Hello all, finally starting a build thread for the tank.
My wife and I recently bought our first home, and I thought a reef tank in the living room would be amazing. My buddy and I initially went to Petco and purchased a 55 gallon, and put it in the living room. As soon as I saw it there I knew it was the perfect spot. Well one thing led to another and soon the 55 (despite never being filled) was replaced with the Waterbox 190.5 which I'm currently in the process of aquascaping.
It's taken a few months, as I've been trying to collect the equipment during sales, but I should now have all the gadgets required to run the tank. I'll post the full list later when I have time to detail all components.
The current plan for the tank is a mixed reef of mostly soft and LPS corals. I would consider a few SPS in there as well when things are stable, but I really enjoy the swaying look of torch corals, hammers, etc. My wife and I both also like the more fluorescent encrusting corals, and my wife particularly loves the large clams.
When browsing aquascapes, I found I preferred those that are a little heavier on the rock. Our tank is set up at the end of a long and relatively narrow living room, where the right edge is at the wall, and the left is visible from the couch. So the plan is to aquascape everything more openly to the left, and reserve that area for shorter corals. As it goes to the right, I plan on adding more rock, with the right possibly going for a more overgrown look. Trying to add little caves and hideouts as well for the fish to feel safe.
I initially tried aquascaping outside the tank, but in the end found it easier to do it inside. The rocks are stacked, with the edges of some using E-Marco to increase stability.
Attached is the current aquascape, with the right side not yet created.
My wife and I recently bought our first home, and I thought a reef tank in the living room would be amazing. My buddy and I initially went to Petco and purchased a 55 gallon, and put it in the living room. As soon as I saw it there I knew it was the perfect spot. Well one thing led to another and soon the 55 (despite never being filled) was replaced with the Waterbox 190.5 which I'm currently in the process of aquascaping.
It's taken a few months, as I've been trying to collect the equipment during sales, but I should now have all the gadgets required to run the tank. I'll post the full list later when I have time to detail all components.
The current plan for the tank is a mixed reef of mostly soft and LPS corals. I would consider a few SPS in there as well when things are stable, but I really enjoy the swaying look of torch corals, hammers, etc. My wife and I both also like the more fluorescent encrusting corals, and my wife particularly loves the large clams.
When browsing aquascapes, I found I preferred those that are a little heavier on the rock. Our tank is set up at the end of a long and relatively narrow living room, where the right edge is at the wall, and the left is visible from the couch. So the plan is to aquascape everything more openly to the left, and reserve that area for shorter corals. As it goes to the right, I plan on adding more rock, with the right possibly going for a more overgrown look. Trying to add little caves and hideouts as well for the fish to feel safe.
I initially tried aquascaping outside the tank, but in the end found it easier to do it inside. The rocks are stacked, with the edges of some using E-Marco to increase stability.
Attached is the current aquascape, with the right side not yet created.