Rob's Really Rad 180 Reef Rally

southerntnreefer · Sep 24, 2020

Following. Love this build! Basement tanks just dont get the love they deserve.... recently sold off mine, but someday ill have another basement tank. Until then im stuck dumping money in the latest build in the main living area.

RobB'z Reef · Sep 29, 2020

Ok, fooling around with aquascaping here. Hoping for some feedback as it's been way too long since I did this. Upfront, not a fan at all of the negative space things BRS is doing, that much I do know. However at this point I'm not married to anything. This first attempt was only just to get things moving and get ideas. To me it's a bit too symmetrical...

jk_s124 · Sep 29, 2020

Rob.bucek said:
Ok, fooling around with aquascaping here. Hoping for some feedback as it's been way too long since I did this. Upfront, not a fan at all of the negative space things BRS is doing, that much I do know. However at this point I'm not married to anything. This first attempt was only just to get things moving and get ideas. To me it's a bit too symmetrical...

It’s pretty good for a first go. I see what your saying about too symmetrical though. The left and the right sides are pretty similar. Even if you are not a fan of the negative space look, an arch or an overhang might break it up a bit. I’m also a fan of islands or pillars. Awesome to see the rock in the tank though!

RobB'z Reef · Sep 29, 2020

jk_s124 said:
It’s pretty good for a first go. I see what your saying about too symmetrical though. The left and the right sides are pretty similar. Even if you are not a fan of the negative space look, an arch or an overhang might break it up a bit. I’m also a fan of islands or pillars. Awesome to see the rock in the tank though!

Thanks, I moved things around, changed it up, nothing drastic but I think it's what I can love with for now. It's growing on me anyhow and I think once things fill in it'll work nicely. I'll post pics once things clear up since I put sand in as well.

RobB'z Reef · Sep 30, 2020

Well, for better or for worse this is what I'm going with for now. Still clearing up after moving rock and adding sand etc... Will look to mounting my lights soon.

southerntnreefer · Sep 30, 2020

I like it. Fixed the left side. that was what my eyes went to and bothered me. Really like it! Plenty of room for coal, and plenty of caves for hiders.

RobB'z Reef · Sep 30, 2020

southerntnreefer said:
I like it. Fixed the left side. that was what my eyes went to and bothered me. Really like it! Plenty of room for coal, and plenty of caves for hiders.

@Reef370 really helped with his experience in pointing out where it looked stupid. Which definitely was the left side as you mentioned lol

southerntnreefer · Sep 30, 2020

Rob.bucek said:
@Reef370 really helped with his experience in pointing out where it looked stupid. Which definitely was the left side as you mentioned lol

Great work either way! i think its going to look amazing!

BullyBee · Sep 30, 2020

I read this really fast and thought it said “Rob’s Really Bad” and I started looking at the pics and thinking “wow this looks great”

RobB'z Reef · Sep 30, 2020

BullyBee said:
I read this really fast and thought it said “Rob’s Really Bad” and I started looking at the pics and thinking “wow this looks great”

Lol, have faith it could still turn out bad!

southerntnreefer · Sep 30, 2020

Rob.bucek said:
Lol, have faith it could still turn out bad!

I doubt it! youve got a rad system running.

Reef370 · Sep 30, 2020

Rob.bucek said:
@Reef370 really helped with his experience in pointing out where it looked stupid. Which definitely was the left side as you mentioned lol

Haha @Rob.bucek it never looked stupid, just needed to open up a bit.... looking awesome my friend!!!

RobB'z Reef · Sep 30, 2020

More progress tonight! Got my Tunze 3155 hooked up to my sump and the ATO filled with RO water. Couple items left to do.

Get it up on a little stand so I can view things easier.
Hook up my Spectrapure liquid level controller and plumb the ATO to my RODI unit.
Install the emergency drain from the ATO to the floor drain.

For now I'll just manually fill the tank. It will be interesting to see the daily top of volume however!

You can see the float switches for the spectrapure unit to the right of the tunze controller below.

Reef370 · Sep 30, 2020

Man... you have all the gadgets huh?? Lol

RobB'z Reef · Sep 30, 2020

Reef370 said:
Man... you have all the gadgets huh?? Lol

I thought you had an ATO of some sort?

Reef370 · Sep 30, 2020

Rob.bucek said:
I thought you had an ATO of some sort?

JoshH · Sep 30, 2020

Things are slowly coming together for you bit by bit, I know the feeling lol I'm not much of an Aquascape wizard but I think what you have now looks pretty awesome. Nice variation in levels, some overhangs, pass-throughs, I'm digging it for sure!