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Floating Reef


Wade

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Has anyone tried to construct a floating reef like this? I'd like to create something like this for the 300 I'll be building into the wall of the house we're going to build.

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One of the guys on here did that a while back but I don't think he's on here anymore. Find the vivid aquariums reaquascape video on you tube and you can see how they did theirs.

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Vincent did it last year. He drilled into the acrylic overflow cover and inserted a PVC pipe. He then drilled the rock and epoxied it onto the pipe. Vivid took a three pieces of acrylic and bonded them to the back of the aquarium to create a shelf. The rocks in their 800g rest on the acrylic shelf and appear to be floating. You wouldn't be able to take either approach in a 300g glass aquarium Wade is talking about. Google Mr. Kang's Korean Reef. The builder used zip ties to create a free standing structure with a huge overhang. Zip ties and egg crate have a limited life in saltwater, but they might not break for years. Adding some epoxy would help keep the structure together, but harder to take apart if you needed to.

mr-kang-reef-aquarium.jpg

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Wow thats nice and so clean man i cant wait to tie in my sump fuge an skimmer, t.y for the info be some good reading tonight

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It looks cool and the fish love the overhangs, but it's unusable space for corals unless you're keeping dendro and sun corals. The base is varied depending on the lights, but may also be too shaded for corals. This type of aquascape is good for SPS keepers, but not so good for polyps or LPS.

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Oh the most of the top would be too much light ? But if it was in a tall or if the light was raised higher, but as cool as it is i can see it would have few things to consider the fish probably like to go under an less light it would be cool to try as a second tank like a 40 tall, its to much for me to try but they did a good job on those id like to see one in real life

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Oh the most of the top would be too much light ? But if it was in a tall or if the light was raised higher, but as cool as it is i can see it would have few things to consider the fish probably like to go under an less light it would be cool to try as a second tank like a 40 tall, its to much for me to try but they did a good job on those id like to see one in real life

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It depends on the lighting type, lighting system, and the intensity. LED's are more direct light that penetrate straight down and bleed within the lens angle. Something like T-5 and MH broadcast light depending on the reflectors.

There are three main issues caused by creating this kind of rock aquascape. First, there is less real estate for coral placement compared to other aquascaping types. The tanks picture above have great flow, but you can only place corals on top of the rock or any sand that receives light; the vertical base and most of the sand is off limits. On the other hand, rock walls or slopes have a ton of usable coral space, but the flow is horrible and fish swimming space is limited. Second, lighting intensity is uniform across the tank. Some corals, like Stylophora, like medium intensity, while other corals, like most Acropora, like higher intensity. In a tank with a shelf overhang, you only have one level of rocks and one level of lighting. That's not to say that you can't keep the corals that you want, but they may not be the color that you expect if they receive more or less light. For example, Red Planet might be all red or all green instead of dual colored. Lastly, you don't have very much room in between corals and that will limit your coral selections. You'll have to avoid corals with longer sweepers and get corals that can grow closer together. This means you have to avoid putting most LPS on the main structure. You would also want to avoid any polyps, mushrooms or soft corals because they can take over and kill your hard corals.

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Man you know so much i think you mentioned you been at it for a long time, i really hope i can get just one tank to be successful corals tank the odds are against it money and physical limitations but it looks like im starting to win the battle i now have most all the stuff i need an just need to tie in my sump so still need parts for that and maybe a bucket of really good coral salt, but i go dwn the list and for my 100g build i have everything but Apex an 3 bulkheads hose so im very close ive got lights,Nyos Skimmer,two nice adjustable return pumps, Mp 10, 2 hi end heaters, 100lb live rock, new substrate 60lb ,and just got a big 5 stage Aqua fx RODI like new so nice auto flush an the rest of the bell an whistles so just need the 1" bulkheads x3 and 1" plumbing an get a friend to help i could finish my set up in a day : )

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