2 hours later.....

[nkyreef]

Do you “glue” the rocks together? I just have mine fitted together.
my overflow is not in the center either so that’s a bit hard to get around

I used "real reef rock" on a majority of the arches and stacks. It stacks incredibly well. In the locations where it seemed unsteady I used reef epoxy to secure it.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Good evening

Just an FYI if you don't love it now.. you will hate it in 5 months.. there is a good article in coral magazine roughly 6 months ago on aquascaping very informative and talks about flow and what's pleasing to the eye specifically with the rule of thirds.

Perfect advice. Leave it set up for a few days and walk in and out of the room a lot. Each time you look at the tank if you second guess it, I may rethink it. Also , with the closed up wall you are basically cutting the tank in half for swimming and viewing of the fish. Lots o. Thing to think about for just a bunch of rocks.

 

[Lbannie]

Good evening



Perfect advice. Leave it set up for a few days and walk in and out of the room a lot. Each time you look at the tank if you second guess it, I may rethink it. Also , with the closed up wall you are basically cutting the tank in half for swimming and viewing of the fish. Lots o. Thing to think about for just a bunch of rocks.

That’s what I’ve been doing. My fiancé keeps asking me what I’m looking at lol. He just took a 2 second glance and said it looks good
The tank is also in my foyer/entryway so I want it to be perfect! I’m going to drive myself nuts over these rocks!

 

[JoshO]

I was thinking about that since my “wall” is kinda high. I’m paranoid enough with the overflow! I’ve never had one, or a sump, in my previous tanks. I’ll probably be a nervous wreck for a while when the water goes in!!
I have visions in my head of how I want things, but getting them to work out is another story!

I know the feeling! All things you'll get to grips with fairly quickly!
That being said I can't agree more with some of the other comments about if you're second guessing now then you'll definitely not like it in a few months!
I'm currently setting up a nano tank using just 2 rocks...I've been cutting bits off and using putty to reattach to get things EXACTLY how I want...and I'm still not quite finished! Don't forget you'll look at it daily and it'll be something that brings you peace and happiness (hopefully)! So taking the time to experiment and get it perfect will be worth it in the long run!

 

[Lbannie]

So about 4 total start overs later... I don’t know how many hours I’m up to now, skinned my knuckles, hands feel like sandpaper, I think I am happy with my scape!!
I tried something different and have some rocks in the front that are lower and give some depth. The pics don’t really do it justice. I think I need one more rock on left side of overflow. I tried just about everything and realized I’m a “wall” type person! Lol the rocks on bottom right look pretty cool.
the rock by itself on top of the flat rock I think I’m going to put my Xenia on that so it stays contained.
Can’t wait to get water and sand in here!
my new gaskets for overflow will be here Tuesday then it’s go time!!

 

[Lbannie]

Sand and water in!!

I HATE THE SUMP!!! It is too noisy. It’s older, a Berliner wd 125. The way the water flows over it makes so much splashing. I have it running to circulate the tank, but not the way it’s meant to be.

My bad for not seeing how the sump ran when I bought the tank, but I felt like I was getting a good deal on the whole package.

So now I’m thinking of getting a different sump, maybe with a refugium, I like that idea.

Any suggestions? Are the diy kits any good? I don’t want to spend a fortune!

Sumps are new and scary to me....I unplugged my tank about 10 times making sure it wouldn’t overflow!