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Mark Peterson 
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 Posted: January 13 2011 at 12:29am |
Jackie will say that she knew this was coming.  And no offense meant to your wife or anyone that has commented... I'm not going to give you empty platitudes. The design is artistic and very pretty but I see some future problems. For maximum long term aquarium health I have two constructive criticisms: 1) The sand is too covered by the rock. Raise the rock off the sand using the tripod method. 2) The rock positioning is forming three walls which will make water flow a real headache. Allow more holes in the rockwork or maybe even separate the "walls" at the corners. You will need some powerheads to move the water around in a healthy way inside the tank. That water circulation works best when the powerheads are positioned low on the back sides in either of two ways; shooting water diagonally up to the surface or positioned on the bottom center shooting straight up. A cube is meant to be viewed on 3 or 4 sides. This reefscape makes it viewable from one side and even that has a big chunk in the way. The best lesson I learned from the MWRF Reefscape Competition was that less is more. If I were given the chance to do it over, I would use half the rock and, according to the judge who spoke to me privately after the show, probably would have taken 1st prize because he "had never seen anything like it". I'd be happy to visit and give you a different reefscaping design to consider. Let me know.
Edited by Mark Peterson - January 13 2011 at 12:42am
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skimace7
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Posted: January 13 2011 at 11:38am |
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I like it!.. I also like what Mark said about the cube design and viewing the tank from different sides. You don't have to change everything but as a suggestion imagine what you will look at when you view your tank not just the front but from the left side or the right side. If you do it right you can have three tanks in stead of one... I would think about coral growth and what you want your tank to look like when you have full size colonies... Aquascaping is one of my favorite parts of setting up a tank.
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120 gallon mix Reef mainly SPS and LPS...
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phinfan
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Posted: January 13 2011 at 6:13pm |
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I am going to use a hammerhead/ piranah for my algae remover. I need to get my hands on one of those asap, so I can assure that I have enough clearance between my glass and rock. I was unable to get one today. Aquatic Dreams has some coming in next week. I anyone has one let me know. I liked this one because it appears to need less clearance than the others I looked at.
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bstuver
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Posted: January 13 2011 at 10:13pm |
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Mark and I disagree on the sand thing because any tank that I really like has a lot of the sand covered either by rockwork or coral and he thinks its a big no no. I however really like the way you have scaped it.
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Jackie Stuver
"wait these aren't the happy Hawaiians oompa doompa godly heaven on your face zoas? I dont want them then. lol!" Ksmart
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Dion Richins
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Posted: January 14 2011 at 8:25am |
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Love the rock work. Like stated above make sure you have clearance. As far as backing. I use black shelf liner from H.D.. Easy to apply and easy to take off.
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Nikolai
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Posted: January 15 2011 at 2:51am |
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Did you get the sand from Marco rocks?
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phinfan
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Posted: January 15 2011 at 9:17am |
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I did not get the sand from marco rock. Got it from LFS.
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kellerexpress
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Posted: January 15 2011 at 1:30pm |
Cubes can be hard to scape soemetimes but I think you did a great job, looks great!
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IM 30L
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shakin06
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Posted: January 16 2011 at 3:57pm |
You can never have too much LR . I disagree with Mark also. Flow is created with water movement. You just have to strategically place power heads and return water to get maximum water movement. I had over 400 lbs in my 120 and everything thrived  . As mentioned by other clubbies, make sure you have clearance for cleaning and also have room for hands and tongs to get in and out without damaging corals.
That tank you have is one of a kind. I think the rock work is beautiful. I can't wait to see it full and flourishing.
S
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72 Bow ASM G2 Oceanic1 mag 9.5
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vadryn
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Posted: January 16 2011 at 4:57pm |
I have an idea if you are seriously considering rescaping. The cube tank gives you options that aren't available (or would look dorky) on a horizontal lanscape.
Inspiration:
OK, so I'm LOTR fan, but this image came to mind as a great starting point. Recreating Minis Tirith in your tank is not what I'm getting at. Landscaping based on this could create several different viewing experiences.
You could have a structural spine that gives height as well as depth. Our tanks/water do a great job in disguising depth, so having large areas of open water like you currently have may not give you the most bang for your space. Viewing from the front would minimize the benefits of the spine, but from the sides you gain a landscape to plant corals on. The structure could utilize the "tripod" method Mark recommended as well as giving you space to "hide' powerheads amongst the rocks. I think this idea, even if it's got the huge holes and spaces I envision, would be more structurally secure. Any time you can have a rock with 3 points of contact instead of 2 helps that.
As many have pointed out, what you already did has a great deal of appeal. Your initial response may be "I couldn't do better than that" but I have found that I usually can do better the next time around, if I want to take the time. If you keep what you've done you still have a good start to a beautiful setup.
+1 on the freshwater trial. You may even choose to do that with the rock back out...
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davser
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Posted: January 16 2011 at 6:03pm |
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this tank looks awesome from the beginning i really like the rock work, cant wait to see it with coral and a few fish
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It's not about what you know but about who you know
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tcfab
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Posted: January 16 2011 at 9:31pm |
Here are some pics of you sump. Sorry for the bright red background, but it is the only way to see the details in the sump Drain dumps into the back left corner flows forward into the refugium which is the whole front of the sump then flows through the bubble trap and into the return area in the back right.
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Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386
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kellerexpress
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Posted: January 16 2011 at 9:54pm |
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sweet sump!
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IM 30L
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phinfan
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Posted: January 16 2011 at 11:21pm |
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Thanks Tyler for providing the sump pics. Now I don't have to
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tcfab
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Posted: January 17 2011 at 12:18am |
No problem, let me know when you are home from your trip and I will help you get this thing going
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Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386
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ptronsp
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Posted: January 17 2011 at 4:40pm |
I for whatever reason missed this post. I LOVE the setup. I think you did a fantastic job. I do agree that make sure you have clearance to clean the glass otherwise your wife will be calling you from work telling you how she hates the algae buildup on the glass that she can't get too..  . This is so exciting to see it come together. Pam
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phinfan
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Posted: January 19 2011 at 10:36pm |
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Well I messed up my rock arrangement, in an attempt to move away from the glass. I tried to be careful and move as little as possible, but I had it stacked well enough that I pretty much had to start over. I do have a couple of pictures as an example, but it's back to the drawing board. Not worthy of pictures.
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Luckedout
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Posted: January 19 2011 at 11:05pm |
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well.. better to get it right. You don't want rocks tumbling around when your fish or crabs go poking around...
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-Ben
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phinfan
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Posted: January 19 2011 at 11:39pm |
Picked up my sump from Tyler. Will get to plumbing Saturday, but here it is in place with skimmer in position.
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phinfan
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Posted: January 19 2011 at 11:42pm |
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