H@rry
Troll
I'm not sure which forum would be best for this question but I'll try it here.
I have 3 tanks plumbed together, 2 180s and a 120 with a 100 gallon sump, skimmer & calcium reactor. They have been running for 9 years. I have about an average of 1 - 1.5 inch sand bed in all. Live rock is about 2/3 of the height at the back and 1/3 of the height at the front (kinda like a fruit stand).
Besides the return nozzles (2 on each tank) I have 11 powerheads mounted on the Euro-braceing with servos that allow them to slowly sweep; plenty of circulation. Tanks are lit with DIY Cree LEDs.
I am 99% Acropora and I want to add more but I'm running out of real estate. What I thinking about is removing all the rock from the tank, standing 10 - 12 inch pieces of 4 inch PVC pipe down in the sand bed to the glass, filling in all the available space with as much rock as I can, and topping those with egg crate. I'll cut the egg crate back about 3 inches from the front glass to allow for algae scraping and to allow the fish free access to the lower and upper areas. I'll then put the Acro colonies on the egg crate (maybe mount some of them on 4x4 tiles). This will allow me to crowd more colonies on a given footprint in the tank.
I plan to start this with a 4 foot section of one 180 and watch it for a month or so to see how it goes. I wonder if anyone has tried anything similar and what was your experience and advice. Would there be a circulation issue in the lower portion?
Thanx in advance for any suggestions.
I have 3 tanks plumbed together, 2 180s and a 120 with a 100 gallon sump, skimmer & calcium reactor. They have been running for 9 years. I have about an average of 1 - 1.5 inch sand bed in all. Live rock is about 2/3 of the height at the back and 1/3 of the height at the front (kinda like a fruit stand).
Besides the return nozzles (2 on each tank) I have 11 powerheads mounted on the Euro-braceing with servos that allow them to slowly sweep; plenty of circulation. Tanks are lit with DIY Cree LEDs.
I am 99% Acropora and I want to add more but I'm running out of real estate. What I thinking about is removing all the rock from the tank, standing 10 - 12 inch pieces of 4 inch PVC pipe down in the sand bed to the glass, filling in all the available space with as much rock as I can, and topping those with egg crate. I'll cut the egg crate back about 3 inches from the front glass to allow for algae scraping and to allow the fish free access to the lower and upper areas. I'll then put the Acro colonies on the egg crate (maybe mount some of them on 4x4 tiles). This will allow me to crowd more colonies on a given footprint in the tank.
I plan to start this with a 4 foot section of one 180 and watch it for a month or so to see how it goes. I wonder if anyone has tried anything similar and what was your experience and advice. Would there be a circulation issue in the lower portion?
Thanx in advance for any suggestions.
