My 70g Oceanic RR

[Candi]

I've been wanting to upgrade my 50g acrylic for ages, of course had to do it on a budget so I've been watching the forums and crossing my fingers. I really love the height of the Oceanic tanks and have a cherry finish 30g cube in the dining room already that I was hoping to match.

Few weeks ago my chance popped up on RC and I jumped on it! I acquired a cherry finish Oceanic 70g RR tank & stand with a reef devil skimmer & sump (as I've posted about on the general forum, finally got it worked out )

I wasn't happy with the LR in my 50g (mostly small pieces picked up here and there) and wanted something different from the rock wall look, Merv was my ultimate inspiration for a different look) I decided to order dry rock from marcorocks.com after reading about it on RC... I'm so thrilled I did, I bought 50lbs which when wet is well over 100lbs and it is simply gorgeous rock, I wish I could capture just how light & airy it is on film. The fact that it was dry made building my structure really easy, no slimy algae/corals or prickly worms to worry about. I could have used putty, drilling & rods, etc but it fit together so well that all I ended up using was some zip ties. I have three main sections that when placed next to eachother fit together to create the look I wanted... pillars/arches and lots of open swimming space.

So I painted the back black, built my rock structures, rinsed my sand (durascape white playsand) and started mixing my water.

At this point I have it filled up and cycling (lots of dried organics in the rock)... I'll get some new photos soon but here are a couple sneak peeks from before I started filling it, 2nd is to attempt to show how great the rock is (I can't wait to see a goby peeking at me from in there).

 

[Brian]

I love the rock work! (and the rock!)

Keep in mind, it will be a challenge to add corals having it setup that way, I had to rearrange my setup for that reason...

Looks great though, good luck!

 

[Candi]

Thanks Brian!

It's so hard to photograph LR, my structure is actually very 3D in that there are lots of ledges to place corals and different angles so that the light can get to the bottom. Plus I plan for this to be a very light reef, I was considering FOWLR but decided since I already have my light to go ahead and put in a few corals I like. Basically stuff that has outgrown my 24g aquapod (frogspawn, hammer, huge hairy shrooms, etc)

Can't wait to get it going! I swear my fish are looking from across the room saying "hey get us in there!" lol

 

[Edwardw771]

Very cool rocks. I think I'm going to order some. they look great. good find.

 

[Candi]

Long time no update, the tank has been up and running for a couple months now... still dealing with a bit of algae but my beefed up cleaning crew went in today so that should clear up. Loving the tank still! Here are some shots from today, not the best as it was very bright in the house and I was dealing with messed up colors because of the flash and/or light from the windows but it gives you an idea how how it's come along.

 

[Phyl]

Its grown in nicely. Looks good!