Opinions and Suggestions (1 Viewer)

[Reefaddict79]

I think I am about done getting my arm pit wet ( is old spice reef safe?) , I mean done stacking rocks in my new tank. Still have some finishing touches to do in regards to the frame and install the lighting

What do you guys think of my scape? My intentions for this tank down the road will be mixed reef leaning more towards SPS. I kept the rock work lower in the tank because I am planing on mounting an efflo and tabling acro to the back glass. Please ignore the smudged glass and sticker still onthe tank. let me know whatcha think

 

[jdeveaux]

Looking good.

On suggestion - I would loosen up the stack on the left it looks unstable and kinda just piled up. The other 3/4's look very nice.

Do we get some more details on your setup

Definitely looks like an in wall but is it between rooms or do you have a tank room behind that wall?

 

[Reefaddict79]

Yes the stack on the left is organized chaos, stable chaos but not 100% to my liking so it is subject to change. It is an inwall tank I still need to paint or tint the back and sides of the tank.

Tank
Good ol' AGA 210

As far as setup goes

Lighting which still needs to be finished/wired

4 or 5 80w t5 on IC 660s
2 lumenmax 3 250w de pendants driven by lumatek ballasts on a light rail which hasnt arrived yet. The lumen max pendants will traverse the length of the tank with the t5s on the front and back of the tank. I know I can fit 4 t5s plus reflector across the tank but I would like 5 if it will fit

Flow

2 mp40s at the moment with another mp20 that will go in when a nano gets taken down. Ultimately I would like 3 mp40s and the mp20 I have.

For return I am using a mag 9.5 which is putting out roughly 700 gallons an hour at the current head height. the returns are split between a sump and fuge that still needs some macro.

Filtration

Currently around 140 lbs of rock in the display, and more will be added to the fuge.

The skimmer is a Warner K2, its a beast when I dumped the sand in I didnt rinse it to remove the silt and the skimmer made short work of skimming that out.

I have one nano and a frag tank going which both have their own RKL. The RKL will go onto the 210 and maybe I will upgrade to the elite head unit.

And when the time arrives I have talked myself into dosing with BRS perisaltic pumps instead of a calcium reactor.

 

[jdeveaux]

Sounds like this is going to be an awesome setup.

Keep us posted.

 

[aleaksthegreat]

Looks good, only thing I could think off is make a little cave over there on the left and kinda bridge it, the fish would love it and will look nice. Also you can stick some non photosynthetic corals down there like dendros.

What kinda fish do you think you would end up getting?

 

[Reefaddict79]

I fiddled with the rocks on the left for about another hour. I have some card board Im going to set them all on and make something then try to re stack in the same way in the tank.

Ill get some pics of the sump on tomorrow

 

[aleaksthegreat]

also a little epoxy would help in your situation just bc its a little harder to work on I suppose...

 

[merkurmaniac]

I went thru this exercise yesterday. Zip ties thru eggcrate worked well, and can be easily removed if needed. Most of my zip ties ended up hidden by other rock.

I built a "platform" out of eggcrate supported on posts of clear acrylic tubing. This gets the live rock up off the sand bed, and lets the bottom of the rock, and the top of the sand "breathe." I placed rock on the sand in the front which kind of hides a lot of the "cave" below.

 

[jamesw]

Looking good - I like the nice open feel and plenty of room for "flow n grow"

Once you get it all set up can you post some closeups of the rock - I'd love to see what's growing on it.

Cheers
James

 

[fishcraze]

Glad to see that you finally get the big tank up Have you found the place to order the picture frame? I can't remember the name of that painting/frame store close by Costco on 1960... where I ordered mine back then, but you should check them out.
- I would put a black wall paper on the back to make things stand out..
- would use a bigger return pump - at least Mag 12 or 18 IMO. I use a Dolphin Ampmaster 3000 (3000 gph) on my 210gal. I need a big flow to go thru the chiller then back to the main tank to make the chilling more efficient. Even if u don't use a chiller, i'd still go w/ a larger pump than Mag 9.5 (after a 6ft head, you don't get much flow out of it).
- i like your lighting plan and would like to see how you can fit 4-5 T5 with 2 MH lumenmax like that!
- don't lose your sleep about getting a perfect rock work at this early stage, since -believe me - you will be changing it at least a thousand more times in the next 12 months as you adding more corals... so don't waste too much time on that now - speaking from my personal experience