how do you do it?
 

Ok, so from my recient activity laitly it is aparent I am working on getting a tank back up. Although my new house doesn't have the place to do a huge tank, I think I can do my 27gal up and make it look nice..

the problem is how the heck do you guys figure out how to lay out a small tank? I have never done anything under a 90 that was 3x2x2.

so going to a tank that is 30" long x 12" wide x 18" tall is screwing me around for what I can do with the realestate.

it is going to be a SPS tank (maybe some zoos also) with a bare bottom.

I am thinking of only having the front pannel viewable so the tank will sit into the stand as to minimize stuff inside I am going to drill the sides for closed loops. and it will have an external overflow on the back.

I think whats screwing me up the most is only having a 12" front to back to work with so any ideas would be great.

Steve

i use two islands to make it look biggar than it is and leave a little space in the middle. i have a 36" long x 12in wide. also depends on what shape size of rock you have. good luck with the build

got a picture?

Steve

When I do my cube I think 2 adjacent sides will be tinted black and have holes drilled for closed loop outlets. Then my wock will be against those 2 sides with the outlets mostly hidden and shooting out. 1 outlet will blast back against the back corner to keep flow behind my rockwork.

Only an idea so far but maybe that would work for you?

http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/q...w/DSC01232.jpg

hope this helps. makes it look like theres swimming room for the fish

I agree. The two island look works really well but it will depend on the shape of your rocks. I wanted a 2 island look but unfortunately my rocks wont allow it to happen without it looking really bad.
U shapes also look very good and the higher you can raise the rocks to the surface (too look like a mountain) the better it looks too.
Ive also seen a slanted scape that was stunning but they were using shelf rock.

what are the dimentions of that tank.. looks way longer than a 33 :mrgreen:

Steve

ya, I think one of the things I will realy miss will be having a tang in the tank, I have always had either a yellow or a achielies.. but 27 is just not enough room.. so now I have to figure out something else to graze the rock.

one idea I had was to build some home made rock to cover the 3 sides and bottom of the tank to make a "u" and then have some real rock to build it out where I want it to project towards the front of the tank.

this would give me the same effect as a bare bottom with out actualy having one. this would also give me a good base to drill into for support rods if I wanted to do some wild rock structure.

who has made home made rock, how did it turn out and what recipe did you use?

Steve

hey there Steve why not with a tank that is small that you a few small pillars then you have the swimming room .

yeah its not a 33g its 36" long x 12" wide x 9" high

I was wondering it if was shorter.. makes it look bigger. looks nice though

Steve

Steve, I don't know about you, but I have always liked to keep the rock off the side/back panes of glass so I can clean it better, and for better circulation. When working with nanos I have found that impossible.

I was thinking of something like that, the bottom back and sides I think are going to have a 1" thick layer of home made rock (4 solid chunks) with some texture on them. then I was thinking of a pillar on each side and one in the middle to attach corals to. that way the center one could have a large cap or milli glued around the base so it looks like the pillar is comming up through the corals. I don't know that stage is a long ways off yet..

now I have to find an algae eating fish that doesn't need a lot of room.....

Steve

thats why I am going to make this one only viewable from the front and line the sides, back and bottom with home made rock. will kinda look like a hole in the reef like you would see diving in hunama bay in hawaii. except better corals :mrgreen: that would leave me with only one pane of glass to clean and I am planning on getting up to a 200X turnover in water flow with this one so I won't have to worry about sand. pluss I can put zoos right on the bottom rock like a carpet.

Steve

That's a cool idea. I can't wait to see this come to life!

A Hector's Goby could be a possibility. Tank might be a tad small...could be difficult to feed it enough.

neither can I :mrgreen:.. my original plan was to build it into the bar I have been building downstairs, but I changed the design of the bar and it won't work now so I have to build a stand I guess.. lots of design work ahead :wink:

Steve