What does a reef really look like?

[Boating Flagpoles LLC]

No need to apologize.

I did want to address the statement about dead corals not looking like that in the wild. You would not believe how quickly things are changing in my aquarium since I introduced that rock and those coral skeletons. I have some gorgeous red, purple,orange, and green coraline algae taking over quite quickly. The amount of life already growing on these rocks is really amazing. I may drop my go-pro in and shoot some video.

Its kind of ironic that over on one of the reef aquarium boards there is a diver vs. reefer thread going on with both sides showing some pretty bad examples of the other groups behavior.

 

[kdsmithjr]

I don't think that divers and aquarists hate each other. I'd put it more on the Republican/Democrat level of things. Their worldviews are different, so.....

 

[yarik83]

Well as a full time aquarium hobbyist and a part time scuba diver I have made a decision long ago that marine life stays in the ocean so I only keep farm raised freshwater fish that I buy from local fish farmers. Having said that... reefs do have a distinctive look to them.

Soft coral fields are about 100-200ft wide strips with soft fans, those chimney looking things and finger looking things.
Hard coral formations usually look like a mushroom on top of a mushroom on top of a mushroom.... as old coral formations die, new ones grow on top of them so you have a layered look to them usually with soft coral on top and hard coral on bottom.
Coral walls usually have an overhang and a little cave and are a home to thousands of schooling fish.

To answer your question on organizing your tank I would advise considering other things first.
#1 where will you place your fish tank? Against the wall? In the wall? Sticking out like a peninsula? In other words how many visible sides will you have? Obviously for a walk around tank (ie built into a divider wall) you would be interested in replicating look on both sides.
#2 what kind of filtration system do you have (overflow, drilled, canister filer...). Those usually dictate placement of things as you should generally cover up the ugly piping or other related filter media.
#3 what kind of look do you want in your tank? Fish generally like to either hide so you cant see your prized fishies or they need lots of space?
In salt water tanks there is also issue of keeping fish and coral together so I do not know particulars of what can be kept with what.