Does this look good??

[PGJE]

I think one of my favorite things in the entire ocean is a kelp forest, and I finally found some incredibly realistic rubber kelp at my LFS. I also kind of want coral, so i was thinking a mixture? have kelp surrounding a small reef? The stocking is not going to match that of kelp of course; those fish need freezing water or they get HUGE, so it's going to be more of a reef stocking...
Tell me what you think!

 

[krichardson]

I like your idea of the kelp surrounding a reef.

 

[Rob909]

If by kelp, you mean saltwater plants (macroalgae), I personally love the look of plants mixed into the reef. Adds much more color to the tank and a lot of movement from your scape. Even coralline algae on the live rock doesn’t do it enough. Between the rocks and the sand, there’s not enough color. The corals help a lot but I think the macroalgae really helps it pop.

 

[twentyleagues]

I'm not into fake plants. Are you doing real coral? If so you could get some blade calurpa for your kelp. I had a ton of it in my display refugium looked awesome and helps keep the nitrate down.

 

[Gourami Swami]

I agree I would use real macroalgae, instead of rubber stuff. The macro is very beneficial to a reef, most run it in refugiums. I have seen some people run it in their main tank, look up "display refugiums"

 

[twentyleagues]

Man I wish I still had more pics of my salt stuff. They are "safely" locked away on photobucket. Lol

 

[tlindsey]

I totally agree fake kelp and real coral wouldn't be for me. Especially in a reef setup.

 

[twentyleagues]

I totally agree fake kelp and real coral wouldn't be for me. Especially in a reef setup.

Yup
There are so many macros that tou can make a really nice setup without a single coral.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Why not go for macros and marine aquatic plants?

 

[PGJE]

Thanks for all the replies! Iv'e resorted to this rubber kelp because my lfs does not have a huge selection of saltwater plants (Aquarium Adventure), or at least I have not seen any.