UPDATED TANK VIDEO LINK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeRbpy7TJ2s

Awesome tank. You re-created the real thing perfectly...there's was one post of yours that I thought it was another pic of you diving and it was actually your tank. I really really like it. Great Job.

Thanks! I've worked really hard on this one and it's turning out how I wanted it to look like.

UPDATE:
My tank is even clearer than before so maybe the pics will look better, so I'll take new pics tomarrow for sure.

Well looks like my Tunze 6025 wavemaker idea won't work out since the 6025 is not compatable with a wavemaker. So I guess it's back to the drawing board, I'll have to figure something else out.

If any of you guys have any suggestions of a wavemaker system that costs less than $150 please let me know.

UPDATE: I pulled out a ton of rock from my NC12 and crushed it up with a hammer and chisel and put the rubble pieces in my 40br, so now the NC12 will have some room for the clown to go back in it so my 40br will be purely a caribbean species tank. Needless to say alot has changed in my 40br and I can't wait to post some pics of the new aquascape

Heres the pics, hope you like em'

UPDATE:
I moved the Ocellaris Clownfish to the 12gal. I moved my Coral Banded Shrimp to the 40br( I accidentally broke off his big claws in the process but im sure they'll grow back). I'm gonna shoot another vid of my tank tonight showing the CB shrimp and the new aquascape.

I love this tank it probaly would look more like a a florida reef then if I made one AND I live in florida.

Thanks!

UPDATE:
I made an updated vid of my tank
LINK
http://www.vimeo.com/5265219

UPDATE:
I got the gorgs today, they all arrived in good shape and were packaged perfectly. I got them all glued in place and they look fantastic! So here are the pics
(btw after fiddleing with my camera for 20min I got it to stop taking the pics so dim so now they're more accurate to the real colors)
PICS









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Cam, I love this tank and it is getting better with every post. Do you think that you will gain any water clarity here or do you keep the water cloudy with the amount of whatever food you are dosing for all the varied gorgs?

Thanks
Ever since the Phyto died the water has been real cloudy but I just put some carbon in my sump so I think that should take care of most of the cloudiness.

It's looking really amazing, most of the times you can't tell it's not the real thing!

Thanks =)
I'm gonna work on a new Video/Movie of it when I get back from my 3 day trip to Wisconsin

Great pictures man, just keeps getting better. Like I said before, this tank is the real deal.

Thanks!

UPDATE:
The new gorgs seem to be adjusting well. I've confirmed after having the lights on for a few hours today that the cloudiness has turned green, so I guess the phyto has made a come back So I decided to cut the lights back to 5 hours a day instead of the usual 10 for a while till I can get the phyto under control

This tank is like I put a dive mask on and I am snorkeling in The Keys

great idea for a tank! I can't wait to get home from work to see the vids...a royal gramma, neon gobies and some jawfish would look spectacular!!

Maria

i love this tank.....so very awesome.

Thanks guys!

UPDATE:
While I was gone for 3 days one of my most finicky gorgs melted 2'' of tissue off of three of the branches because of a lack of turbulent flow so I repositioned the powerheads and moved it to an area of higher flow and so far it has stopped receding and should grow over the receded areas in a few weeks I'm gonna start on the new vid soon and hopefully have it done by monday or tuesday.

Great biotope, is the tank really as loud as it sounds in the youtube vids though?

Thanks
No it's not as loud as it sounds in the youtube vids.

Actually, royal grammas are found in deeper water. But a pair of yellow-headed jawfish would fit in perfectly and be lots of fun to watch. Sea Life Inc has them available most of the time. What are your stocking plans?

BTW, this tank makes me happy and envious at the same time. I grew up in FL and have been snorkeling in the Keys, especially John Pennekamp. This looks just like what I remember growing up--gorgeous! I've wanted a Keys tank for a while, but just don't have the space.

Great looking tank!

I have also done a fair amount of diving in Key Largo and Islamorada. The gorgonians and sea fans are wonderful!

I do have to ask, why clownfish in a Caribbean tank? They seems a little out of place...I would think some damsels, or a school of blue chromis, or even a royal gramma would add to the realism.

A wavemaker with some sea fans would be awesome! Going to keep watching this one!

Keep up the good work!
Gordon

Really? What do you mean by deep water? I have seen them in the 20' zone which is very similar to reef in this tank. And they can go deeper...I have seen them in the 50' range for example.

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=5281

Just wanted to say, your statement piqued my curiosity.

Ok, sorry for the side note, back to the topic at hand!

Gordon

UPDATE: I lost 2 yellow feather gorg's to aspergillosis, which was a real bummer but all of the other gorgs look really good and it doesn't look like it has spread to any of the other colonies. I took out the encrusting montipora as I was skeptical as to whether it was a caribbean species or not. I added 1 more maxijet 1200 to the tank and I have 2 more coming in the mail. I'm saving up for a Chauvet timer that I can use as a wavemaker controller for the 4 powerheads, but for now I think the 4 powerheads should do fine without it. I have a little bit of an algae problem, but I bought some purigen online which should be coming in the mail shortly. I was laid off of my job a while ago so stocking the tank is going pretty slow because of money shortage. But I'm hoping I'll be able to afford an order this spring consisting of tube sponges, vase sponges, and blue reef chromis. Thanks for the kind comments

Gordon: I took out the clown and put it in my NC12 a while back so the tank is purely a biotope

Exciting! Post an update once you get your sponge order in!

Keep up the good work!

Gordon

UPDATE: I decided to first get a bigger pump and sump before I get any fish or inverts, so that my tank will be able to handle the increased bio load. My plans are to get a 20H and section it with baffles for filter floss, filter pads, and purigen. I also wanna section out an area in it for some chaeto and gracelaria. I'm gonna use a Mag Drive 24 as the return pump, the SCWD can only handle 1400GPH so I'll adjust the blow off valve to accommodate the flow so that it won't be too much. When I get the pump running I'll take out some of my maxijets out, depending on how turbulent the flow gets from the pump upgrade.
The place that I was originally going to buy from has horrible shipping rates so I decided I'll buy my stuff from Cramer's Caribbean Creatures http://www.ccritters.com/, they have good prices on their stuff and their shipping rates are pretty cheap so I thought that I might as well give them a try. My order will consist of the following:
6 Purple Frilly Gorgonians
2 Yellow Sea Whips
2 Red Brittle Starfish
3 Peppermint Shrimps
1 Pygmy Angelfish
20 Astrea Snails
1 Harlequin Basslet
1 Lantern Basslet
1 Red Cardinalfish
5 Yellowedge Chromis
1 Mated pair of Pistol Shrimp
it totals shipping and everything at $230
All of the livestock will of course be ordered once I get my sump and pump all bought and setup, and once it warms up outside.
My tank is doing quite well, I added a couple more rocks in there that I attached some of my gorgs to, it looks pretty cool.

Your tank is awesome! I can't believe I have only just found it. I have been wanting a biotope just like this for a while now. I, however, have to wait til we move because I want to do this with a 180. Great work. I will be referring to this thread for inspiration.

pics!

NOW

anything?

Wow I didn't know that I had such a large following haha. Things with the tank have changed alot in the past months, I lost several Gorgonian colonies, However slowly but surely I'm making a comeback I pulled out several of the larger rocks cause I felt that it was way too crowded. and I'm re-arranging a few of the Gorgs to making it more aesthetically pleasing. I just began sifting out the sand, getting most of the bigger grains and such out so that I have a cleaner looking sandbed. I'll take some pics of the tank once the water clears up a bit. I'm gonna be ordering some Shoal Grass for the tank, in a couple of weeks which I'm gonna spread around the sandbed, and are gonna keep it trimmed real short. Then eventually after that I want to order some blue chromis and a few basslets. Stay tuned for some pics later

This is the consistency of Shoal Grass I want on the outer edge^


This is the consistency of Shoal Grass I want on the inner edges^

I got some pics today so hope you like them.

any updates?

UPDATE:
I had to close my other tank; a NC12 so I decided to merge those corals with my 40br. So it'll be a mixed soft coral reef tank, now. I'm gonna make a new thread for it, soon. So stay posted.