nothing i can say hasn't already been said.

Unique. the very dimensions of your tank are great and your execution go farther then anything similar too it. grats bro.

No jumping, but they can swim. Not well, but enough. Crazy to watch that!

+1 to smell.....i was curious about that too

It's actually pleasant. No "live rock" smell. Ocean spray smell. Since the waterfall constantly moves, and in the same path, there is no die-off or anything. Worked out well.

what about salt creep everywhere? or does the running water keep that minimal?

Keeps it gone, in fact....

None.

Okay, this should keep you image hungry folk satisfied for a bit!

Frontal shots...









It's a clam!




Here's a freshly molted crab. You can see his molt beneath the rock ledge. He is the crab that is near the polyps. He's still soft.





Thanks for looking!

DUDE! SWEET! TOTM for the next 12 months.

Best FTS of 2009

love the schooling!

HOLY MOTHER OF ALL REEFS!!!!!


I can't stop staring

agreed.

indeed this is a beautiful tank! i was wondering what type of crabs are those? i would like to purchase some or other types aswell for the tank design im making.

Wow very cool tank, great idea. I give you an A+

Thanks for all the kind words. Helps justify everything. Just dealt with an annoying situation. Found a stupid snail in the drain line. I have all appropriate (and frankly OVERKILL) screens, crate and choice silicone placements to keep them, and mostly the crabs, out. Turns out (or so I think) that when I placed a piece of liverock in the sump, I missed a snail. It went up the drain line. Nice. Decided to streamline the drain line.

A simple thing is never this case in this hobby.

Gee when i grow up, I want to be that tank !!!

Aye-men brother.....



but on the + side, your tank is looking amazing,
and your photo skills are certainly a force to be reckoned with.

keep it up man, i think you mighta started something new here.

love it, Love it, LOVE IT!!!

Such an AMAZING, UNIQUE, and BEAUTIFUL tank!!

about how long did it take to get that growth out of those mangroves?

TOTY

It's magnificent!

Haha, wow. This tank is just so incredibly awesome!

One of my first "species" tanks was a Mantis Tank. I was very very close to doing that again in this tank, but didn't want to deal with the rubble. These crabs leave enough mess with the snail shells and chiton shells, and the mantis shrimps are usually a bit less tidy than that!

I love the "uniqueness" that this hobby allows, and though a spectacular reef that is flourishing, beautiful, and BIG is awesome, there is something that pulls me stronger to the unusual and different....

Thanks for the kind words!



What does TOTM mean? Just curious....

Thanks!



About 20 seconds. Ha. Just kidding, I was given the larger set in the back by a LFS, and the others (that are noticeably smaller) have sprouted 2 leaves on each (there are three separate trees), so technically that is fast, as mangroves are slow growers.

i love ur tank!!!!!!!!!

that thing is wild!! not gonna lie its really cool!

The crabs are a local species, and most likely belong to the family Grapsidae. I believe them to be Pachygrapsus crassipes, but I am not sure. Naughty but fun crabs. Essentially Sally Light Foots. They would work.

TANK OF THE MONTH!!!

ya md tank o month.. that things gnarly!

+1

I would so have a Peacock in this tank You really should have a mantis again, but then again thats about all you could have in it

Thanks a ton!

Man your tank is so dope. You planning on adding anything soon?

ultrasonic fogger

exo-terra makes one too....

pimp schit dood

wow that would be cool if there was fog/smoke coming out of the top of the rocks!

I am so jealous, that tank is amazing.

truly an amazing set up!

Think of it as a dormant volcano...

Love your tank - the proportion/coral placements/fish selection fit together perfectly. It reminds me of some of the Japanes freshwater tanks I saw.

Some shots...


Urchin going to the bathroom. Thought it was a group of eggs until I saw where it was coming from....




Blenny in the green star polyps. Looked cool.





Crab playing with the Nudibranch. It holds it's own against the them, but funny nonetheless. I am sure it is not funny to the nudibranch.




Crabs were out and about today.

OMG my noob self is not worth to even be in the same forum this is some of the best engineering and forethought I have seen thanks for giving us something to shoot for awesome tank

Where'd you pick up that Spanish Shawl Nudibranch? I love the colors on yours! I can't find anyplace that sells them LFS or online.

Cool Tank! You buildt it, we show up at your house and stare at it for days.

Got this locally in Southern California! God bless the coast!

thers nothing like collecting something from the beach and caring for it, i dont know why but i find it more fun and satisfying hunting down what i want, opposed to watching them bag it at the lfs
maybe cus its free

Yeah. Counting down the days to toss in some stoneys. Gonna use the "ledge" on the left and the rock on the far left to glue multiple stoneys on. I love acroporas when they are mixed with a couple different frags and they grow up on their own. The cool thing is, given the height of the water column, I will get good horizontal growth, which will look cool.

Gonna do the same thing with some montiporas as well.

On the right side, I am going to load up on Ricordea mushrooms...all different colors. Put them in the little basin below the mangrove root. The water flow is slow and circular there, and they will get huge (I bet....).

Other than that, the only "plans" I have are right in the front...for the whole world to see, some Dendrophyllia and sun polyps. The spot is perfect as there is constant slow moving water flow, tons of crevices and low low light. PERFECT for my favorite two corals.

BUT, still another month or so before anything even starts to happen.... I tend to move slow with additions.

WOW!

Moving slow with additions is a good thing! Especially when you consider the $$ you've already put into this thing.

Speaking of which, please tell me you quarantine new additions, right?

Depends...I hardly do fish in my tanks anyways..... A staple is a school of chromis (big dollars), but I will probably take the fish quarantine a bit more seriously since the only additions I am really planning are two dwarf Lionfish and a Scorpion fish or small Angler.

Corals.....yeah...should it be needed (which is not often for me). One advantage is that I always do frags and tend to favor lacerock than live rock, using a couple really really choice pieces for seeding. So, the corals I am introducing tend to be free (or easily checked for parasites or pests). Not too mention, I had two bristleworms I had missed upon set up and a benefit to having 7 large hungry crabs is the total irradication of nuisance invertebrates!

This... Is amazing. I don't think WOW is sufficient. Amazingly thought out and pulled off flawlessly. Incredibly cool.

Thanks!