Colorado Planet 150 build

#1
We moved a few months ago from Texas to Colorado and I am ready to start my new tank here. I have settled on a Planet Aquarium 150 with a few mods from their standard 60” by 24” by 25” footprint including lateral seam protectors. I am pretty sure I will use an external overflow but not sure if it will be the Tideline or a Modular Marine. The plan is to have the overflow offset to the right of the tank to make it easier for plumbing access.

While waiting on the tank, I have laid out some of the rock I am going to use. The piece on the left if made up of 5 Cornerstone brand artificial rocks, the middle is a piece of Haitian rock and the piece on the right is made of several Cornerstone artificial branch rocks. Scale doesn’t show well in this pick but a good sized angel could make its home in the branch rocks.

My focus is more in fish than corals. When I setup a reef tank I tend to add all the invasives along with nems and they seem to work it out over time. I love jawfish, tile file wrasses and angels. Fingers crossed that Poma Labs will be successful with captive breeding of Scribbled angels. In my experience Scribbled angels have always been the friendliest. With that many species of jumpers, the top will need a screen for sure.

More to come ,,,


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#2
Temporarily attaching rocks together...

I was watching Marco Rocks Instagram and saw a company take what looked like a piece of toilet paper, wad it up, stick it between two pieces of rocks and then squeeze super thin cyano glue on the paper. It smoked a bit and then held the pieces together. I have never seen this technique before. So instead of using super thick cyano glue with an accelerator, I tried. IT WORKS! The TP gets "plasticized" and is a good temp hold on the rock.

Now don't count it for a firm hold over time. You also don't want to see little spots of TP between your rocks. After gluing the rocks together, I strengthened the joints with Marco 400 Cement. You can follow up making the joints to look more natural by squirting the very thin super glue on the joints and tossing some crushed rock on them.


The glue I used was the thin viscosity:


Note: the fumes can get intense so do this in a well ventilated room and don't hover over the joints after applying the glue to the TP.
 

Tinyreef

Cleaner Shrimp
M.A.S.C Club Member
#4
I've used the thin viscosity glue with sand to glue rocks together. Its super fast and strong the sand looks natural too. Tidal gardens has a good youtube video on it
 

scmountain

Administrator
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#6
How tall is each structure? tank height? Only mention this if your not super focused on corals some natural rock height would be helpful. I had to add height after my first go round of 'scaping
 
#7
Change in plans. It does help to cut out cardboard of your tank shape to see the scaping looks. Going for the format of the Planet Aquarium MEGA Matrix 155 gallon = 48 x 30 x 25. I have had the deeper from to back 30" before and I like it better to stagger the aquascaping. I will still use the same structure above but may put some flat rocks underneath to raise the structures a bit. From left to right, the structures without lifting them with flat rocks are 12", 14" and 11".

Tank will be modified from the standard 155 with low iron on left and front glass, vertical seam protectors and internal overflow in back right corner. I will either use the standard left and right tank bracing or perimeter bracing depending on how the standard bracing impacts my standpipes in the overflow.

I know my top off will come from the basement but also toying with putting my sump and refugia down in the basement too. I would love the basement system to have both a refugia and cryptic zone. I have to investigate the right kind of return pumps for this setup. I will let my wife know what I have done "after" I cut the holes in the floor if I go that route - that is how we do it with spouses - right?
 
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