180G UK reef

[tcmfish]

I dont know if its me but I didn't see the blue spot in the pics... but everything else looks very nice. Lots of cool fish.

[Tiggsy]

look harder

[tcmfish]

I figured it was there but hes a little blended in. How long have you had him because I've only heard of bad stories with those. I had one too and he just disappeared after a few months and no he didnt jump because the tank was covered and I had to move the tank later and never once found it on the floor.

[Tiggsy]

Only had 2 weeks - also onlyheard bad stuff...fingers crossed. Tank is covered so hope he'll do ok - he's certainly feeding well.

[ipodhommie]

what do you use for flow? ANd how do you keep it from settling behind the rocks?

[Tiggsy]

i use 2 vortechs - dont worry about behind the rocks, i have a clean up crew for cleaning up.....in my opinion people go too far creating ugly racking and compromise the look of their tank in chasing out dirt from behind rocks. Also- with this design there is no "under" the rock as the rock base is flush with the bottom.....and thats the only place clean up crew would struggle to get to.

[MN. Reef crzy]

i just read the whole thread, you did a real nice job on your rock in the first page there. looks great!

[giller]

WOW! thats frickin sweet. Do you have any idea how doing something like this would work in an already established tank? I might have missed this but did you coat the rocks with resin and then put the sand ontop of it or did you put the resin on afterwards? If you put the resin on afterwards how did you stick the sand to the foam? How do you know that the foam is nontoxic and where did you buy it? How did you hold the rocks together that make up the island to foam them, wire ties ? Sorry for all of the questions that may have been answered but I cant believe how real this looks and how many hiding places there are. Just simply amazed and looking to replicate, if you dont mind that is haha.

[Tiggsy]

I cable tied the rocks into a basic shape by drilling them and attaching to each other or to an egg crate frame in the case of the back walls - then used foam to fill some of the gaps and hide the ties...then hacked away any foam not needed - then epoxyed it and added sand/gravel while still wet. No idea if its non-toxic......but nothing is dead yet!
As you say - lots of hiding places, at night every fish just vanishes ....... and thats a LOT of fish

Update:

Started to get a LOT of brown algae but i have added a clean up crew that have removed half of it in a couple of days! So efficient i will prob have to move a few on when it settles down...monster mex turbos are like algae eating gold balls!

Also made a net frame to keep all my jumpers in!

Some random shots:







Will get the rest of the corals in tomorrow and will use the zoas i have to cover the silicone that holds the rock to the glass in the places where the gravel didn't stick.....like here where it was fine till Mr bluespot decided he want to remove it!

[Tiggsy]

[Jester]

looking great.. I like the net thing you built...

[igotsalt]

Beautiful tank! I have always had a thing for live rock and it's unique shapes and textures!

Yours looks like Mother Nature created it! Awesome job!!!

[Tiggsy]

[jeff127]

Looks fantastic Tiggs, I adore the aquascaping.


Jeff.

[ipodhommie]

i love the lighting it makes the dark part so mysterious...

[Keelay]

Freaking sweet. Thanks for the video.

[giller]

anything new? Hows the brown algae cleaning up?

[CHAOSTACTICS]

tank looks great!

[cubano2480]

nice!!! I like all the fish especially the black tang,thanks for share

[ReefWreak]

Very beautiful tank! I'm glad I found this thread. I don't remember if you mentioned it or not, but are you going to cover the other half of the tank with another large reflector and light? I love the rock work too. I'm just throwing it out there, but you could make it almost like a shallow reef biotope if you got some mangroves or something for the sloped wall, and some seagrass for the sandy bottom. It's your tank, and you show a lot of forward thinking with it, so I'm sure you've got a plan for the tank. Also, why cover only half of the tank from jumpers?

Again, awesome tank, and I'm very much looking forward to following this thread

Cheers

[Tiggsy]

mini update!

i have now done both nets so its 100% covered - the second halide has been ordered so it will be all lit

have had no algae issues for a while now after i added a hardcore clean up crew I only need to clean the glass every 3 days and even then its not bad.....i am even having to stuff some nori in the rocks to give the snails and crabs something to eat!

more pics soon.

[Kannin]

Hi Tiggsy,

I am building a 220 and I wake up nights thinking about your aquascape idea. I got 150 lbs of Marco rocks delivered today and I want to start building it this weekend. Just to be clear... The spray foam you used is just the stuff for window gaps and such??? Right? I was at the hardware store today and I couldn't find anywhere on the can where it said it was reef safe "obviously". But I guess I'm just wondering how you knew that it would be safe...

And how many cans should I buy?

I think you have changed aquascaping... forever!

[giller]

Bumping as I also plan to do this

[Kannin]

I think the most popular brand of this product here is called Great Stuff. It actually comes out yellow and smells toxic when wet. Does it become inert when dry?

[Hopeful Reefer]

I think in this case the toxicity or any "potential" toxicity was overcome by coating the foam with epoxy. The sand was sprinkled on while wet and allowed to dry in place. Once dry, the epoxy becomes inert thereby negating any toxic effects from the foam.