HarleyGuy Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 Hey guys, as some of you know, I sold my 90 gal tank and picked up a 120 tall (48x18x31) from glass cages. It's a really nice 4'x3' picture window, pre drilled, overflow, and low iron glass. I'll send the specs later. Since this is a tall tank I intend to put in two tall towers of pukani. Here is a pic of what I've built, I'd like some comments before I put this rock in tubs to "burn in". ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarleyGuy Posted February 18, 2017 Author Share Posted February 18, 2017 Note, these towers are 26" tall (tank is 31), and I left room to clean all the way around them. The black plastic is cut to fit the bottom. There are 2 bulkheads thru the plastic with sched 80 pvc 1/2" id, 7/8" od holding the towers up. Schedule 80 is very rigid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolt Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 I would recommend you make sure to consider flow and shadowing. Ask yourself: will all the coral be able to get good flow, and will you be able to place corals such that ones higher don't end up blocking the light of those lower down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 I like the look! If you are looking for input, I would ditch the middle rock but I'm a fan of minimal aquascapes. Also, depending on what types of corals you want to keep, Jolt hit the nail right on the head that you want to think about coral placement and flow. I can tell you with that setup, if you put any type of tabling coral near the top or middle, it will shade everything below it. If you are just keeping some softies and small entrusting LPS, you shouldn't have a problem with shadowing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarleyGuy Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Thanks Ty, Jolt! The problem with this tank is footprint. It is 48 x 18 and part of that floorpan is taken up by an overflow. The tank does have height though (31"), so it makes it more difficult to build structures in. I agree with the comments on shading so I doubt that I'll have any tabling coral in this tank. Branching acros should be ok depending on placement and I'll have a lot of LPS, zoas, and softies. Ditch the middle rock, lol. I definitely tried for the minimalistic look. The reason for that middle rock was to cover it with gsp. I thought a green cave would look cool. I was thinking gsp would grow on that rock both inside and out since the middle hole is so open. What do you think? I'll consider ditching the rock, that middle spot might be good for a nice elegance coral! Please keep the comments coming, they are appreciated!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Thanks Ty, Jolt! The problem with this tank is footprint. It is 48 x 18 and part of that floorpan is taken up by an overflow. The tank does have height though (31"), so it makes it more difficult to build structures in. I agree with the comments on shading so I doubt that I'll have any tabling coral in this tank. Branching acros should be ok depending on placement and I'll have a lot of LPS, zoas, and softies. Ditch the middle rock, lol. I definitely tried for the minimalistic look. The reason for that middle rock was to cover it with gsp. I thought a green cave would look cool. I was thinking gsp would grow on that rock both inside and out since the middle hole is so open. What do you think? I'll consider ditching the rock, that middle spot might be good for a nice elegance coral! Please keep the comments coming, they are appreciated!! I think both are great options for the middle area. I only mentioned because when I have a bunch of random corals covering up the gap in the middle of my tank, it just doesn't have the visual punch it has when I do my housekeeping and clear out the middle. Its almost like night and day to making my tank have the same impactful visual appeal. Its like having a nice, clean room to me and not making the bed. Doesn't matter how nice your room looks, the bed will take your line of sight away from the whole look and won't have the same appeal. Just my 2 cents though but I know you are dealing with the more shallow depth and taller height in that tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarleyGuy Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 You have me thinking! My 36 is crowded and doesn't look as good as it could. I hope to fix that when I get the 120 going and move some corals out of the 36. I think I'll try the green cave idea and if I don't like it, it will be easy to pull out (and sell I'm guessing). Here is the 36 gal flea market tank lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarleyGuy Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Here is a clear pic. You can see it looks like a frag tank! Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolt Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Also, thinking about it, I would probably not go as tall as you did. I made the mistake of going too tall in my 32 gallon aquascape. Then I realized that I would rather fill that top third with corals than rock, and that the corals would grow to fill in that upper area over time. So you might consider maybe leaving a little more room for corals to fill in the top third of the tank rather than rock. Just a thought ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarleyGuy Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 I was wondering about that. Thanks Jolt, I'll take one layer off of both towers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarleyGuy Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Here is one layer off the top. The tallest shelf is 24" (not including the little coral caps on top of each tower) which leaves the top 1/3 of the tank open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardlaw Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I would not place GSP in any tank ever again. I think the green cave would be cool, but I am done with GSP. Maybe cover it with hydnophora Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarleyGuy Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 Yes, I hear ya on the GSP. It can be messy if not isolated or controlled. That's why I'm going to insolate it on that middle rock (ONLY). That rock won't touch any other rocks or the side/back of the tank. The only way it could be an issue is if it grows across the sand which I'm not going to allow. :-) The other good part is that I can just jerk the rock out if it becomes an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarleyGuy Posted February 24, 2017 Author Share Posted February 24, 2017 Hey guys, I need some help. I'm thinking I would prefer a metal stand for this aquarium because of the extreme weight and to allow more room for all the "stuff" that I plan to put in the sump area. This is a 48x18x31 tall 1/2" glass tank, 120gal, so I'm think this will be around a ton of weight on the stand. I was thinking about a 2x2 square tube welded frame with a full-length removable walkboard incorporated into the front (for ease of cleaning). Do you know any good welders in the club or can you recommend a really good mig/tig welder? thanks, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APK Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I NDstructible Welding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APK Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I recommend NDstructible Welding. Nick has made a couple of things for me, and did a great job. Thanks. Tom B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 33 minutes ago, HarleyGuy said: Hey guys, I need some help. I'm thinking I would prefer a metal stand for this aquarium because of the extreme weight and to allow more room for all the "stuff" that I plan to put in the sump area. This is a 48x18x31 tall 1/2" glass tank, 120gal, so I'm think this will be around a ton of weight on the stand. I was thinking about a 2x2 square tube welded frame with a full-length removable walkboard incorporated into the front (for ease of cleaning). Do you know any good welders in the club or can you recommend a really good mig/tig welder? thanks, John We'd be happy to help you out with any welding needs. We've built a few stands and other custom jobs for club members now and would love to continue to supply the Austin hobbyist's with custom stands. Send me a PM if you're interested and we can discuss what we can provide you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarleyGuy Posted February 27, 2017 Author Share Posted February 27, 2017 Look like Gig'em is building me a 2 x 2 tube steel stand. I'll attach pics when done. Here is my final pass on the towers (almost final). I need to straighten a few of the pieces so they are more level. I had Marco rocks send me some longer platform rocks so that my platforms were a bit bigger and so that there is less top to bottom overlap (more direct light on each level). The middle rock will either be there or not depending on the final look. I want plenty of open sand on the bottom. As you can see I have plenty of rock left. Let me know what you think on this version of the towers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 Is the top shelf on the right going to shadow the shelf directly under it? You'll probably have trouble growing corals on that shelf if it is, unless you go with a non photosynthetic coral or low light coral species. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarleyGuy Posted February 27, 2017 Author Share Posted February 27, 2017 No, the top on the right is turned more to the back and the next one down more to the front. They are all turned like that,, front, back, front, back to allow less shading. There will be some shading here and there but putting in the longer pieces actually provided more open spots when viewed from the top down. Its very hard to see in this view. With this tall narrow tank (31" tall by 18" deep) there is definitely going to be some shaded spots, and those will be filled with low light species. Actually - that is a good question: What species can I put in low light? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 20 minutes ago, HarleyGuy said: No, the top on the right is turned more to the back and the next one down more to the front. They are all turned like that,, front, back, front, back to allow less shading. There will be some shading here and there but putting in the longer pieces actually provided more open spots when viewed from the top down. Its very hard to see in this view. With this tall narrow tank (31" tall by 18" deep) there is definitely going to be some shaded spots, and those will be filled with low light species. Actually - that is a good question: What species can I put in low light? You can keep a lot of soft corals in low light. I keep candy cane corals and a frogspawn coral in a shaded area of my tank and they do well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarleyGuy Posted February 27, 2017 Author Share Posted February 27, 2017 Frogspawn does well in the shade!? That's great! I love Frogspawn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 I think frogspawn is one of those corals that can do well in full light or part light after it has been properly acclimated to those conditions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarleyGuy Posted February 27, 2017 Author Share Posted February 27, 2017 I'll try it. I'll also be placing blastos, acans, brains, etc...in the more shaded areas of the tank. Luckily "shaded" in my tank should still be pretty bright with my AI Hydra 26 lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarleyGuy Posted March 1, 2017 Author Share Posted March 1, 2017 Actually, (this will make Dan happy) instead of AI Hydra's I picked up two x Kessil A360w's at a discount ($700 for both). I'll tie these into my Apex. They are a bit pricey, but I couldn't ignore the years of excellent home reef results and great customer service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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