When it comes to aquascaping both freshwater and marine aquariums, there are numerous themes and material choices to bring one’s desired interior design goals to fruition. Over the past few decades, live or artificial rock of one kind or another has been the substrate of choice when it comes to making many aquarium environments look natural, especially those in marine reef aquariums.

However, it has been my position for at least a couple of decades that too much live rock was unnecessarily being used in many marine aquariums. Often, its placement results in what looks like a brick wall covering the entire back of the aquarium. I can fully understand the desire not to allow large portions of the aquarium back panel or its plumbing (e.g., outlets, overflows or water surface agitators) to be overly visible. Without a doubt this distracts from the overall beauty of the aquarium’s interior environment.

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