Mitten_reef’s WB55.2

[mitten_reef]

On 7/10/2020 at 12:25 PM, Elizabeth94 said:

Looks like you have some good pieces of rock to start with. You using any glue or epoxy? 

Glue, mostly. But I do have a tube of tunze instant gum for some areas. 
 

48 minutes ago, Elizabeth94 said:

Yeah the stand directions aren’t the best. But once you understand what they are getting at it goes pretty smoothly. At least for me it did. I really like their stands. They feel solid!

Like I said, if you spent any time building ikea stuff, you know what you’re doing with these kits. 😄

 

6 minutes ago, spectra said:

I still like these better......😉

 

 

Love the look of that!  If I were able to afford custom stuff, that’d def the way to go. I actually tried to price out a square-tube frame using the Room&Board custom parson table stainless steel frame before, and the price was not as big a sticker shock as I thought for a 3- or 4- foot long table. I wonder if a metal shop can do it better. 

[FISHnChix]

So did you get the tank built and leak checked yet?????

[mitten_reef]

Im gonna let the stand sits there for a few days, in case mrs needs me to move it somewhere else. 

Ok a little bit more teaser, I guess. 
Scape is done ✅ 

just kidding, but really, all I’m doing now is to strategically boosting the height of this giant Tonga branch.  Then I will slice the branch tip flat for acros placements. 
 

the tank rim is 16”, the ruler for height reference. I’d like the highest branch tip to not exceed 10” once its boosted and cut.   

The open front left will likely be the ricordea garden. The back left branch will have an additional shelf to create an overhang to go over some NPS.  
 

I’m taking suggestions, what would YOU do?  send me some doodles. 

[smirkis]

sub'ing to this one. i like your setups! looking forward to this one. looks good so far

[ninjamyst]

On 7/12/2020 at 7:55 PM, mitten_reef said:

Im gonna let the stand sits there for a few days, in case mrs needs me to move it somewhere else. 

Ok a little bit more teaser, I guess. 
Scape is done ✅ 

just kidding, but really, all I’m doing now is to strategically boosting the height of this giant Tonga branch.  Then I will slice the branch tip flat for acros placements. 
 

the tank rim is 16”, the ruler for height reference. I’d like the highest branch tip to not exceed 10” once its boosted and cut.   

The open front left will likely be the ricordea garden. The back left branch will have an additional shelf to create an overhang to go over some NPS.  
 

I’m taking suggestions, what would YOU do?  send me some doodles. 

you making me want to restart my tank with this type of rocks....

[Elizabeth94]

Same. Im diggin the tonga branch. I usually am not a fan of the stuff. 

[pokerdobe]

On 7/12/2020 at 7:55 PM, mitten_reef said:

I’m taking suggestions, what would YOU do?

I would toss the rocks into a generic pile and call it a day. Scaping is not my strong point, good job!

[mitten_reef]

I think I found the branch “best angle”.  Don’t mind the “shelf”, just a placeholder for now.  I’d like to have a small shelf-like piece there to creat a small shadow canopy in that back corner for the NPS. But it needs to be less dense looking.  with small tweaks here and there, I think I’d be ready to prune/trim some branches to make attachment areas for acros. 
 

we’re waiting to hear from the realtor on how much work we need to put into the basement to make our home ready to sell next spring/summer (tentative/fictitious timeline, so I’m told by the mrs). Potentially, I may have to redo the wall behind the tank area before I can fill it, sigh. 😒 at this rate, I may end up having both tanks running to let the dry rocks mature in here and let the acros keep growing in the IM (which had took off in growth in the past 2 months). 

Ok, yea, here are the pics. 

front

 

righty

 

lefty

[jcreefer]

21 hours ago, mitten_reef said:

I think I found the branch “best angle”.  Don’t mind the “shelf”, just a placeholder for now.  I’d like to have a small shelf-like piece there to creat a small shadow canopy in that back corner for the NPS. But it needs to be less dense looking.  with small tweaks here and there, I think I’d be ready to prune/trim some branches to make attachment areas for acros. 
 

we’re waiting to hear from the realtor on how much work we need to put into the basement to make our home ready to sell next spring/summer (tentative/fictitious timeline, so I’m told by the mrs). Potentially, I may have to redo the wall behind the tank area before I can fill it, sigh. 😒 at this rate, I may end up having both tanks running to let the dry rocks mature in here and let the acros keep growing in the IM (which had took off in growth in the past 2 months). 

Ok, yea, here are the pics. 

front

 

righty

 

lefty

I am really digging the branch island. I'm visualizing how acros will grow and cover it up, like a rainbow bonsai!  

 

We are in the same boat as you, we're thinking of selling and upgrading to a bigger house (with a bigger tank).  Been prepping the house with upgrades and minor repairs in the hopes of selling this season, but is looking less and less likely.  So we're targeting next spring/summer as well.  Good luck!

 

-Jeff

[Cannedfish]

Just wanted to pop in and say the rock work is fire... carry on. 

[Coolbreeze]

On 7/19/2020 at 2:33 PM, mitten_reef said:

I think I found the branch “best angle”.  Don’t mind the “shelf”, just a placeholder for now.  I’d like to have a small shelf-like piece there to creat a small shadow canopy in that back corner for the NPS. But it needs to be less dense looking.  with small tweaks here and there, I think I’d be ready to prune/trim some branches to make attachment areas for acros. 
 

we’re waiting to hear from the realtor on how much work we need to put into the basement to make our home ready to sell next spring/summer (tentative/fictitious timeline, so I’m told by the mrs). Potentially, I may have to redo the wall behind the tank area before I can fill it, sigh. 😒 at this rate, I may end up having both tanks running to let the dry rocks mature in here and let the acros keep growing in the IM (which had took off in growth in the past 2 months). 

Ok, yea, here are the pics. 

front

 

righty

 

lefty

I really like this scape. Can't wait to see how this turns out with corals on it.

[mitten_reef]

I just realized that I never responded to any comments on here, my bad.  

On 7/14/2020 at 2:51 PM, smirkis said:

sub'ing to this one. i like your setups! looking forward to this one. looks good so far

Thank you. Hopefully this one won't disappoint.

On 7/14/2020 at 3:04 PM, ninjamyst said:

you making me want to restart my tank with this type of rocks....

I'm really digging the branch rocks.  Real Reef Rocks have something that are quite similar, if you can't find the real deal.  Yes, mine is one giant chunk of an old coral skeleton!  Imagine seeing a staghorn acro that large in the wild would have been quite a sight.  

On 7/14/2020 at 3:35 PM, Elizabeth94 said:

Same. Im diggin the tonga branch. I usually am not a fan of the stuff. 

It offers very cool scaping perspective.   I've seen too many "pile of logs" scape with branch rocks, which kinda defeat the purpose of having branches, IMHO.  

On 7/14/2020 at 6:30 PM, pokerdobe said:

I would toss the rocks into a generic pile and call it a day. Scaping is not my strong point, good job!

If I can grow acros like you can, I would skip right over scaping as well 😂.... 

On 7/20/2020 at 12:37 PM, Cannedfish said:

Just wanted to pop in and say the rock work is fire... carry on. 

KCCO

10 minutes ago, Coolbreeze said:

I really like this scape. Can't wait to see how this turns out with corals on it.

that's the part that makes me more nervous....putting corals in the right places.

[spectra]

Quit bitching and set the thing up already.......................

 

 

[mitten_reef]

1 minute ago, spectra said:

Quit bitching and set the thing up already.......................

 

 

trying to catch up with @teenyreef, to see how many pages we can run up to before our systems are wet and running.   

But, really, the rocks will get wet this weekend to jump start the rock-curing/aging process while the tank is still in a holding pattern.  I got plenty of large rubbles in the IM to start seeding the new dry rocks.  and I have coralline, tons of it that I'm gonna scrape, crush, and dump into the curing tank.    

[teenyreef]

2 hours ago, mitten_reef said:

trying to catch up with @teenyreef, to see how many pages we can run up to before our systems are wet and running.   

But, really, the rocks will get wet this weekend to jump start the rock-curing/aging process while the tank is still in a holding pattern.  I got plenty of large rubbles in the IM to start seeding the new dry rocks.  and I have coralline, tons of it that I'm gonna scrape, crush, and dump into the curing tank.    

If that's what you want, then you'll have to shut it down for about a year 

It looks great! The tonga rock is really cool.

 

Regarding the particle board, after all the leaks I had with water on the carpet and in the tank, the bottoms of the cabinet walls did expand a bit from absorbing the water. It's not noticeable with the door shut. But that is the big downside of cabinets made like this.

[mitten_reef]

put the door on the stand yesterday....due to carpet, the door is kinda stuck/scraping when opened and closed 🤦🏻‍♂️ might have to move to the concrete floor in the laundry room.  

 

Also got the rocks cooking with the aged live rocks from the IM tank. 

 

 

[A.m.P]

Hey, nice scape, don't think anyone's said that yet.
Lol, looking forward to watching this come together.

[Matteo]

2 hours ago, mitten_reef said:

put the door on the stand yesterday....due to carpet, the door is kinda stuck/scraping when opened and closed 🤦🏻‍♂️ might have to move to the concrete floor in the laundry room.  

 

Also got the rocks cooking with the aged live rocks from the IM tank. 

 

 

Something about cooking rock is so fun

[spectra]

2 hours ago, mitten_reef said:

put the door on the stand yesterday....due to carpet, the door is kinda stuck/scraping when opened and closed 🤦🏻‍♂️ might have to move to the concrete floor in the laundry room.  

 

Also got the rocks cooking with the aged live rocks from the IM tank. 

 

 

Put something under the stand to raise it a little............. kind of like some plywood...........

[Christopher Marks]

This is great to see @mitten_reef, I like the aquascaping direction you're going in.

 

I might have missed it, but are you planning to replace the IM30 with this new system, or establish it as a second reef tank with a different focus?

[Matteo]

10 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said:

This is great to see @mitten_reef, I like the aquascaping direction you're going in.

 

I might have missed it, but are you planning to replace the IM30 with this new system, or establish it as a second reef tank with a different focus?

He's gonna setup both tanks with a ton of frag racks. Frag racks only in both tanks. Mitten loves his frag racks. 

 

TBH he's a one tank philosophy guy but I think we see a 30nuvo frag tank in the future.... 😂 

[mitten_reef]

27 minutes ago, spectra said:

Put something under the stand to raise it a little............. kind of like some plywood...........

yes, I'm considering that option as well.  

 

23 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said:

This is great to see @mitten_reef, I like the aquascaping direction you're going in.

 

I might have missed it, but are you planning to replace the IM30 with this new system, or establish it as a second reef tank with a different focus?

this will essentially be an all-new system, all the corals will move over from IM30 - as many as I can move over without looking clutter-y.  IM will be shut down once the move is complete.  unlike many of my previous tank upgrades/changes, this won't be a one-day process as I'm hoping to be more strategic on coral placement.  

 

16 minutes ago, Matteo said:

Mitten loves his frag racks. 

even "colonies" in even the largest tanks are essentially frag-size when compare their real size on the natural reef 😉 .  deep thoughts.  🤔 

 

[FISHnChix]

So what's going on over there? Any progress?

[mitten_reef]

Rocks have been in the tub about a month. 
the lamp has been on for about a week, maybe a little longer.  no green stuff so far. 
the rocks are no longer bright white. I think things are gonna move a bit more steadily on this tank this month. August has been a bit crazy. Can’t believe it’s almost fall 😭. Love the weather, but it’s September already?

[Spencer7]

I too am a fan of these branch scapes 😉