Vic's Vivarium Project

[Withers]

Initial aquascape. I don't like this one at all.

[divecj5]

Honestly, at first glance it didn't knock my socks off, but the more I look at it, the more I see its potential. Great shady spots and caves for low light coral and lots of open space for growth.

 

I really nice branching Acro would look awesome on the top ledge, then again, I know you're mainly focusing on softies.

 

I find aquascaping to be one of the more tedious yet important steps in reefing. I've yet to have a tank where I'm 100% happy with the results.

[spanko]

More rock for a higher island.

[ALNN]

personally i think it look great, nice circulation, good for fish to swim around and hiding spots. If there was a tall towering piece on the right it'll be pretty cool (maybe a BTA on it)

[Withers]

Oh yeah there will be definitely be another island on the right, and that's really the issue with it. There's just not enough space right now to make a decent sized one. I also don't like that it's nearly flat on top and it needs to be shorter (because I want a large gorgonian there to hide my heater wire and auto-top off unit).

[pismo_reefer]

structurally(sic) I think its an awesome shape for rockwerk.

But, coral wise, not so much....

 

tank is comin' together really well!

[nikeSB]

scape wise, i think its really nice. but i agree with pismo, attaching corals would seem like a pita

[Withers]

I'm not really concerned with that, I don't typically just sit my corals on top of the rock anyway, but I'm scrapping this version and trying something else tonight regardless.

[Withers]

Better I think

[divecj5]

Perfect.

[spanko]

Oh come on Adam, you are only saying that because it looks a lot like your scape.!!

 

 

[Withers]

Pfft The final product will be vastly different though.

[ALNN]

oo. Not bad seems really balance

[Withers]

Yeah it's not too bad, it'll work as a structure to build on.

 

Initial test:

Ammonia - .5

Nitrite - 5.0

Nitrate - 20

 

This is going to be a short cycle I guess that's the benefit of buying rock that's been curing for months.

[fewskillz]

Awesome progress Jason! I like the 2 island scape. Too bad no one makes a clear heater...

[Withers]

Yeah no doubt. Now I've got one freaking cord to try and hide somehow If there was such a thing as a wireless heater I'd be all over it.

[ALNN]

hahaha wouldnt we all :D from the question i asked before. is just LR enough to be a filter itself? with no sump or anykind of filter?

[Withers]

Oh I thought you were just poking fun. Yeah live rock is definitely sufficient filtration for a reef tank. Lots of successful tanks have been run by live rock and weekly water changes

[mdannyg]

omg the initial one was so perfect in my eyes. i loved the empty space on the right. i wish i had done mine more like that.

[ALNN]

OO thats soo cool i never knew that! sorry if i sound kinda noob i'm researching in starting my own SW in the summer gt a 34gallon cube

[Withers]

I think it's a good idea to have more filtration if you can, but yeah it's not required.

 

If I could have, I would have run a refugium on this tank to help with nutrient export, but it's just too risky for me to drill a tank that costs so much, so I'll just stick with a simple setup. If I was planning on keeping harder corals (or messier fish) I would definitely want to run a sump and refugium.

[ALNN]

thats ture, drilling a hole in a ADA tank would give me a heart attack looking forward in your tank and learning from it

[peacemaker]

You could consider an AC 70 fuge mod (which could hide your heater), but it could mess up the aesthetics for an ADA tank. Can't have everything, can we?

[Withers]

Yes we CAN! I'll figure it out somehow. It's a definite no on a hang-on overflow box or fuge though.

[DeMartini]

I love it! I miss my 18 gallon ADA.... I liked it way more than the tank I have now.