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Ok so this is a cropped down photo, I don't know if you can see it but right now I'm running 4 54 watt T5 lights but I'm planning on upgrading to a set up that will include a pair of 250 watt halides along with 2 54 watt T5s and some HO fluorescents.
 

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Doesn't look like quite as much as I expected but if you don't mind some constructive criticism, I think it just looks like you poured the rocks in. Very unnatural. If you removed some of the rocks and spent more time with placement, I think you could achieve a more natural look that allows for more flow, more growth potential and less opportunity for deadspots. It looks like you have some really nice pieces of rock in there. It will also be easier to clean the glass.
 
Yeah, I wasn't necessarily happy with where some of the pieces on the ends are sitting but my problem mainly that I packed a lot of rock in there, I like the way it looks in the middle of the tank for the most part though as there's lots of little caves and overhangs and that's kind of what I was going for. I might try to move some of the bigger rocks that are on the edges of the tank.
 
This is just my opinion, but I truly believe that tank is headed for some serious organics issues. Especially if you intend to keep SPS corals, I would take a serious look at the amount of sand and rock in that tank. That much sand in any display is a really really bad day waiting to happen. It will probably be fine for the first 3-5 years, but after that it's a ticking time-bomb. I used a coralife ss 125 for a while, and they're pretty unreliable long term, I would recommend switching to a higher quality skimmer with more capacity. I would also remove all but a very small amount of sand, to less than 1". The amount/type of fish you have in there is fine, IMO. I would definitely move some rock into the sump, and get that sand out of there before it bites you on the rear. My .02
 
I took your advice and moved a few things around, the picture is pretty crappy, but it has a more shelved affect while retaining a bunch of the caves that were there previously. I agree that it still doesn't look that natural but I think as I layer in more corals it will look better. I'm thinking that I'll put acros and montis on the top "shelves" put LPS and softies on the middle shelves with zooanthids on some of the vertical surfaces and a couple of LPS corals on the substrate. I think it should look pretty good.
 

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Shmax said:
This is just my opinion, but I truly believe that tank is headed for some serious organics issues. Especially if you intend to keep SPS corals, I would take a serious look at the amount of sand and rock in that tank. That much sand in any display is a really really bad day waiting to happen. It will probably be fine for the first 3-5 years, but after that it's a ticking time-bomb. I used a coralife ss 125 for a while, and they're pretty unreliable long term, I would recommend switching to a higher quality skimmer with more capacity. I would also remove all but a very small amount of sand, to less than 1". The amount/type of fish you have in there is fine, IMO. I would definitely move some rock into the sump, and get that sand out of there before it bites you on the rear. My .02
Click to expand...


What problems are you talking about? I've only read positive things about maintaining a deep sand bed in a reef aquarium. Everything I've read is that a nice deep sand bed will provide a great deal of biological filtration.
 
I'll see if I can find you some links. My favorite DSB thread had a challenge posted by Paul B., asking if anyone had a DSB tank that was older than 7 years that had not crashed. To my knowledge, such a tank does not exist. In the short term, a DSB does good things for your aquarium, but over time, they foul, and it's all downhill from there. Someone earlier in this thread mentioned a remote DSB, one that can be shut off from the system and dumped/cleaned/rinsed, or basically restarted. That is a much safer idea.
 
Well this is a good starting point for more research, but considering multiple personal situations I doubt that this tank will be up for longer then 3 years, I'm going to have to move before then. I suppose I should consider whether or not I want to use a DSB in the next reef I put together, although that might be sometime down the road because my lady might be moving me every 3 years for the foreseeable future. So I'm thinking about getting an octopus setup to move around the country with me because I figure that if I set up my tank after I get to a new location, cycle it then hatch an octopus, that the life cycle of the animal will be perfect for my 3 years in each location, since the animal will likely die before we move.

Back to my reef, since I don't want to tear down my tank and I'd like to see it flourish for the next couple of years. What should I do to keep my tank safe? Here's what I've got going for me already.

nassarius snails
cerith snails
4500 GPH of flow divided amongst 4 power heads (2 1400 GPH, 2 850 GPH)
1 diamond head goby

thinking of adding

Better protein skimmer, I was thinking the Reef Octopus 200
Additional sand sifters such as some sea stars, maybe some more snails and perhaps a sea cucumber.

Anything else that you'd suggest, perhaps another sand sifting fish? Is there any maintenance I can do to mitigate risk?
 
I may be completely off base here but I tend to agree that the long term health/success with this tank and that bioload (especially adding more corals) is questionable. DSB aside what concerns me is the rock. When I first read 300 lbs in a 120 I tried to wrap my mind around how it all fit and still left room for fish to swim. After seeing the pics what I noticed is that your rock seems to be fairly solid and not very porous indicating that your surface area is not as much as you would have with 300 lbs of porous rock. Again, all I can see is the pics and the rock may not be as solid as it appears. Just wanted to mention that since you mentioned redoing the tank down in the future.
 
I don't know that I'm actually at 300, that was a guess because I combined the rock that I had in my previous tank with the rock that I specifically purchased for this tank, I bought about 120 lbs of it just for this tank. And the rock is mostly porous stuff, crappy pictures I suppose.
 
If your rock pieces are too big, you can take a hammer and screwdriver to them and break them down into smaller pieces that should allow you to aquascape easier
 
wow 7" sandbed? thats ALOT of sand, is it a 4' or 6' tank? and dont get the extreme 200 ovtopus skimmer, i hate mine the pump is worthless, get the sro 3000, same skimmer better pump and more reliable performance, with that much rock and sand i would get a 210g or a dd 300g tank lol
 
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