Madmak's 200G Reef Build

[Madmak]

Things are somewhat reassembled in the basement, leveled up and progressing. Running 2 20A circuits to next to the tank, a 1" spa flex line for water changes, a USB to the Neptune EB4, and a 1/4" line for top up RO/DI.

Also started carving up 100+ lbs of Marco rock to create a permanent base rock aquascape. This is working well but is a messy job. It is surprising how tough that rock is even with a diamond blade.

Will have more pics as the rock goes in.

[gregzz4]

Wow, look who finally posted something
Great progress.
Word of warning when cutting up base rock;
I drilled some of mine and rinsing didn't do much. I ended up running it in a rubbermaid with a heater and powerhead to get all the powder off it. Sure made a mess of the tub that I'd hate to see in your tank It was like an Alk precipitation storm

[Madmak]

You should see my garage, looks like a cocaine factory! I might sweep up the dust and return it to Red Coral for a credit!

I can't avoid all the dust but am blowing each piece off with a compressor before taking them downstairs to be siliconed in place. I think I will give things a good vacuum and maybe a fresh water rinse before the $150 of salt goes in.

Planning on 3 or 4 tiers in the sand bed, might look pretty cool.

[gregzz4]

The compressed air should help lots

[Madmak]

8 hours of this:



A bunch of this:



Some of this:





And now we have this:



Added 240 lbs of sand and waiting for the fill!

[ensquire]

[quote=Madmak;707679]8 hours of this:

A bunch of this:

Some of this:


And now we have this:



Added 240 lbs of sand and waiting for the fill!

Wow, I love the left side structure , very open concept .
Nice job.
How much live rock are you adding?

[Nano]

Looks outstanding! If I did something like that on my next build (which I might now )I would air brush the background to make it look like the rock goes through the glas and just fades out into the deep blue

Edit-- Is the silicone holding the rock quite well?

[Madmak]

Originally Posted by ensquire

Wow, I love the left side structure , very open concept .
Nice job.
How much live rock are you adding?

Thanks!
I'll add a bunch in the sump and refugium and there is lots of room in the DT for more. Maybe another 100 lbs or so.
The left side is a large glass shelf that is outlined in rock but will be about a 14" square raised sand bed. It also covers my closed loop inlet below.

[Madmak]

Originally Posted by Nano

Looks outstanding! If I did something like that on my next build (which I might now )I would air brush the background to make it look like the rock goes through the glas and just fades out into the deep blue

Edit-- Is the silicone holding the rock quite well?

Thanks a lot!

I saw some neat ideas on backgrounds and my options are still open as there is 30" or so behind the tank. It will be an in-wall eventually.

I fit the rock carefully and used a fair amount of silicone and it is very strong. The upper right piece is probably over 10 lbs and is held only with silicone.

I've left room for a bottom to top branching structure in the middle but need to source this stuff first.

[Nano]

Originally Posted by Madmak

Thanks a lot!

I saw some neat ideas on backgrounds and my options are still open as there is 30" or so behind the tank. It will be an in-wall eventually.

I fit the rock carefully and used a fair amount of silicone and it is very strong. The upper right piece is probably over 10 lbs and is held only with silicone.

I've left room for a bottom to top branching structure in the middle but need to source this stuff first.

awesome! Well it looks great I must say, cant wait to see it all finished (are we ever finished )