drummereef's 180g in-wall build

Thanks for those examples Alex. :) ReefBum's tank is awesome! Pleeeeease don't take this wrong as his corals and growth are spectacular and I could only hope my corals look half as good some day, but towards the end of the progression the tank grew over the "island" look he originally laid out. This is what I'm trying to keep from happening even though it's hard not to drool over such a beautiful display. :)


Apologize again for the terrible pic, but here's what I just did for reference. 3 islands at varying height and space. This is definitely just for reference as I'm not completely sure this is the direction I want it to go, but at least it's a visual for you to see.


Picture013-3.jpg~original



I guess it's a little more along the lines of Welles rockscape minus the ridiculously awesome corals of course. :lol: Just opposite, left to right. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1652078
 
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That setup looks great...You may just want to try and "Un Clutter" the big pile on the right. Maybe the left one a tad too......

Make more archways and or openings. Will make it look more appealing as well as get flow better thru it plus room for fish to swim in and out of!!
 
Welles 'scape is AWESOME. Funny though, upon looking closer his "right island" looks like its actually three close island that are covered with corals. You might be able to do something similar with the big island on your right side. If you have three tall islands really close together you will have a lot of channels that are visually appealing and for fish to swim into, but it would also grow into one giant coral island overtime.

I agree about thinning out the right rock island, but maybe you could take some of the rocks that are in there and make them just out into the tank to create overhangs.

John Ciotti is mainly a freshwater guy, but he did some amazing things with rock outcroppings and "teiring the sand" in this aquascaping contest that was held in Denver a little while ago. Scott Fellman's also looks cool, but as he admits adding an "arch" between his far left two islands killed the overall design for him. Arches or bridges connecting two interesting pieces of rock destroys the depth of the image by making them look like the same piece of rock.

http://************.com/2010/03/14/...wdown-lessons-learned-victory-road-travelled/

If you can't tell, I am very passionate about aquascaping and design. I could talk about this stuff all day!

Edit:
Wow... I can't believe RC censors the above site. I don't want to get in trouble but if you are interested PM me and I'll give you the link.
 
Crazy that you mention that! He's moving to a new store a few miles down the freeway, and I helped him move that monster of a 600g tank this last Saturday! He kept all the corals and most of this fish, I think it will look even better when he gets it set back up.

That being said I am a fan of slightly more rock then either he or Leonardo usually have, but it doesn't really matter once your tank grows in as much as either of theirs.
 
Taqpol said:
Crazy that you mention that! He's moving to a new store a few miles down the freeway, and I helped him move that monster of a 600g tank this last Saturday! He kept all the corals and most of this fish, I think it will look even better when he gets it set back up.

That being said I am a fan of slightly more rock then either he or Leonardo usually have, but it doesn't really matter once your tank grows in as much as either of theirs.
Click to expand...


Definitely agree. In the end I really don't want to see any of these rocks. My original intent was to have a very "minimalist" display. I like the look of "low" rock displays and allow the corals to fill in the mid to upper areas of the tank. Do you think there would be a significant par issue with the lighting I have in a 24" tank? I was under the assumption that any coral would be fine at any depth...?
 
I posted PAR reading of my tank with T5s and was shocked at the numbers I got. I was getting an even distribution of 400 PAR at the very top and 200 PAR all around the sand bed of my 24" tank. I've always heard you need >500 PAR to color up the most light demanding of SPS corals, but I think my tank has done very well for growth and color in the year it has been up.

Long story short, I would not hesitate in having a lower height of rocks in a 24" deep tank.
 
drummereef said:
Definitely agree. In the end I really don't want to see any of these rocks. My original intent was to have a very "minimalist" display. I like the look of "low" rock displays and allow the corals to fill in the mid to upper areas of the tank. Do you think there would be a significant par issue with the lighting I have in a 24" tank? I was under the assumption that any coral would be fine at any depth...?
Click to expand...


I think you'll be fine. Considering the reflectors you've got, I'd bet you'll get great coverage. If you'd like, I can measure PAR under my pendants (lumen bright mini wides + radium 20kK + lumatek ballasts) to give you an idea. Matter of fact, I'll do it whether you like it or not!

I'm planning on using the same light configuration you've got, only over a 72"x36" footprint and 3" deeper. So if you're in trouble, I'm really pushing it.
 
Alright, so here are a few quick numbers. Measurements made with only ONE bulb on. At the water level, directly under the bulb, with the pendant 10" over the water, PAR reading of 1400. At 10" under water, PAR reading of 700. At the floor of this tank (17" under water), 450. I measured a few places away from immediately under the bulb but with direct line of sight to the bulb (representing a 2' square footprint), and I didnt get anything under 200, and again that's just with one bulb. Dunno how the overlapping light spread would change the story.
 
crvz said:
Alright, so here are a few quick numbers. Measurements made with only ONE bulb on. At the water level, directly under the bulb, with the pendant 10" over the water, PAR reading of 1400. At 10" under water, PAR reading of 700. At the floor of this tank (17" under water), 450. I measured a few places away from immediately under the bulb but with direct line of sight to the bulb (representing a 2' square footprint), and I didnt get anything under 200, and again that's just with one bulb. Dunno how the overlapping light spread would change the story.
Click to expand...


You're the man crvz!!! :) Thanks for those par readings, exactly what I needed. So really any light demanding coral would do fine pretty much down to the sandbed with those reflectors with the numbers you are getting. That's great.
 
So my tank sits dry yet another day... I'm pretty frustrated right now with aquascaping the tank. I just can't seem to get what I'm looking for, although I'm not exactly sure what that is anyway. Everything has been relatively smooth sailing up until this point, I can't believe stacking a bunch of rocks could be so frustrating. :( Needing a little pick me up guys.... inspiration or otherwise. :sad1:
 
Set it and forget it. The more you move it around the less happy you will be imho. I just completed a new 180-gl build and I am not 100% satisfied with my aquascape, but is functional right now. It has been 6-weeks and in about another 2-4 weeks I am going to mess with it a bit now that I have had time to see how things look and fit in, etc.

Your aquascape is not set in cement:-). Set it up to your eye and you can play with it as time goes on. If you wait any longer all your nice new equipment will be obsolete......

Go for it and fill her up!

BTW: GREAT JOB in all your planning and I am jealous of your maintenance room. I am stuck with underneath my stand and a cramped closet next to my tank.
 
Have you looked through the minimalist aquascaping thread yet?

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1658490

It seems like you are more going for a dominated coral tank like Leonardo's Formosa Forest or Welle's Beijing tank. In both of those tanks you can BARELY see the rockwork, so just make three islands (one on one side, two on the other like we've been talking about), position them in such a way so that you get maximum flow under the rockwork, place the flatter pieces jutting out into the water to make overhangs and coral grow out areas, and call it good!

If your husbandry is anything as good as your build process it will be COVERED by corals in less then a year and you won't even see the rock.
 
Guys, thanks for the words of encouragement. Points well taken. :)


Alex - I've spent hours looking through that thread and also the stickys in the SPS forum. :lol: Yes you are right about wanting the tank to be coral dominated. I just don't want it to look busy or take up a lot of swimming space for the fish. The Formosa Forest is probably the best example I have in mind, just with a couple rocks to give it some vertical dimension. I really appreciate it guys. Thanks for sticking in there with me through this process and putting up with moody musicians. :D
 
You have been doing an incredible job so far. just a little more patience. Go ahead and just try multiple things untill you catch a idea that you like. I am also one for the minimlist approach. Remember big rocks up top block light below. Just take your time.

You might even want to drill some little holes for frag plugs. Do you remember Marc 900 DIY tank his aquascape was awesome. Dig up his thread and see if you can get some more ides. Good luck. Either way like others said you might move it again but a little more patience her can go along way.
 
Yeah just keep it simple...the coral layout and growth will probably be more appealing once it fills in anyway. The general layout you just had is pefrect w/ just a simple thining or opening of the right pile you had!

And goes as said above....set it & leave it as u can go nuts re-doing!
 
Brett ,

tank is looking awesome man. Cant wait to see that thing up and running. I wish I had the patience you did. My tank has officially been up and running for a year now, cant believe its been that long since we both started our tanks.

Is that Marcorock?
 
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