Hello everyone! Welcome to my build thread on my new Waterbox REEF 130.4 system!
I currently have a 24 gallon nano tank that has been up for 2.5 years and a 14 gallon coral quarantine tank so this is a big upgrade for me!
The display is 96.3 gallons and the sump is 30.6 gallons. Both are made out of Starphire Ultra-Clear Glass. The stand is made out of UV coated plywood. The display will be lit by two AI Hydra 32HDs.
I anticipate this will be a slow process. But as they say nothing good happens fast in this hobby !
Here are pictures of it arriving in December 2020.
I’m getting stuff together to start a Negative Space Aquascape (NSA). I plan on creating maybe 3-4 separate rock formations by supergluing then mortaring together broken up pieces of Marco rock.
22.5 lb. Bahama Aragonite Sand - MarcoRocks
Insta-set Super Glue Accelerator - Bob Smith Industries
This is version 1. I’m not in love with it but it is the best I’ve come up with so far. It is not quite as NSA as I was planning. It’s like a hybrid rock wall/NSA.
Aquascaping, probably will be the one decision you have to spend more of your time deciding on what looks the best formation. Many factors come into play. such as tank size, the kind of coral, swim room for your fish, trying to get maximum flow through out the entire tank.
Thru the years I have learned that my first aquascape has grown from it’s original design. Rocks were added, and then to get better flow coverage, rocks were removed.
Be patient. Find the best design that you like and go with it.
I like the design personally. You have plenty of depth and not a ton of shaded areas you won’t be able to put any coral. If I had to pick something to suggest changing, perhaps the flat shelves. I’ve just never been a fan, but it depends on what you’re planning to put on top of them.
I’m hoping to grow an arch of coral with the 2 new structures. One of the semi arch structures is slightly pulled forward to add depth. I like this layout the best so far. I have not decided if I love it yet.
looking much better. Like you said, the depth is very important. My displays are only 18in front to back. I wish i could have taken better advantage of lower rockwork in the front to higher rock work in the back.
Are you planning to attach corals with glue/Epoxy? It was alot more work, but i went with fiberglass rods. It was super tedious, makes moving colonies around very easy. Some of the rock was too dense to drill however.
both. I copied coral euphoria - on youtube- So my rock structure can be completely disassembled. Then i drilled more holes in the structure. I used a 1/8 diamond hole saw to cut shallow holes in small piece of rubble and glued the fiberglass rods in place. So i have “custom” frag mounts that can be moved all over the tank, without really disturbing anything.
I added the mortar today. I need to go back and do a few areas on the underside. I’m then going to adhere sand to the seams with a skim coat of mortar to mask the grey color.
!
