I believe the main reason for not paying much attention to the layouts of salt water tanks is that it’s really hard to make a salt water tank ugly. There hasn’t been such a need to study ways of making it look better as there were for freshwater tanks.
Further more, any saltwater tank deals with a tremendous amount of rock, usually around 20% of its total volume. Add the corals and you normally get a tremendous lack of space.
So, for me the art of creating a layout for a salt water tank lays in first instance in the definition of empty spaces. In the long run it’ requires a tremendous effort to keep this empty spaces as they should be: empty. There’s always a coral or a rock that would look great in that space.
When I speak about empty spaces I’m thinking mainly about the bottom and the back of the tank. There should be open spaces in the sand and there should be open spaces in the back of the tank. The open space in the sand is place of purity, where your eyes can rest. The open space in the back gives depth to the tank.
The main thing here is contrast. Contrast between areas filled with interesting stuff and areas completely void. Contrast between shapes. Contrast between colours. Contrast in light. Contrast in size. Contrast in height.
What about the health of the tank? What about the well being of the corals and their placement according the their requirements of light, current, etc? Ah, when you manage to marry those requirements with all these aesthetic “rules” the results are true poetry. No one said it was easy. Some are born with it, others have to struggle to get it, but everyone can get there, one way or the other
I will not address too much the health and technical requirements here, that’s a huge piece of the puzzle you will have to research for yourself and combine with aesthetics. By the way, I’m not a native English speaker, so please forgive some wild use of the language.
