on the right side of the tank and is completely cropped from view by cabinetry (along with rock that breaks the surface to hide the grill). On each side of the overflow is a wet box that houses a 6305 Tunze. This way, the Tunze is impossible to see ....but, is housed in is own compartment for easy access. The Tunze opening is furthered blocked from view by rock work. The lights are even shaded over this area to further minimize their presence. The two completely hidden Tunzes create a strong Gyre in the tank. The returns flow into the wet boxes to hide them from view....the Tunzes then move the return water into the display. Really easy.

[ReeFit]

I prefer the coraline look over the scrapped tried to get all the coraline photoborder off over the past 7 years look. Especially on the power heads, getting coraline off of those would require daily cleaning to maintain that. you'd spend half your day everyday just keeping your tank clean.

[ClayTheSavageFraser]

Ha!! I like to make a reef, look like a reef! I have a wall of liverock and coral so you cant even see the back of the tank!! Ah.....yeah!!

[steelhead77]

Ha!! I like to make a reef' date=' look like a reef! I have a wall of liverock and coral so you cant even see the back of the tank!! Ah.....yeah!![/quote']

 

+1 I agree with Clay...Although I bet Steve's tank looks pretty sweet. Someday...maybe after I win the lotto.

[ReefSafari]

You have to realize though that Charles (and me) are more concerned with creating a true display tank....not a grow out tank....or a frag tank. Rows of frags on the sand....or rows of clams....or really any unnatural livestock on the sand is nothing but visual pollution. Most hobbyist tanks these days are not set up with the overall aesthetic in mind....but rather focused on individual specimens.

 

I think that distinction is what needs to be expressed, I have a fish tank with some live corals in it, would I classify it as a "True Display Tank".....no(laugh)

 

What most hobbiest have is exactly that, a HOBBY.....I didn't and still don't have the intention of creating a "True Display Tank"....Its my fish tank....its fun, exciting and a hobby, I am not using it as a peice of artwork to accent my living room or charge people admission to see my tanks like an aquarium....its a hobby.....

 

I would agree though, if someone was trying to create a true display tank then yeah, those things would probably be things I would want to not have, but it seems most people in the hobby are just having fun, not trying to create true display tanks.....But why stop there, to create a true display tank shouldn't you only keep species of corals that come from the same area? mixing corals from say Australia and Fiji would be a no-no as well right? How anal could we get????(naughty) Certain corals would not grow near other types of corals in nature, so you would have to be careful of what type and where you placed the corals right? a true display tank shouldnt' have any actinic lighting that makes any of the corals pop, I have personaly never been scuba diving but seen pictures and wild corals don't look ANYTHING like the corals we keep in our tanks under 20k metal halides...so you would have to use like 6500k bulbs and make sure the water is a bit hazy and not cyrstal clear...to give that display tank that real feel right???(laugh)

 

I have one I would add to the list, too many fish...I see display tanks that are crowed with huge fish swimming back and forth in front of the glass waiting to be fed like freshwater oscars....that to me has no place in a display tank, huge tangs and angels should be limited to one or two...or none at all depending on the size of the aquarium....that to me distracts from a nice display tank...I like schools of small fish, as accents to the reef, that visually looks better to me.

[Rick]

A true display tank is not a tank that fits any specific criteria but rather it is one that has is for viewing whether the audience is a single person or hundreds of people each day. It need not fit the criteria set out by Charles or anyone else that will never see it but rather it should be appealing to those that will regularly view it. As long as it is then nothing else matters.

[grassi]

(rock2)Coralline is cool

[Saltfinsax]

I kinda have to agree with Steve on most his points. Do I do them? for the most part no. I do try but it does take more time and money.

 

Things that bug me.

Seeing frag plugs

Seeing globs of epoxy

and yes to much stuff on the sand bed.

[steveweast]

Reefsafari...you are absolutely correct. Charles is the curator at the Steinhart and has a completely different audience to please than the average hobbyist. That was the distinction I was trying to make. I just happen to have similar goals in creating a display. For me, that's the real fun in the hobby.

 

As for biotopes.....that's really apples and oranges from the the original post. The 5 "rules" are really centered around the physical look of the display rather than the critters on display.

 

You and Rick are certainly correct in saying that there is no "right" way for a display to look and certainly the old adage of "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" is evident in this hobby. The one thing for you to remember though.....is that for folks like Delbeek and myself, we are not having fun....nor enjoying our systems....if they don't have that certain polished presentation look to them. We are cursed with the inability to overlook visual pollution in the display to the point that it distracts us from the rest of the display.

 

The 5 rules are really not rules for everyone to follow....but, rather, Delbeek's rules for him to enjoy a particular display.

[reefboy]

some can be hi end and some low end but they all can be amazingly beautiful and thats what I enjoy give me some salt creep a Coraline;)

[rgrcrain]

Coraline and Vortechs for me... Until I win the powerball and someone else is cleaning the tanks

[Rick]

I do occasionally have people ask me about the video camera (powerhead) I have set up in mine. LOL

[Mandinga]

Great, my tank is a zit. I hope it doesn't start to leak puss. Thanks steve

 

I love the polished look as well. One of these days...

[steveweast]

Great, my tank is a zit. I hope it doesn't start to leak puss. Thanks steve

 

I love the polished look as well. One of these days...

 

 

Every display has had a few zits from time to time. Long ago, I grew tired of them and decided that I didn't have to live with them anymore.... so, I broke out the Clearasil.

[pledosophy]

Sorry but my vortechs are sexy. I hide the rest.

[Emerald525]

Sorry but my vortechs are sexy. I hide the rest.

 

Agreed Vortech's are sexy!(clap)(drooler) Would be a shame to hide such works of art!(nono)

 

Also agree with the new Lottery/powerball plan people are coming up with. Seems to have worked for some.

[WAVES]

I agree with Steve 100%, I did alot to minimize every bit of plumbing in my tank. You can see a few 1" long pieces where the water outputs are, but the are hidden the best i could on a smallish tank. Although I dont scrape the coraline off my back wall. I would if I didnt have other things to tend too like infant twins.

 

If I had time, motivation, or someone tending to my tank, I would insist.

 

To me,,, nothing is worse, and yet so easy to avoid than seeing hardware through the back of a tank. It takes $4 and 15 minutes to rattle can the back of a tank, the result is priceless compared to pipes, cords, salt creep etc showing. The problem for most, is it also takes forethought.

[Mandinga]

Everytime I look at my Koralias I want to puke...My next tank build will be as simple as possible, hiding as much as possible.

 

Why doesnt anyone make a pump that looks like a rock? Or powerhead covers that look like caves or something...

[Mandinga]

 

 

Forethought causes nausea. I avoid it at all cost.