I decided some time ago after a trip to the Maldives that I wanted something that little bit different to your average reef tank, Admittedly I wanted a 'themed' tank, but not just in terms of the species covered. I wanted to create something that would eventually look like it had been physically lifted from the ocean, rather than simply a pile of rocks 'emulating' a natural rock structure. I was always quite impressed with the Garf website and the production of artificial live rock, and the many variations across the internet on that theme. So I thought id take things one step further, and instead of just creating my own rocks to pile up, I thought why not make full sized rock structures that form the bulk of the aquascape and then just add in a small amount of real live rock to seed it.

After pondering the various biotopes available that Id witnessed in the Maldives. from Lagoonal areas behind the main reef, to the reef wall itself or the reef flat/crest, I was always a little off put, by the fact that which ever way you go, you are limited to one degree of another if you want to create an accurate representation. For example, If I were to copy the reef 'wall' then id be stuck for what to do with the bottom of the tank as you don't get a sand bed with a reef wall (it looks unnatural to me). If you go lagoon, then you can have the sand, but you are limited if you want to be accurate in terms of the species you can hold. (many adult reef fish don't inhabit the back lagoons. Only the juveniles are found there, likewise many coral species are only found on the seaward side of the main reef and not behind.

After pondering this for some time I suddenly remembered coming across sections of these atoll reefs on the island of kuramathi in the Maldives where at the very tips (end of the reef), there are areas where the main reef and the lagoon trail off to meet each other in an environment that mixes both full blown reef species with a sandy substrate, but still with the flow characteristics of a relatively turbulent nature unlike the fully protected and somewhat turbid conditions found within the lagoon itself. This gave me the opportunity to design an aquascape that would emulate where the beginnings of the main reef structure start emerging from the built up sand deposits in fairly shallow water.

In this Picture of kuramathi island, you can see these areas highlighted.

A: is the area in question, where the reef wall shallows off and rises with a narrowing reef crest, to meet the shallow sandy lagoon behind. Here currents are still quite strong, but not quite as fierce as on front face of the main reef wall  B:  Behind the main reef crest is the lagoon C:, where more adaptable corals are found such as Fungia's etc, and the juvenile forms of many of the fish etc found out on the main reef.

The main reason for choosing this kind of habitat to emulate, was that its a place where the life of all of these biotopes meet naturally, so combining these within the confines of a tank becomes easier and more natural, not only to look at, but also for the animals as well..

As already stated, the main idea was to make a rising rock structure that looks and feels as though it continues underneath the surrounding sand layers. effectively your looking at the leading edge of the reef structure as though you were swimming towards where it emerges and starts. From an observers point of view, I feel these areas offer an exiting and intricate slice of the reef habitat rather than looking at a solid wall of coral that tends to blend into one big mass. In this case the natural erosion of the surge and currents give a channelled and worn appearance with many small island of rock jutting from the sand just prior to the main reef structure coming into view.

With the aid of the 3D program Sketchup I was able to play around until I came up with what I felt was a pretty good (if somewhat blocky) 'representation' of what I was trying to achieve. The idea being to replicate the channelled appearance caused by the constant incoming tides and wave action. ( in this case rather than a 'strait on' appearance, I took the view to 45deg. In effect, average incoming wave  and tide action would have come from the front LH corner of the tank, travelling towards the back RH corner.

The long term view is to have a fairly shallow rock structure that maximises growth space for corals. Whilst this may initially appear to be two separate islands, over time its planned that larger branching acropora's will fill out the back areas and corners giving the impression that the rockwork structure could continue beyond the back pane to form the main reef. in effect, your swimming towards the start/tip of the reef looking from the seaward side at 45degress.

Also in the images you can see the closed loop outlets that blow water upwards across the rock structure and from the sides. The intakes are all hidden below the rock structures that are hollow with open back sides. Whilst initially these outlets (40mm 45deg elbows) may seem unsightly, they do quickly grow over with coralline algae etc, and can have small corals and Discosoma mushrooms attached which will grow over and disguise them. I did consider making some fake live rock shrouds for them. but upon further consideration, and baring in mind that the entire aquascape is deliberately designed to have no hint of artificial symmetry i thought it a bad idea to have 4 evenly spaced lumps of rock jutting up which would look false. As it is, I have no objection to closed loop outlets being on view (but grown over) rather than 'obviously and poorly hidden. The side mounted closed loop returns, wont be that visible because the tank overlaps the main viewing opening, by approximately 3-4" each side anyway. (since doing these drawings, I decided that with these side returns, rather than having two 'vertically' near the front, I would have two mounted near the surface instead, firing inwards at 45 degrees. one near the top front firing towards centre back., one near the top rear firing towards centre front..)

Happy with the main theme, I thought it might be a good idea to take advantage of the fact that the main tank wasn't actually built at that stage (only the two bases were in). I could use this as a template to build the rock structures on, taking into account where all the inlets and outlets were. Doing it this way meant I could get a definite idea of how things were going to look, before there was even any water in the way. To do this I transferred the 'map' from Sketchup onto the base glass and marked out all the boundaries, and where the strainers would go for the Closed loop outlets. You can see in the picture below that I've marked out where one of the closed loop strainers will run down the internal length of the rock structure.

After this, it was time to have a dabble at making some fake live rock.

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