*PICS* Help evaluate my tank

[xunkn0vvnx]

Here is my 46g bowfront.

Lighting - 192w Power compacts. Two 50/50 bulbs.

Equipment - Zoo-med 228 power sweep powerhead. 10 gallon sump. Bag filter with Rio 2100 pump. Coralife 65 super skimmer.

Fish - Tomato clown, spotted hawk, firefish, yellow tail damsel, false perculo.

Cleanup crew - Brittle starfish, 10 hermit crabs.

Coral - Button polyps, brown star polyps, purple and pink chalice, blue ricordia frag, various mushrooms, brown and green montipora caps, green tree coral frag, two red leather heads, green hammer.

I removed this tentacle leather from my tank after a fox face, yellow tang, and 3 xenia stalks died.

What I am trying to do is build a VERY hardy reef tank with fish and coral that do not have to be rare or exotic. I would like to establish my tank so that it is fairly stable. Any suggestions for relatively nice soft coral, cleanup crew, and fish that are fairly cheap and hardy?

 

[Andrew]

Looks good. Like the aquascaping.

 

[finnley10]

it's never fairly cheap. I have the same tank. Started 7/11/06 i have the same lights but i run
one actinic and one 50/50. Looks good. how many pounds of rock do you have i like how full it looks.

 

[drummereef]

I like it too! Looks nice! :thumbsup:

 

[edwing206]

nice tank, i especially like that big cave inthe rockwork.

 

[massman]

Not my personal style.
Try to bring some rock work toward the glass, to create more depth. Come as close as a couple of inches (to allow cleaning). Slope it downward as yo come forward. You will love it when fish swim down the rock and up to the glass. Like wise when fish swim in the centre of the tank, yet reappear as disappear from view.
Also try to vary the height of the rockwork along the back, this will allow you to place varying size corals to fill the space.

 

[dastratt]

How about adding a torch or frogspawn coral, they have some bright green and a soft texture. Or relocate the hammer? I don't see it maybe I'm blind :lol:

Could you get the table-like rock on the right to be more flat, that would be a good spot to place a coral

 

[drives300]

Nice rock what kind is it?

 

[affableamerican]

Cheap fun fish --> bicolor blenny, citron goby. Blennies remind me of little puppies... staring at you like that through the glass.

 

[Houtz]

I agree with Massman. Making the rocks slope toward the front would create an illusion of depth and allow much more space for placing corals. When the rocks are stacked vertically it's hard to find good places for corals. That's been my experience with aquascaping. I do like the caves though, they're neat.
Nice looking tank too! It's clean. I like clean.

 

[xunkn0vvnx]

Thanks for the suggestions! Could you show me some examples of tanks that make the rocks slope toward the front? I am confused as to what you are telling me.

 

[mg426]

Nice job !!

 

[ek9vboi]

most if not all your sps will turn brown under PCs, they need MH lighting to color up.

 

[Yinger]

montis are not that light demanding. You should be able to get by with the PCs, just keep the high up like how u have it.

 

[xunkn0vvnx]

Sorry complete beginner here, but which of my coral are SPS?

Anyway, the rock on the very right is a piece of rock that I got from the ocean when I went snorkeling in Hawaii.

 

[t-bone2]

cool start

 

[ACBlinky]

It's a good start. It took me a year to get the rockwork in my 65g to a point where I'm really happy and enjoy looking at the tank, so IME you'll go through a few different looks before you're fully satisfied with the look.

It's not easy to aquascape a bowfront, but you do have an opportunity to do some fun things with a shape other than the standard rectangle. I'd recommend trying for some more shape both front to back, and top to bottom - right now your rockwork is basically a flat rectangle. If you bring one section closer to the front (preferably 1/3 of the way across, not right in the middle, it's more pleasing to the eye) and/or part of the rockwork higher on one side, you'll find that it's a more interesting shape both to look at and work with. You'll probably get more nooks and crannies for corals in the bargain.

I used to aquascape with caves in mind, but recently read something that changed my focus a bit. I don't remember where I saw it (likely here on RC somewhere), but the author said that caves will take care of themselves as you build with uneven pieces of rock. The last time I re-scaped my 65g I thought more about leaving lots of open space on the sand and back wall, and didn't try for so many caves. It worked out well, the tank looks good to my eye and the fish still have lots of little holes to hide in. There's a picture from the day after I moved everything around in my gallery if you'd like to see

 

[Zoos]

I think it's very nice.

 

[tuberider]

:

Could you get the table-like rock on the right to be more flat, that would be a good spot to place a coral [/B][/QUOTE]


My thoughs exactly, perhaps position it to create another cave/overhang. Tank looks good, in time it will look real good.