xtm's 'Wide Open Shallow Reef' aquascape

[xtm]

After looking at many shallow reef pictures, I decided that I really like the "wide open" look where there's only tiny patches of reef surrounded by clean, white sand.


Soooooo without further ado, I'd like to share my new aquascape:




Left Side



Right Side



Close up of the pillar on the left



FTS




What do you think? I'm really enjoying the openness of the tank! I think this is the only time I've stared at it for hours without getting tired of the aquascape.

[mpoletti]

Its nice, but I would pull the tang as it will not have enough grazing area for optimal health. Its going to look great when things grow out

[kovuu86]

awesome. i personally love it. itll look killer, especially as mark said once it grows out.

[krucial]

Beautiful I love the simplicity. Open tanks are my favorite by FAR.

[t5Nitro]

That's awesome!

mpoletti made a good point with the tang. Maybe it would help him if you put 2-3 small acrylic pipes to wrap seaweed on them on each sides of the rocks.

What did you use to make the pillar on the left?

[SDguy]

Very nice! I admire your self control

[xtm]

Thanks for the comments

I've had the Purple tang since 2008, when it was a tiny fish that I "saved" from a closing LFS. It was very skinny, had HLLE, and almost dead. I fed him with Selcon enriched Mysis, Spectrum pellets, and other mixed foods and I was able to nurse it back to health! As for the tank size, I am fully aware--- TRUST ME, I've been waiting for someone in the SoCal forum to sell a big acrylic tank (150 gallon and up) locally so I can finally upgrade. I can assure you 100% that it will happen this year.

Now if we can set aside the Tang discussions..

[xtm]

Originally posted by t5Nitro
That's awesome!

What did you use to make the pillar on the left?

Thanks! The pillar is actually just a single huge piece of curved (Tonga?) branche that I installed upwards.

These are some of the pics that inspired me....





This too..





See how there's tons of sand around reef patches?

Now if I can only turn my backyard into one of these:

[matt the fiddler]

am i the only one that thinks it looks great NOW?

3 years will be great too

if you like those pics, have you considered a blue background? I think it could add to the illusion. Personally, I like black


I have 3 pillars similiar to yours... I used concrete to secure the base in mine...

[143gadgets]

It's nice, but I think u should scrap the back and side walls.

[xtm]

Thanks... please keep the comments coming, negative or positive!

It used to have no background.. just plain clear acrylic. Problem is that around noon til 5pm, the whole tank gets natural sunlight from the door behind it. Natural sunlight = tons of algae! So I painted it black. But yes you have a salient point...maybe I should consider a blue background.

[Tobit]

What are the dimensions of this tank? Lookin' good.

[matt the fiddler]

"Natural sunlight = tons of algae!"

why not just get a few more snails, the real light can be very good for the tank!

What i wouldn't pay to get real sun on my basement tank

[Ian]

Originally posted by 143gadgets
It's nice, but I think u should scrap the back and side walls.

Agreed Chris. Clean the coralline off the walls and you'll have a much cleaner look as well as the illusion of a larger tank.... JMO, of course

[zef004]

Nice Sunlight is good for coral. I have sun light both side of the tank left side in the morning and the right side in the evening for about 2hrs each. And the on each side looks great and no algae .

[Tyrenlds]

Those reef patches are man made... you can see the support frame. Nice aquascape btw.

[xtm]

Originally posted by Ian
Agreed Chris. Clean the coralline off the walls and you'll have a much cleaner look as well as the illusion of a larger tank.... JMO, of course

It used to be clear on all sides, including the back wall. It doesn't look good without a background because you can see the overflow and wires coming from the canopy. I think I would replace it with a blue background though.

[SunnyX]

Looks great! I say the more open the better!

[xtm]

Originally posted by Tyrenlds
Those reef patches are man made... you can see the support frame. Nice aquascape btw.

Yes there are two pictures there that were man-made. I was trying to point out how nice the sand looks with the SPS on top of it.

Anyways, I couldn't sleep last night as I kept thinking about the tang.

[matt the fiddler]

one thing fun idea, is what weatherson did.. and that is make the blue background fade into black or darker blue on the bottom.

Playing around with shades can really add even more depth than just a solid piece of blue

[Leonardo_]

Very Nice Joseph, I'm also inspired by the Reefscapers images... Found them a while ago and immediately knew I wanted that look.

Leonardo

[xtm]

Originally posted by SunnyX
Looks great! I say the more open the better!

Thank you Sunny!

Originally posted by Leonardo_
Very Nice Joseph, I'm also inspired by the Reefscapers images... Found them a while ago and immediately knew I wanted that look.

Leonardo

Hi Leonardo,
Thanks, I actually found the reefscapers from your Lagoon thread. I haven't been posting much but I'm following your great build thread.

[Leonardo_]

Thanks Joseph. Keep us updated! Such coralscapes only get better in time.

Leonardo

[GSMguy]

I like it

[Reefer08]

My honest opinion is that I don't like it. I have the same exact tank dimensions also. The tank looks naked in my opinion. I would add some more live rock.