drummereef's 180g in-wall build
- Thread starter drummereef
- Start date
drummereef
Team RC
Definitely no rock wall! :hammer: I'm trying to come up with the most 3 dimentional layout with the space I have to work with. It will be a few islands at various height and depth. I like the idea of sandy areas the are visible front to back. that way with any luck the corals will grow over those areas to create some cool pass throughs. Once I get something worthy of a pic I'll post it up here.
drummereef
Team RC
I love the way you plumbed everything. I may have to bite your design a bit
It would be my honor.
crvz
Team RC
Definitely no rock wall! :hammer: I'm trying to come up with the most 3 dimentional layout with the space I have to work with. It will be a few islands at various height and depth. I like the idea of sandy areas the are visible front to back. that way with any luck the corals will grow over those areas to create some cool pass throughs. Once I get something worthy of a pic I'll post it up here.
I'm thinking of doing something similar... have channels that give a real 3-d look to the tank. I thought it may help hide some of the Tunzes as well.
drummereef
Team RC
cilyjr
Active member
Definitely no rock wall! :hammer: I'm trying to come up with the most 3 dimentional layout with the space I have to work with. It will be a few islands at various height and depth. I like the idea of sandy areas the are visible front to back. that way with any luck the corals will grow over those areas to create some cool pass throughs. Once I get something worthy of a pic I'll post it up here.
i recently went up to a 180 from a 90. the aquascaping was a whole new world. with the larger foot print it was easy for me to stack my 3 islands up without leaning the rock anywhere near the glass. this is good for me as i like to remove coraline off the back. anyway good luck i am sure you will find the aquascaping enjoyable with the 180 rather then frustrating as with smaller tanks
erics3000
Active member
I really like the liquid filled gauge. I use to run them in my cars back in the days. I think i still have one out of my supra. The reason I noticed this is my new one that is not liquid filled got stuck, I had to tap it and it is a little loud. I just got it form Bulk Reef too.
Taqpol
New member
I like how you mentioned having areas of sand go front to back without any rocks in them. I think that is one of the key features of really natural looking tanks, like Steve Weast's.
I tried to do something similar in my 120, but my islands are too big for a four foot length tank and they overlap a tiny bit. You can still see the channel/canyon if you look at the tank at an angle, but when taking pictures from the front it really kills the depth. Thats why on my new six foot tank I plan on keeping the same islands (or maybe adding a third tiny island) with almost a full on two feet of sandy area in the middle. Also makes it much easier for spotlighting my SPS islands with my LED lights.
I tried to do something similar in my 120, but my islands are too big for a four foot length tank and they overlap a tiny bit. You can still see the channel/canyon if you look at the tank at an angle, but when taking pictures from the front it really kills the depth. Thats why on my new six foot tank I plan on keeping the same islands (or maybe adding a third tiny island) with almost a full on two feet of sandy area in the middle. Also makes it much easier for spotlighting my SPS islands with my LED lights.
drummereef
Team RC
After probably 20 hours of scaping my fingers are raw. :lol: Why didn't someone tell me to where gloves. Need to live with the scape for a day or two and see if I still like it. I'm having a time with my camera trying to get decent pics. Between the glare off the front glass and my skills at depth of field, the pics are not so good. Once I can get a couple decent ones I'll definitely post them.
Need to live with the scape for a day or two and see if I still like it. I'm having a time with my camera trying to get decent pics. Between the glare off the front glass and my skills at depth of field, the pics are not so good. Once I can get a couple decent ones I'll definitely post them. 
110galreef
New member
:uzi: :mad2: Crap pics work for now!! Come on!! :bounce3: :beer:
After probably 20 hours of scaping my fingers are raw. :lol: Why didn't someone tell me to where gloves.
what a tease! :fun4:
patrick1234
New member
Really starting to look good. Nice work
yeah i agree with you.... come on, show us the pictures man :bounce1::bounce1:
drummereef
Team RC
UPDATE:
Alright... these really aren't the best pictures. Since my last post I completely re-scaped the tank. :lol: I originally started with a lot of rock but the more I pulled out the better it looked to me. I think it's much more 3 dimensional now and there's lots of open swimming space with nice peaks and valleys. I tried to adjust the white balance on my camera but it made them really yellow so I had to adjust the color a bit to make it more accurate to what I see in the room. I still am unable to get a good FTS.
My camera picks up a bad glare from some reason, so it's looks really blurry. As soon as I can get a good FTS I'll post it. Let me know what you think.
Center Island
Center and Right Side Islands
Right and Center Islands
Left Island
Left and Center Islands
Center and Left Islands
I'm guessing there's about 100 lbs of rock in the tank, but I need to weight what's left over to make sure. I'm thinking I'll start putting water in tonight since it will take 3 days to fill the system. I bought a 200g box of IO salt that I'll use for startup. The background is just temporary so I could take some pics. I'm going to a sign shop tomorrow to look at corrugated plastic sheets that I was planning on using for the background. Should be making waves by Saturday. :beer:
Alright... these really aren't the best pictures. Since my last post I completely re-scaped the tank. :lol: I originally started with a lot of rock but the more I pulled out the better it looked to me. I think it's much more 3 dimensional now and there's lots of open swimming space with nice peaks and valleys. I tried to adjust the white balance on my camera but it made them really yellow so I had to adjust the color a bit to make it more accurate to what I see in the room. I still am unable to get a good FTS.
My camera picks up a bad glare from some reason, so it's looks really blurry. As soon as I can get a good FTS I'll post it. Let me know what you think. Center Island
Center and Right Side Islands
Right and Center Islands
Left Island
Left and Center Islands
Center and Left Islands
I'm guessing there's about 100 lbs of rock in the tank, but I need to weight what's left over to make sure. I'm thinking I'll start putting water in tonight since it will take 3 days to fill the system. I bought a 200g box of IO salt that I'll use for startup. The background is just temporary so I could take some pics. I'm going to a sign shop tomorrow to look at corrugated plastic sheets that I was planning on using for the background. Should be making waves by Saturday. :beer:
Last edited by a moderator:
Taqpol
New member
Looks really good! I do have a few suggestions based on things like the golden ratio and rule of thirds, but I like the rock structures themselves.
Normally I think the best three island formations look like this:
|
| |
_ |_ _ _ _ _ _ _ |_ _ _| _
In the picture above the underscores are the bottom of your tank (in 6" for a 6 foot tank even ). The vertical hash marks are the relative heights of of your three islands. Basically to follow the golden ratio you want the tallest island to be on one side of the tank, a medium sized island against the opposite wall, and the smallest island should be closest to the medium sized island and definitely off center.
With your islands I would put the center island to the far right. Keep the far left island where it is but maybe add some rock to make it taller (but not taller then the far right island). Then the singular rock that is currently on the far right will be the off center central rock that is closest to the left island.
Again, all of this stuff is just my opinion!
EDIT:
Hmm, the picture above isn't working. The far left | should have three levels, the far right should be two |, and the one off center in the middle should be only one | high.
Normally I think the best three island formations look like this:
|
| |
_ |_ _ _ _ _ _ _ |_ _ _| _
In the picture above the underscores are the bottom of your tank (in 6" for a 6 foot tank even
). The vertical hash marks are the relative heights of of your three islands. Basically to follow the golden ratio you want the tallest island to be on one side of the tank, a medium sized island against the opposite wall, and the smallest island should be closest to the medium sized island and definitely off center.With your islands I would put the center island to the far right. Keep the far left island where it is but maybe add some rock to make it taller (but not taller then the far right island). Then the singular rock that is currently on the far right will be the off center central rock that is closest to the left island.
Again, all of this stuff is just my opinion!
EDIT:
Hmm, the picture above isn't working. The far left | should have three levels, the far right should be two |, and the one off center in the middle should be only one | high.
Looks really good! I do have a few suggestions based on things like the golden ratio and rule of thirds, but I like the rock structures themselves.
Normally I think the best three island formations look like this:
|
| |
_ |_ _ _ _ _ _ _ |_ _ _| _
In the picture above the underscores are the bottom of your tank (in 6" for a 6 foot tank even
With your islands I would put the center island to the far right. Keep the far left island where it is but maybe add some rock to make it taller (but not taller then the far right island). Then the singular rock that is currently on the far right will be the off center central rock that is closest to the left island.
Again, all of this stuff is just my opinion!
EDIT:
Hmm, the picture above isn't working. The far left | should have three levels, the far right should be two |, and the one off center in the middle should be only one | high.
I agree! With three islands you really want to vary the height a bit to add some interest. Also, do you think your lights will penetrate that deeply for your higher light demanding species in a 24" deep tank? Following Taqpol suggestion you will have different placement options to find that PAR sweetspot for all your species. Just an opinion.
drummereef
Team RC
Thanks for the suggestions guys! I do agree with Alex about that island placement. The first time I scaped the tank I tried that setup but it just looked like three piles of rocks - nothing interesting to look at. I think the biggest thing I'm dealing with is I'm just looking at a pile of rocks. All the tanks I love looking at you can't see any rocks, all you can see are corals. I definitely agree about the tank depth and getting enough penetration to the bottom. Problem with that is I think I need another 50 LB of rock to get the islands high enough. I'll keep working on it though.
I definitely agree about the tank depth and getting enough penetration to the bottom. Problem with that is I think I need another 50 LB of rock to get the islands high enough. I'll keep working on it though.
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Taqpol
New member
Look at this guys tank:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1674294&highlight=two+years+growth
His rocks are not very tall at all, but if you just wait two years you won't be able to tell!
One thing that bugs me about my current tank is I think I made the islands too tall. While I think my rockwork looks interesting by itself, it really doesn't leave much room for corals to grow.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1674294&highlight=two+years+growth
His rocks are not very tall at all, but if you just wait two years you won't be able to tell!
One thing that bugs me about my current tank is I think I made the islands too tall. While I think my rockwork looks interesting by itself, it really doesn't leave much room for corals to grow.
