Update Time"¦
Well needless to say, the last few days have been frustrating. I finally got this thing filled up with saltwater and completed the leak test. Everything went great. All plumbing is good. The frustrating part is that little thing called work that funds all this. This is the exciting part though, where the aquascaping and sand goes in and your vision becomes a reality. Being as OCD as I am, concentrating at work has been a bit of a challenge to say the least.
Moving on to scaping!!!
I framed it up for two pillars and the extended arm...
This was my first attempt at a bonsai like arm...all was going well until one rock fell off, then it looked awkward. This part was VERY frustrating. I wanted this to be one of the main attractions in the tank since I will be going for such a minimalist look.
After a few moves and tweaks, I changed my mind and tore it to pieces, ahahahahah (inse
rt Dr. Evil laugh).
This thing just was not up to snuff for this build and I wanted to redo it. The thin pvc was flexing too much and I just didnt trust it. Good thing that one only took me 8 hours to finish!!! I have been working on this every second I am not in the office this week. Trying to defy gravity in my scape is not so easy. Off to bed to try again the next day.
2nd Attempt
I then re-framed the whole thing out of 1/2" pvc this time and it was MUCH better. Used pond foam to fill in the gaps and get the necessary adhesion on certain pieces. Far less visible pond foam too. Completed the two pillars behind it and another rock/ cave structure with a similar pvc type support frame for the other side of the tank.
Just finished up dumping a few hundred pounds of Tropic Eden reef flakes in and wanted to get some pics up before tonight. Water is reasonably cloudy for just putting the sand down and just threw 2 x four footer t5s on to shed some light for pics real fast.
You can see I tried to leave as much open space as I could while still providing necessary safe haven and shelter for my fish.
The best part of this whole thing is that it is modular! Each piece was successfully drilled and slid onto the pipe framing. That means is I ever want to change out a piece or got some coral getting out of hand, I can easily remove it. This is very important to me, even if I never take advantage. I suspect once I get my LEDs on top and water clears up, it will look much better. I just needed to appease the pic junkies (like myself).
All in all, I am really happy with the way it turned out. Thanks for following along.
:lol2:
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