Let's Plan a 120g Upgrade

[Ardeus]

Hi.

I don't know if you noticed but your layout is a bit "boxy".



I like the sense of depth you created on the right. It also creates an area of light and an area of shade, not to mention that it makes your layout look less heavy.

I think it would look better if you made the layout more irregular.



And if that "ball" right in the middle would move to a more extreme location, I think it would look good too. The bay on the left would have a more interesting shape:



And to make the layout more irregular on top, I think that moving a single rock from right to the left can make the difference:



And to make the 2 bays more different and increase depth:



______________________

 

[msn711]

Your suggestions work great in photoshop, but they would undermine the entire structure, bringing rocks down.

You also managed to hide one of my favorite corals, my green "chronic" chalice.

There is significantly more depth than what the pictures show. It's hard to capture that with a camera. I did the layout the way I did to create as many caves and hiding places for the fish. I don't see anything wrong with "boxy" as you put it, especially when it serves an important purpose and isn't just a wall of rock.

I assume you're just here to promote your own website, hmm???

Moving on to more productive discussions: I've read about other ideas as far as keeping fish in the tank. The problem is that with netting, egg crate, etc., fish still manage to get through. I'm not chancing a $229 lineatus wrasse because I'm too cheap to buy a chiller.

 

[Ardeus]

Hi again.

Yes, with photoshop is much more easier but also much more limiting, because I don't get a real idea of the rocks and their stability.

I understand what you're saying about the need for caves to satisfy the needs of the animals in the tank, but that can be done taking many other thinks in account at the same time. But if it looks good to you, great. That's what matters.

Another problem with photos is that most of the times they flatten the image and don't give a good perception of depth. I liked very much what you did on the right mainly because of that: depth.

Refftanks are always nice to look at and I guess that's the reason the layout is so overlooked, compared to what happens with fresh water planted tanks. That's what got me thinking about reef layouts and that's the reason I created a site about it a few days ago.

By the way, yes, I am promoting the site. I've been trying to learn how to aquascape reeftanks for over an year doing this "exercises" in forums but I only created the site recently, bacause I couldn't find any organised information on the web.

I own a tank which is full of things that are wrong, even to my eyes in what concerns of layout, but I won't change them either, those errors are part of what the tank is.

Sorry for the criticism/suggestions. I've done it before a few hundred times through out the last year and never occured to me that they could also be taken as offensive. Although it's been the first time, I will be more carefull in the future.

Good luck with the tank.

______________________
www.aquarium-layouts.com

 

[MarineGirl411]

Wow, I just saw a picture that didn't come up before when I pulled up the website. Your wrasses are so beautiful! Wow, what color! If you can afford a chiller, then I would just buy one then. Esp. since they were that much. I didn't know they were that expensive. Aquascaping is hard to do. I think yours looks great. I know it's hard to capture the real look in pictures. It is very hard with my tank. Can't wait to see more pictures.

 

[msn711]

Sorry for the criticism/suggestions. I've done it before a few hundred times through out the last year and never occured to me that they could also be taken as offensive. Although it's been the first time, I will be more carefull in the future.[/quote

I just don't think its right to go around photoshopping people's tanks without their permission. Everyone here puts a lot of hard work into their tanks, and I for one, want mine to be presented accurately, especially in MY thread.

Wow, I just saw a picture that didn't come up before when I pulled up the website. Your wrasses are so beautiful! Wow, what color! If you can afford a chiller, then I would just buy one then. Esp. since they were that much. I didn't know they were that expensive.

Only the lineatus was that expensive. Definitely the most I've ever spent on a fish. Compared to how much we spend in this hobby, a chiller is just one more piece of equipment. And if that's what it takes to keep my reef healthy and thriving, then that's what has to be done. If there were another solution for covering the tank that has been fail proof and doesn't involve DIY, I'd be all over it.

But, some good news: I've noticed the temps have been slowly coming down. This morning, I was down to 79. And they're not going up as high. So I'm going to give the fans more time to do their work. Had they been running from the beginning, I would probably be ok right now. Fortunately, there haven't been any bad reactions from the fish/corals.

 

[msn711]

More good news: I left the stand doors open all day, and the temps are down to a respectable 77*F.

The bad news is that I'll have to back track on my defense of using glass tops. There's a 2" gap in the back, in case you have any HOB equipment. I never thought a fish would make its way through that gap, but I was wrong...and lost my pylei wrasse as a result.

 

[MarineGirl411]

Sorry girl. =( There's got to be another way to keep those guys in. And make sure they stay in. I might start a topic and ask for you. That would make me very upset. I'm lucky I was home when my Anthias jumped out. Also lucky my cat didn't notice.

 

[msn711]

Slightly off topic note, but I just found out today that I passed the bar exam!

Back to the tank itself, I need to upload pictures of the new frags I just got, but they are super tiny!

 

[msn711]

MASSIVE PICTURE POST!!!!!

MASSIVE PICTURE POST!!!!!

I'm going to take back what I said about fraggle reef. After comparing their prices to others, along with the size descriptions on the websites, I think they're pretty fair and reasonable. I just need to pay more attention to the size description instead of just looking at the picture.

MASSIVE PICTURE POST!!!!!

These are the pictures I took tonight and yesterday that I really like:

Encrusting Hydnophora:

Rainbow Montipora:

Tubinaria:

Tubinaria under actinics:

Orange Chalice (it's gotten lighter so I moved it down):

 

[msn711]

Clove polyps...

...And what looks like a cyphastrea frag next to them:

Open Brain:

Shrooms and Zoos:

Acan lord and GSM:

Acan Lord under actinics:

 

[msn711]

Chronic Chalice

Niger Trigger

Monti Cap under actinics:

Platygyra frag under actinics:

And the AC Jr:

 

[msn711]

I thought things had gotten a little quiet around here. Where'd everybody go?

I just got confirmation that the frag next to the clove polyps is a cyphastrea...meteor shower to be exact!

I wanted to get a FTS up, but I'm having a bit of an algae outbreak. I had been pretty lucky with all my previous set ups, but I guess it's caught up with me. Time to order that skimmer and some more phosban.

I also need to change the MH bulbs. That yellow color is really starting to bother me. Any suggestions? Or should I just go back to the Pheonix 14k?

 

[kawicivic]

all of your new frags look good... I especially like the platygyra. Never heard of that one before... does it have a common name?

 

[msn711]

No common names that I know of. It's an LPS, pretty similar to favias/maze brains/those types.

 

[balmiesgirl]

Whew, quite a long thread.....maybe it the 3rs tom collins....any way....
GREAT Thread.....Fantastic to find some fellow reefer chicks too....
The progress has been fun to watch.
I have a 110 Tall and am really interesed in your lighting choices ...budget made mine a crappy coralife HQI 150- I am upgrading the bulbs to XM's tomorrow.....but definitely see something different in my future. Also what would you use in a tiny sump for a decent skimmer. Nothing fancy, just practical.

 

[MarineGirl411]

You can try to find a used skimmer on RC here. I really like my BM150. Their might be a couple of used ones around. I've heard people like Orca's and the Octopus skimmers. I have no experience. You have a pretty big load of fish. Do you have corals as well or is it just a fwlr? It would really be best to combine you WC with a good skimmer. =)

MSN-Did you get the Platygyra frag from FraggleReef? It's really pretty. I'm battling some algae myself. I think it's because I let my filters get too old in my RO DI. It said they last 12 months, but mine lasted a little less than 10. TDS meter said everything was fine. I think it might have been off. Need to do a WC. With your new light, you might still like the Phoenix bulbs. Were they too blue for you? Looking good.

 

[msn711]

balmiesgirl: I hate coralife products. They're low-budget, entry level products that simply don't last very long or work very well. For a skimmer in a small sump, I'm looking at the tunze skimmers. You might try one of those. Let me know how those XM's work out.

marinegirl: The platygyra is from fragglereef. I'm not sure I would blame your algae problems on the ro filters. I've always read that they last anywhere from 18 months to 2 years and that only the DI needs to be replaced automatically when the tds starts to climb. I liked the phoenix lights. They were perfect. I'm just not sure that I need something that blue with 4x54 t5 actinics. Maybe something more 12k? Or a true 14k? The phoenix bulbs are always compared to what a 20k should look like.

 

[balmiesgirl]

msn711-
I've had the XM bulbs in for a couple of days. They are working great. It is alot "bluer" than before because these XM's are 15,000K and the coralifes were 10,000K. But I think I am going to like it.

 

[msn711]

Well today, the AC Jr suddenly decided that it wasn't going to turn off the t5 lights even though the display and program says the lights are off. I've got a post in neptune system's forum to try to figure out what the problem is, but I'm pretty ticked off that this thing was working just fine, and has already malfunctioned in only the short time I've had it.

Other than that, I finally ordered the tunze 9010 for a skimmer, along with some phosban, and nls pellets to split with the frozen food. I was out of town all weekend, and the algae is getting worse. I'll try to clean the front glass and get a picture, but a water change is definitely in order this weekend.

 

[msn711]

Long over due update - A couple of full tank shots

A frag pack from aquaticcollection.com:

I'm going to post more pics of the frags whenever the lionfish decides to move. I need to get IDs on some of them.