My "Driftwood" Reef!

[anemonefish]

Hey guys,

I always see people post cool threads where they show the progression of their tanks and thought I'd join in with my unique (first ever?) driftwood reef. First off, let me explain. Obviously I did not use real driftwood. What I did was used tonga branch live rock and a ton of superglue and epoxy to create a piece of "driftwood" out of live rock! The end result was better than I ever expected and literally looks like it could have been floating down a river! Its very late now however and I want to clean up the tank area a little before I post pictures. I'll keep you in suspense! I am currently cycling the rocks. Some info on the system. It is a 50 gallon tank on a DIY stand that hold two tanks, one on top of the other. Below the 50 will be a 40 gallon refugium/macroalgae/fish only tank for the fish I want but don't want eating my coral. The top tank will be running two Kessil a360w and the bottom will run a Coralife T5 HO dual. As far as filtration I'm going somewhat minimalist in that I'm only using a skimmer and a brs dual reactor for carbon and gfo. No other filters except good old bacteria! Pictures to come very soon!!!!

[jbvdhp]

Coo. Let's see some pics


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[snyder415]

can't wait to see pics

[anemonefish]

Hate to do this to you guys but you'll have to wait till sunday for pics. Thats when I get an important piece of the aquarium puzzle that will bring everything together visually and I want to make sure it looks 100% before I show pics. Just give me two more days!

[madweazl]

You're missing the build up to the completed piece; so much is shared and learned through the discussion of techniques used during the build process.

[anemonefish]

Originally Posted by madweazl

You're missing the build up to the completed piece; so much is shared and learned through the discussion of techniques used during the build process.

You are totally right. I let my pride get in the way of the entire point of these threads so here comes some pictures!!!!

[anemonefish]

So as you can see its a bit of a mess right now. I am using the return pump to create flow as it will eventually serve as my "powerhead" using pvc along the upper rim of the tank to divide the flow to four outlets that will then be my means of flow. Its way to powerful on its own. (Tested in bathtub and it hit the ceiling with quite a large force or water). Also the light currently on the tank will not be their but my kessil is on my biocube right now and im still waiting for the second so im using this random T5 I had lying around temporarily. Also I am picking up the 40 gallon for the lower tank tomorrow as well as all the pvc piping to create the plumbing. (Using the nice looking gray kind). I threw in some picks of my biocube as well just for fun.

[anemonefish]

The rocks will also stick out of the top of the tank to create even more of the "driftwood" look. The whole concept is inspired by takashi amano's home aquarium. Obviously im doing it as a reef though instead of a freshwater planted aquarium and my tank is drastically smaller.

[anemonefish]

My current stocklist for livestock is 2 red sea clownfish (top tank) a threadfin/longspine cardinal, a pajama cardinal, and 2 midnight occelaris with their rainbow bubble tip anemone (bottom tank).

[anemonefish]

More pictures to come tomorrow when I add the bottom 40g tank as well as most of the plumbing and the bottom tanks aquascape!

[anemonefish]

Also the mess of rocks sitting in the sandbed will not be there in the final build as they will be moved to the bottom tank but I wanted to start getting them cycling quicker. It will look a lot better tomorrow so stay tuned! Also today was the first major algae bloom of the cycling process (using red sea's cycling kit)

[anemonefish]

Ill also upload better pics of my current tank tomorrow because it was near when it turns off when I took that picture so its pretty dim and very blue.

[anemonefish]

Also im pretty new to the site so if anyone knows how to upload better pics, not as attachments then I'm all ears. (I feel like an old person right now)

[anemonefish]

Thats better.

[Devaji108]

cool I look forward to the progress.

[anemonefish]

Had a small hiccup with the stand. Basically the lower tank didn't fit in the stand right so I have to make a few modifications. Should be quick and easy fix but its a real pain. The guy I bought the tank from did not measure right so I build the stand according to incorrect measurements. Easy fix though. More pics soon!

[anemonefish]

The above tank is not that yellow its just the picture but heres what it will look like. Two tanks stacked. As you can see I had to cute the square larger for the tank to fit and ill have to buy some nice wood to cover the front so it looks better!

[anemonefish]

The top tank will be the driftwood reef and the bottom tank will likely be a volcano/island style live rock aquascape and will have macro algae as well as invert/coral eating fish that cant go in the top. (Possibly a snowflake eel and a marine betta as well as the two midnight occellaris I already have with their bubble tip).

[anemonefish]

Also sorry for the mess in all the pictures. I usually take them immediately after completing some part of the build so stuff is thrown all over the place before I clean up.

[anemonefish]

Cleaned up the random rocks and added first clean up crew members!

[plecoco]

That's cool! Post more pics when you clean it up!

[anemonefish]

Some new pictures. Added the first inhabitants. My pride and joy crown jewel favorite fish in the world, my red sea clownfish! (I know there not that special but I adore them). I bought a pair of firefish (one was sleeping in their borrow under the rock) and an arrow crab that I didn't realize was missing a claw until I left the store and I'm too much of a softie to return him so I spot feed and keep it healthy till it can molt and regrow its claw. Also you can see the snails going to town on the rocks!!

[anemonefish]

Heres a full tank shot. You can see I had a minor crisis when I was a little rough in the tank and the leftmost branch broke off..... I guess I would rather it happen now then when theres coral all over it. Still it was a huge pain to fix but i lathered it up in superglue and reattached it then made a snake of epoxy and wrapped it around the joint. (Try and break now you little b****).

[anemonefish]

Also does anyone have any tips for catching a cleaner shrimp? I want to move him into the new tank but he's f***ing Houdini reincarnated. He comes right up to my fingers and cleans them and is super friendly but any sudden movement or any kind of container coming near him and he's out. SO frustrating!

[madweazl]

Cut the top off a water bottle, toss it on the bottom of the tank with some food it. They're ravenous gluttons and will jump right in. Close off the other end and take him out.