Saw a great reef idea!

Just got back from an amazing resort in the Bahamas called Atlantis. It has the worlds largest man made aquarium 11.7 MILLION GALLONS! Everything imaginable.
Anyway, saw they had a great idea to start a large reef tank. They used square brick blocks to raise the reef and some live rock on top. The entire brick load was covered in critters and other live stuff. Sounded like an inexpensive way to start and it looked like an underground ruin. Or use it for a FOWLR.
Anyway, you all should check it out. www.atlantis.com
Integrity is when you do the right thing when no one is around.
 

flatzboy

Active Member
I went here a few months ago. They have the best aquariums there. That place is better then seaworld. Where did you stay at I stayed in the royal towers. I loved the water slides where you go threw the aquarium with all the sharks in it.
 
Also stayed in the Royal Towers. Yeah, those slides are great....especially the one that drops 60 ft straight down. What a rush!
 
FWIW
I you liked Atlantis, you should check out this place.
It was built by the same guy that built Atlantis. Granted, it's a little further away and there's no aquariums, but it is an AWESOME place to visit.
 

sly

Active Member
I thought about going here for my honeymoon when I get married. What do you think? Any recommendations?
 

sly

Active Member
Atlantis. I had looked at the Royal Towers awhile ago and it looked awesome, but Sun City looks awesome too. I'd consider going to either now. Have you been to Sun City? Did you like it?
 
I've never been to Atlantis, but I have been to Sun City twice. I can tell you that if you're into wildlife, or great food, or gambling, or different cultures it is awesome. It's in a very rural area of South Africa, and has an airport very close, so you can get to it fairly easily. The palace at Sun City is beautiful. It has a resident group of monkeys that will visit during the day. A game park within 10 minutes will the works, elephant, rhino, giraffe, baboon, lion, leopard, dung beetle. Pretty much everything. The only thing is it's a little expensive, and can take a while to get there. (The direct flight from Atlanta or JFK is 17 hours.)
If you go for longer than a week, let me know, and I can supply directions and great on-trail and off-trail tourist spots to see. Anything from wine trails to rainforest hikes. You can see it all in 2 weeks. That's what we did. Went there, got married and traveled the country for two weeks. I can also suggest a travel agency if you want, and my wife was born in South Africa, so we set you up with a great travel plan or at least suggestions.
 

sly

Active Member
Cool. Thanks. It may be awhile before I go, but I'll bookmark this thread and respond later when things look more clear.
 

robchuck

Active Member
Just a thought to add for raising the rockwork up in a large reef: PVC structures can be built or even milkcrates can be used to stack rock upon. If live rock were to be used for the entire reef structure in a large tank, then 100's more pounds of rock than what's needed for filtration would be used.
 
RobChuck - Not that I've been doing this for too long but - I've always used base rock or dead rock and built on top of that. Yes, PVE and milkcrate is cheaper, but I try to strive for a very natural look, and my sand always gets pushed around, so I figure the plastic would be exposed.
In a new tank I'm designing I'll be "making" my own rock per the instructions on barf's page. I figure this will be MUCH cheaper, and I can form the rock to my size and shape needs as well as an overall aquascaping design.
Sly - feel free to ask when you get to that point, and congrats on being engaged!
 
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