"The Cavernous Reef" - A 180G Build

[rickcasa]

Awesome! Your tank is spectacular. It's so impressive watching someone's idea become reality.

I thought I was making a cool aqua scape when I built my rock wall/cave. But this blows it out of the water. Great job!!!

Impressive. Love the cavern....eerie inner space. Best I've seen...hats off to you. Keep us posted...love all the pics.

Amazing!!! Love the cave!!!! Never seen anyone do that keep up the Great work!!!!

Good thing about caves is it's tough to get it wrong. What I did that makes it fish friendly is offer as much entrances and exits for the fish to not feel trapped, or too comfortable for that matter, or even fearful to just explore. All the fish have ventured in and even stayed for a snooze. The groomer (fire shrimp) is still in the other tank but when I catch him I hope he sets his boutique somewhere in there to add a true cavern hospitality.:love2:

Thanks for the props!

 

[rickcasa]

TANK IS LOOKING GREAT. I love ATS, they seem to work well on my tank and help with creating a buffer for when I slack off in the summer on maintenance. how's the planning coming on back lighting the tank for that depth look. I have seen that here before and it's really cool looking.

Thanks reeftanknewbie. I hope the ATS does what it claims for me but I'll only have the option to light it from one side though. My mind is racing trying to figure out if I can pull off using 2 canvasses (2 scrubbers) in the relatively same amount of space as 1. Do you think this stagerring will be just as effective as being lit on both sides??

 

[RazorRC]

Awesome original design. The "cavernous" concept works really well and nighttime looks so natural. Btw, clowntriggers are one of my faves.:thumbsup:

 

[reeftanknewbie]

Thanks reeftanknewbie. I hope the ATS does what it claims for me but I'll only have the option to light it from one side though. My mind is racing trying to figure out if I can pull off using 2 canvasses (2 scrubbers) in the relatively same amount of space as 1. Do you think this stagerring will be just as effective as being lit on both sides??

Screen size and lighting is now based more on feeding amounts then anything. Floyd is more or less the expert in this area and I would suggest checking out his thread on ATS. One potential concern I see is in the splitting of flow between screens. Mine does best when I have good flow over the screen and begins dying when the flow slows. Your design seems restrictive to flow to me. I would suggest taking your time with this as setting it up right the first time will make for a more positive experience and outcome.

 

[reeftanknewbie]

Lighting seems to not be ideal either. From your design it looks like you could put a clip on lamp on the outside of the screen as well.

 

[rickcasa]

You're right about the importance of flow and my intention is to feed the ATS as much water as necessary from the my DC return pump which is already pushing a lot of water even at the lowest setting. Actually, my worry with this design is getting an even distribution to both arms. Looks like I should put valves in each arm otherwise I may get water spraying at the bottom one.
I also ordered a red (with some blues) LED spotlight which I read are the preferred colour in hydroponics.

That image is not accurate. There's actually a wall 3" from the sump (I forgot to turn the wall layer back on in Sketchup so you're seeing through to the bathroom).
But if you feel it's that important, I saw an LED panel that will slide in back there nicely. ..ok back to eBay.

 

[rickcasa]

Awesome original design. The "cavernous" concept works really well and nighttime looks so natural. Btw, clowntriggers are one of my faves.:thumbsup:

Hey thanks, but a big decision for me, RazorRC. My docile beloved trigger is chewing up my war coral and even worse has developed a habit of biting chunks off the foam rocks!!! :sad2: It's not in an exposed area, he might be picking on the hidden base of the rock columns but it's gonna get frustrating having to fish out black floaties on the dt surface and in the sump.

Arghh do I part with him??? It did cross my mind that he's too big for my scape....but he's my boy.

 

[dave.m]

Obviously he needs a species tank, as does any non-reef-compatible species. As you say, he's "your boy". Does he deserve any less?

C'mon, just one more tank, just one more teensy little tank for your favourite fishy friend. Oh monsieur, it is only wafer thin...

Dave.M

 

[rickcasa]

Hahaha...Mr Creosote deserved no less than that wafer thin mint. Classic. :lmao::lmao:

 

[RazorRC]

Lol, I can still hear him saying " ohhh all riiight...", then booom!:lmao:

 

[rickcasa]

The colonies keep coming.

Here's more getting a dip and acclimated. I'll look up to see what they specifically are.

I intend to do a proper qt tank and dipping station above. but for now this will do.

And of course something for the cavern.

This literally looked like an ordinary live rock with sporadic red gummy growth on it and got it thrown in for free. Some sort of sponge?? The white polyps are crazy bushy. Any ideas?

Here's a couple that's already made it through.

My 3rd cerianthus. Maybe 4th. A tiny, cool orange with green centre drifted off somewhere never to be seen for 3 wks now.

 

[jrod738776]

Where are you buying the colonies from?

 

[rickcasa]

This Orange Tree Coral or Cauliflower Coral is important to this build. Actually, it closely resembles a Dendronephthya species that are harder to keep. But either one, they're in many of the cavern images that inspired this concept, like this one:

So I saved some sand covered foam from the rock build and it'd make an ideal floatation device to hang this coral.

BRS order came just in time for more glue.

Here it is drifting away. I left 3 other stalks on the rock they came in. They're in the cave high up near the top.

At some point I'll fix it on a stalactite, but like every coral in the tank now, it's permanent address is yet to be determined.

 

[rickcasa]

The Red Sea Fan

The Red Sea Fan

Gorgs and fans play an important role in the Cavernous Reef. This red one is the second one I'm adding. The first one looked awesome at first but slowly became brittle and it's half the size it once was.

This new one was covered in polyps when I laid my eyes on it. So that's good tidings I believe....and it comes with hitchhikers as a bonus. Spot them? Beneficial or parasite? Heck it doesn't matter, this reef will be diversified through the roof, so everyone is welcome. Well, to a degree. :rollface:

Polyps rash head to toe.

 

[MLZ]

Dang... that's an amazing setup and build. Must have took a lot of patience.

 

[reeftanknewbie]

Looking great man! I too use LEDs for my ats. Just make sure they are not too close as mine tend to burn the algae unless I keep it at least 8" away from them. Growth is great though.

 

[TANGBABE]

beautiful pictures

 

[Aquatron]

Have you set up a QT yet? Be careful

 

[rickcasa]

Dang... that's an amazing setup and build. Must have took a lot of patience.

Thx MLZ. I actually took some calculated shortcuts and so far it's paid off as the tank is looking healhty. Still need to check the params though.

 

[rickcasa]

beautiful pictures

Thanks Tangbabe. Being a visual person, it helps to use great images of nature in its glory for inspiration.