Cycling finally! (first tank) How's the aquascaping?

[rskillz]

Hey guys, first tank here. It's a 72 gallon bowfront I've been setting up for a few weeks. Finally finished all the plumbing and prep work. Put in live sand, 50 lbs dead rock, and 20 lbs live rock yesterday.

Aquascaping was a lot more tedious and challenging than I thought. The epoxy didn't seem to work all that well.

Also, when will the water get clear? It's still pretty cloudy 24 hours later.

Hows the rock look?

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[dakota9]

Great! Like the openness!

 

[rskillz]

Thanks Dakota, the hardest part was creating depth with such a shallow tank front to back.

 

[ralph atl]

I like the rockwork! great job! figure 4-6 weeks or so!

 

[rskillz]

Thanks mystery. I threw in some seachem new tank bacteria booster to try and really get the process started. I'm also cranking the temp up to about 82. I leave for work in a month for three months, so I'd LOVE to at least get the clean up crew in before I leave.

 

[ralph atl]

clean up crew before you go, should be fine!

 

[scrilla]

Looks Awsome... I Likes. :up:

 

[rskillz]

Dang, thanks for all the kind words. I guess that five hours of hassle, struggling with falling rocks and epoxy was worth it eh? lol. A few pieces are still BARELY hanging on even with epoxy, whats the deal?

 

[rbredding]

I like the bow fronts, from the aesthetics of the tank / canopy/ stand.. I think they look the best.


I like the cubes, from the aesthetics of the tank / canopy / stand.. I think they look the best.


j/k

rockwork looks good, lotsa hiding places.. are you going with bigger fish or smaller ones?

 

[rskillz]

Plan is for a full-blown reef tank with only 5-6 fish. Really not sure yet. Down the road I want a Mandarin Goby for sure, and maybe a engineer goby. Gobys are awesome.

 

[smoothie]

I really like it. Good job! Gobies and blennies are neat. Looks really thought out to the eye and for your fish. 5-6 would love that tank

 

[eliphant]

i love that aquascape!

 

[drnecropolis]

Holy hell!

That is probably the best looking aquascape I have seen in a long time!!

Great job!!

 

[enderg60]

Im impressed, very good work for a beginner!

Epoxy is kind of hard to get the hang of, but I love the stuff. I really like the green stuff even though it can make your skimmer go nuts for a bit, it doesnt crumble. Dont treat it like glue it wont stick to anything. treat it like a hole filler, and if you need it to stick use superglue gel along with it.

If you want a mandarin in there, you will need a fuge with at least 20lbs of rubble and some type of macro algea on the system for at least 6 months before you should even try. Also throwing some small piles of rubble behind the rocks will help alot as well.