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Brad's Mangrove Sanctuary


brad908

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I will take better pictures tonight once the sun goes down.

19620194298_7ce75c5c35_z.jpgMangrove Macro Tank by Brad Baldwin, on Flickr

 

My wife and I planned out the stand for a 48x18x?" tank this morning. Going to do mangrove in the corner, with the large slopping hill. The hill will basically be a 24" macro meadow slopping down to  a mixed reef. The mixed reef will be all individual islands. Probably one large island with a bunch of smaller ones around it. 

 

Just gotta decide on the height.

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Do you plan to add some form of nutrients to give the macro something to use?

Yes sir. Been dumping a lot of rods food in too.

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Looks great, if you don't mind where did you source your macro algae from?

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That's freaking great looking, Brad.  It's really coming together with the big hill, rocks around it and the other macro.  You still planning on some lionfish?

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Looks great, if you don't mind where did you source your macro algae from?

Thank you. Live-plants

 

That's freaking great looking, Brad. It's really coming together with the big hill, rocks around it and the other macro. You still planning on some lionfish?

Thanks! I'm combining this tank with my mixed reef tank. Hopefully Monday I put in an order for either a 48x18x12, 48x18x14, or 40x18x18. I won't be able to put a lion fish in there, but the tank will take 7-8 weeks, so maybe I'll buy a lion and then give it back to the lfs.

 

I put the plans for the new tank a couple posts ago. Can't wait.

Edited by brad908
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Very awesome! Love all the macros...

Can't wait to see the new tank being setup

 

 

Looks great.. what macro is the one that almost looks like a fw sword plant? Long green leaves?

Thanks! The long green leaves is turtle grass.

 

Here is a preview of the scape. It will have a valley that is 12x5x6" and a large cave. I will be making a thread tonight and taking better pictures of the egg crate.

 

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Lighting by 24" nanbox hybrid and a nanobox duo with a white LED array for the mangroves and macros.

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Edited by brad908
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Scape explained.

FTS. The eggcrate is about 47x17, tank will be 48x18. I will cut off all the eggcrate at the end, just want to show scale.
tank%203_zpswqa5ycam.jpg

Looking straight on from the side of the tank. In this picture you can see the 12x6x6" valley and the cave to the right.

Working from left to right.

1. On the long slanting piece on the left there will be turtle grass and pine cone algae. This section will be all sand based.
2. Directly in the middle is they valley. The vertical pieces of egg crate will be covered in rock.
3. The cave. You can see the opening. The entire inside will be rocked and there will be a WP10 pushing out water from the back.

There will be a cave entrance from the valley. Haven't decided if he entrance should be low and on the bottom, or directly in the middle surrounded by rock.

tank%202_zps7lgma7my.jpg

Angle
tank%201_zpsjmkdhhtn.jpg

There will be about 24" of mix reef islands. Shallow sand bed

Mangroves will be in that squared off back right corner

 
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Very excited for your new build! I've always wanted to do one like it. What is the bright yellow macro? Sorry if I missed it, but who's your source?

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Very excited for your new build! I've always wanted to do one like it. What is the bright yellow macro? Sorry if I missed it, but who's your source?

 

I think this is the most excited I have been for a build. The yellow macro is Eucheuma. Unfortunately it doesn't stay yellow, it will turn red eventually. Macros are from live-plants

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Beautiful! Totally following along!

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Progress. Don't worry about all the black, that will be taken care of at the end

 

Front%20Tank_zpstggqu661.jpg

Side%20Tank_zpsletiddur.jpg

Angle%20Tank_zpscunwchoa.jpg

 

Wanted to do more but spent the weekend on the coast

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1AB505C8-A433-4744-9939-44F8951A5C47_zps

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Pretty awsome! Following along to see how it turns out. Really neat idea with the eggcrate!

Are you using silicone to attach the rock to eggcrate? Is that what the black goo is or some sort of epoxy?

Edited by khh27
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Don't skip covering up the black foam! I didn't want to spend a ton of time with epoxy and sand and now I still have ppl asking me what the black blobs are. =/

Frags are super easy to glue on tho...

 

Looks fantastic so far! Can't wait to see more

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Pretty awsome! Following along to see how it turns out. Really neat idea with the eggcrate!

Are you using silicone to attach the rock to eggcrate? Is that what the black goo is or some sort of epoxy?

It's usually used for outdoor ponds, I've used it before and works real well.

 

  

Don't skip covering up the black foam! I didn't want to spend a ton of time with epoxy and sand and now I still have ppl asking me what the black blobs are. =/

Frags are super easy to glue on tho...

Looks fantastic so far! Can't wait to see more

Thanks! I could never put this in the tank with any black showing lol.

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(edited)

Great start! The structure looks like it's off to an awesome start....

And hope you had a good weekend in the coast! Looked beautiful!

 

Thanks! I had to order more of the black foam stuff, so I am hoping I can get this rock scape done by the weekend, and then get this thing soaking in some hydrogen peroxide to clean it up. 

 

Tank building is starting today :)

 

where is this place pacifica??..looks beautiful..

 

The bed and breakfast was in Mendocino and the lighthouse is Point Arena. The lighthouse was used for the final scene in the Need for Speed movie.

Edited by brad908
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Looking good. Breakfast is looking even better.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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Make sure the structure doesn't float before you get too far into the build.  That black pond foam is shockingly buoyant even with rock attached to it.  It's also kind of shockingly expensive, given how little you get in the can, in my limited experience with it.

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