espocrespo
New member
whats your stocklist
180G UK reef
- Thread starter Tiggsy
- Start date
paulthomas
Premium Member
Tiggsy,
You must have gone through A LOT of Z-Poxy for your build. I use the 5 minute for tying epoxy flies (fly fishing) and it's great stuff. It takes a good chomp from a toothy fish to do any damge to it.
I'm waiting for an invoice for a 238 gallon tank and now you've got my aquascaping plans turned upside down.
Thanks for the ideas bro.Paul
Tank is 8 months ish now so time for an update:
In summary .... its all fine, after the inital water tests i haven't bothered checking anything other than temp and ph in ages (months) i assume its all ok as it looks fine! I expect nitrates are high as i feed loads...but coral growth is superb and algae is not an issue - not broke dont fix, etc, etc.
Mechanically all running ok, went to Oz on business for 10 days and the tank was fine with the only intervention being my brother who topped up my RO vat from the master vat at 4 days (i dont store all the RO in the top up in case it all gets added by a faulty switch)
Only really issue was the vortechs which i binned as they are like running a power drill in your lounge - back to streams which are fugly but half the noise.
Oh, and a halide blew its glass and killed a few coral branches with UV before i realised....while waiting for a new bulb the nem wandered up in search of light and is now happily killing about £200 of SPS, like a Blue Planet camera man i am allowing nature to take it's course
(my kids have £5 each riding on the SPS so i'll cover some losses that way)
In summary .... its all fine, after the inital water tests i haven't bothered checking anything other than temp and ph in ages (months) i assume its all ok as it looks fine! I expect nitrates are high as i feed loads...but coral growth is superb and algae is not an issue - not broke dont fix, etc, etc.
Mechanically all running ok, went to Oz on business for 10 days and the tank was fine with the only intervention being my brother who topped up my RO vat from the master vat at 4 days (i dont store all the RO in the top up in case it all gets added by a faulty switch)
Only really issue was the vortechs which i binned as they are like running a power drill in your lounge - back to streams which are fugly but half the noise.
Oh, and a halide blew its glass and killed a few coral branches with UV before i realised....while waiting for a new bulb the nem wandered up in search of light and is now happily killing about £200 of SPS, like a Blue Planet camera man i am allowing nature to take it's course
(my kids have £5 each riding on the SPS so i'll cover some losses that way)
Sorry if this has been mentioned somewhere, but what type of foam do you use? Obviously it is safe, based on the pictures at the end of the thread here. Beautiful tank. I love the rock work. I'm going to be setting up a in-wall 180 gal Starphire and am seriously considering doing some rock work, based on what you've done!!! Looks great!
paulthomas
Premium Member
*FYI*
I called the fine people at Z-Poxy to ask about their finishing resin and they suggested NOT using it with marine life. The tech. rep. said it had never been tested for use under UV lighting nor in a saltwater environment. She said it will break down in time and may not be safe for tank inhabitants.
Sorry Tiggsy, I'm not trying to rain on your parade. I just thought you guys should know what the manufacturer said about their product.
Paul
I called the fine people at Z-Poxy to ask about their finishing resin and they suggested NOT using it with marine life. The tech. rep. said it had never been tested for use under UV lighting nor in a saltwater environment. She said it will break down in time and may not be safe for tank inhabitants.
Sorry Tiggsy, I'm not trying to rain on your parade. I just thought you guys should know what the manufacturer said about their product.
Paul
i am 99% sure the resin will be fine for my needs, in 6 months it will all be covered in coralline anyway.
the other 1% i don't care about because if worried about all the 1% I'd go nuts
(and if they haven't tested it in salt water they don't know it will break down...they are guessing, i am pioneering )
the other 1% i don't care about because if worried about all the 1% I'd go nuts
(and if they haven't tested it in salt water they don't know it will break down...they are guessing, i am pioneering
)Wow. Wasn't expecting that response. Well, hopefully it will be fine even though it wasn't tested by the manufacturer. I guess I couldn't really see them testing it for this application anyways. I guess Tiggsy is testing it. Thank you for the response.
Tiggsy - it looks like everything is doing absolutely great and I sure hope if continues to do so!!!
Tiggsy - it looks like everything is doing absolutely great and I sure hope if continues to do so!!!
and thats the point - no one that has no need to is going to bothered testing a product in a salt water fish tank.....and if they haven't tested it they aren't daft enough to do anything other than say "we suggest you dont"
i use zip ties, ladies tights, acrylic, superglue, etc, etc all over my system in various ways - and not one of those products would ever come with "yes it works" assurance from the makers.
paulthomas
Premium Member
I hear what you're saying. If no one has tested for those conditions, then how are they to know? Still, I'd keep a close eye on everything just because this is saltwater and UV light we're talking about. I'll keep my fingers crossed as your tank looks AMAZING. I for one hope all remains well. Good luck.
Paul
Paul
paulthomas
Premium Member
The main reason I called Z-poxy was because I wanted to copy your pioneering ways. But I was hesitant since I've seen their 5 minute epoxy yellow over time and become brittle after being exposed to saltwater, and yes, toothy fish.
Hopefully all will be fine since it's covered with sand and coralline.
But I was hesitant since I've seen their 5 minute epoxy yellow over time and become brittle after being exposed to saltwater, and yes, toothy fish. Hopefully all will be fine since it's covered with sand and coralline.
I copied Tiggsy's idea a few months ago and I couldn't get the Z-Poxy... so I used another product... but, not before calling the manufacturer, and he saw no issues with it... as long as it was properly cured.
I suspect that Zap's official policy is to discourage it's use because they have not tested it and do not want to responsible for damages. I also would not be shocked if they were testing it right now do to the buzz that Tiggsy has started.
I suspect that Zap's official policy is to discourage it's use because they have not tested it and do not want to responsible for damages. I also would not be shocked if they were testing it right now do to the buzz that Tiggsy has started.
paulthomas
Premium Member
I recently found this stuff. It looks great. It's not cheap, but it's non-toxic, i.e. safe for fish. I spoke to someone at Pond Armor and while he admitted most products won't see the UV light of day (pun intended), their product will only fade in color if exposed to UV light. It won't break down. It's especially made for outdoor use in conjunction with fish and it won't leach any harmful chemicals or susbstances into your water. It also comes in tan, like a brown paper bag, in color.
http://www.pondarmor.com/store/index.htm
http://www.pondarmor.com/store/index.htm
90reefernyc
Member
Hey Tiggsy looks great! was wondering if the coralline algae has grown over the foam parts as well. Sorry if the questioned was asked already.
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