The Volcano Tank - Konolua

[Konolua]

Hello all....

I have been posting on a different site, but wanted to join the biggest one of them all!

I will post a couple of pictures and a link to my website, but will try to get some information up here soon. In the meantime, feel free to give some feedback! If you like it, awesome! If you don't, stay cordial in your comments!

Thanks to all for looking!

[Konolua]

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[dwd5813]

wow, very different and interesting. what are the tank dimensions? that crab is awesome.

[Bonta]

NICE !
What kind of equipment do you use ?

[Konolua]

So, these pictures go back a month or so (newest on top).

Lastly, here are some videos that are kind of cool! I hope you enjoy them!

(Everything is located at www.konolua.com/volcano)
Time Lapse Video
03.26.10
Volcano Tank Videos

[timdam]

love it, very unique!

[Konolua]

Originally Posted by dwd5813

wow, very different and interesting. what are the tank dimensions? that crab is awesome.

The tank is 48" x 24" x 12" and has a center overflow.

Yeah, those crabs are rad! I have about 7 of them, though that one is the largest (by the rock anemone).

[Konolua]

Originally Posted by Bonta

NICE !
What kind of equipment do you use ?

Real simple stuff. I have two 150 HQIs and a simple sump/return set up with a G2 skimmer. I then have a closed loop with a chiller in line (that is plummed outside).

Nothing special....

[Rich D]

wow, very very very interesting tank. Did you make the "volcano"?

Only thing that I would have done differently would be to use black volcanic sand.

its very original and I love it though.

[Konolua]

Originally Posted by bubbles129129

wow, very very very interesting tank. Did you make the "volcano"?

Only thing that I would have done differently would be to use black volcanic sand.

its very original and I love it though.

Yeah....it is just 5 rocks compiled to make the look. A huge one on the right, a huge one in the middle, then a short one on the left, the horizontal one, and the "tip" on top.

I had considered the black sand.....but decided against it since I was doing 12k lights. I have had black sand before but it appeared "dull" under the white lights. None of the pop of that the 20k's give it....

I still go back and forth on it though....

[t4zalews]

what kind of crabs are those...i like it how they grab food then take it out of the water. Very cool tank. At first I couldnt believe that huge sailfin in that tank...then I saw how much room there was to swim. Really cool idea.

[mscarpena]

Very cool. I wanted to do something like that with the trickle down rocks, but I do not have the room for a tank with those dimensions. I absolutely love it.

[Konolua]

Originally Posted by t4zalews

what kind of crabs are those...i like it how they grab food then take it out of the water. Very cool tank. At first I couldnt believe that huge sailfin in that tank...then I saw how much room there was to swim. Really cool idea.

Yeah, the crabs are great! They are a local shore crab, Pachygrapsus crasspies. Very entertaining! I love them!

The Sailfin was not a planned part of the tank, but was in a LFSs tank on hold for me (trying to find an owner) and they went out of business on short notice. I got him out the day they bailed. He was to have been temporary, but he appears to love it. He is getting fat, never is stressed and does have a ton of room. Of course, the typical vertical swimming space is limited but due to the volcano style of the rock format, he has close to the entire tank for swimming, along with the caves that are formed by the rock against the overflow.

[radar1625]

Awesome!!!!

[Konolua]

Originally Posted by mscarpena

Very cool. I wanted to do something like that with the trickle down rocks, but I do not have the room for a tank with those dimensions. I absolutely love it.

Thanks....it turned out much cooler than I had intended. I have my sights set on a second one (that will be larger) and I will try to incorporate more waterfall-ish type of add ons.

Truthfully, the waterfall portion is undoubtably the coolest part. From the aeration benefits to the sound (minimal but very pleasant) to the glistening look to the huge population of amphipods/copedpods and of course the escape for the crabs. That last one was why the waterfalls were incorporated in the first place, as I knew that they wouldn't simply hang out on dry rock.

This whole tank was for them!

[abaran]

One of the coolest tanks I have ever seen.
TOTM in my book.

[tom atchison]

i second that one of the coolest tanks i've ever seen. i will have to steel some of those ideas thanks for posting.

[dogstar74]

Boy the time lapse shows that the purple and the SF tang can't leave each other alone. It was mezmerizing to watch them chase round and round. In the normal speed though, you don't seem to see that type of behavior. They do look healthy.

What an amazing concept. Wonderful! Takes bonsai tanks to a whole new level!

Cheers
Aaron

[elite401]

That is so cool! Really unique concept and great execution. The whole things is so well designed and balanced.

[Konolua]

Originally Posted by dogstar74

Boy the time lapse shows that the purple and the SF tang can't leave each other alone. It was mezmerizing to watch them chase round and round. In the normal speed though, you don't seem to see that type of behavior. They do look healthy.

What an amazing concept. Wonderful! Takes bonsai tanks to a whole new level!

Cheers
Aaron

Bonsai was something that I immediately thought it looked like when I was done with the set up. Funny you thought that too!

The time lapse video put a ton of things in perspective for me. I would encourage everyone to do it! It is awesome to get an idea of behavior and things to change.....

[Konolua]

Here is what it looked like close to set up time...(this is an original post on a different site, but I left my comments in there for a little flavor). I will post some then/now shots too, as it is interesting to see the progression in 6 months.

________________________________________________________
Quoted from October 2nd, 2009.....


This is from the left, and you can see the rock basin (the horizontal rock) a little better. Already, only after 3 weeks, it has wonderful micro algaes and the start of coraline. The waterflow through it is surpisingly strong, so I may put some polyps or something there....


Here's a close up of that part. Now, this was right at the beginning, which is why it looks different.


Here is the right side. You can see on the left part of the rock, it is all wet. The water moves fairly fast here. On the right, you will see a black hole, and the drip line is directly above that. Because I made the water drip so slow, it is hard to tell it is even an active drip...the rock always appears magically wet. As such, the crabs hang here a lot.


Here is one of the crabs....


Here is a far shot from the right.

[TenKreefer]

Tank is so sweet man, I saw it over on nanoreef. My next build will mimic yours

[Dhub]

Very nice! Very original. I love it!

[trmiv]

This is easily one of the coolest things I've ever seen on RC. Wow.

BTW, I love that little pool on the volcano with the zoanthids in it.

[ctmgardea]

cool tank!