aquascaping with tools!

aerius007

aerius007

New member
Ok, I asked a bunch of different questions in a previous thread and thought I would start one for aquascaping only. For a long time I have hated that everything in my tank was balanced on each other, if one rock at the bottom of the tank had some bubble algae on it I had to take everything apart to get to it. Often times when trying to find a spot for a new frag I would pretty much have to rearrange the entire tank just to find a spot, and then hope everything didnt tumble in the process. My tank also doesnt have a back wall so I didnt have that for support.

Well I finally decided to take everything apart and do it all over using fiberglass rods from home depot. The other things I needed was a dremel and a hammerdrill (with concrete bit). I had some rock that I bleached, rinsed and dried out. My plan is to make a few structures and introduce them to the tank one at a time. I still have about 100lbs of rock in the tank and most of it has a coral of some sort attached. Once this new is in the tank I will start to take out the current rock and make structures out of them as well. For now I am going to stack the current live rock around the dry rock to getting the seeding process started.

This isnt going to be a step by step thread, I will just post a few things as I move along. Please, if you have any comments or tips LET ME KNOW, I have never done this before and would like to make sure I do it right the first time.

So here are the structures I have so far. I havent glued anything yet, if they look terrible please tell me. I am also drilling a ton of holes in the rocks to make frag placement easy. So far I have two archs and two towers.
1510.jpg

mounds120.jpg

mounds127.jpg

mounds124.jpg
 
IS the orange rod safe?? I've never seen the orange one used before, I'd be afriad of the paint coming off in the harsh saltwater environment. The rod I've seen people use is a clear/whitish one.

Looks good though. I'd post a thread to see if that rod is ok to use before I add it to the tank though.

IS this going in your main tank? or the new one?
 
Something you might want to do is epoxy the rod into the very bottom rock to give it more stability. Also the pictures you have already will give you something to go by if you can't put it in the tank as a unit. My rock work is a network of 3-4 formations 5ft long that i had to assemble in the tank which is not as easy as it sounds. Especially with a 40lbs dry plate rock that nearly caused me to wear a mask and snorkel! Also something to consider is coral growth, you don't want to put an encrusting monti in a place you may need to separate at a later date.Just my 2 cents. If you have any other questions or problems just ask.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14839664#post14839664 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kreeger1
IS the orange rod safe?? I've never seen the orange one used before, I'd be afriad of the paint coming off in the harsh saltwater environment. The rod I've seen people use is a clear/whitish one.

Looks good though. I'd post a thread to see if that rod is ok to use before I add it to the tank though.

IS this going in your main tank? or the new one?
Click to expand...


This is all going into the 120g, the orange rod is a fiberglass driveway marker. Its orange all the way through so there should be no paint to peel off.
 
that sounds safer. Is that what you've seen others use? I've just never seen the orange being used. Hate to see ya have a tank crash or anything over it.

What's up with the rock from the 120...going in the 55?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14839665#post14839665 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Cove Beach
Something you might want to do is epoxy the rod into the very bottom rock to give it more stability. Also the pictures you have already will give you something to go by if you can't put it in the tank as a unit. My rock work is a network of 3-4 formations 5ft long that i had to assemble in the tank which is not as easy as it sounds. Especially with a 40lbs dry plate rock that nearly caused me to wear a mask and snorkel! Also something to consider is coral growth, you don't want to put an encrusting monti in a place you may need to separate at a later date.Just my 2 cents. If you have any other questions or problems just ask.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I was debating putting epoxy in the bottom but probably will, with any luck this will all be light enough for me to lift and put in at one time without taking them apart. I do plan on weighing all of the structures dry so I will know the actual weight in the tank.

Keep the tips and comments coming.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14839760#post14839760 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kreeger1
that sounds safer. Is that what you've seen others use? I've just never seen the orange being used. Hate to see ya have a tank crash or anything over it.

What's up with the rock from the 120...going in the 55?
Click to expand...

The 55 is sold. The rock from the 120 will be incorporated with this rock (from the 55). Any thats left will go into the sump room, whenever that happens.

I have seen a few links with the orange fiberglass, people complained about the color, but I plan on putting epoxy mixed with rubble around the joints.

Here is a good post talking about the fiberglass and aquascaping in general.
http://www.tcmas.org/article_aquascaping_part1.php
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14839182#post14839182 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by aerius007
You'll notice the first pic is on carpet, that was before my wife came home...
Click to expand...

I was just thinking your wife is letting you make that mess on the carpet. Your vacuum is going to get a work out :)
 
Looks great Zack. I would be concerned, like kreeger mentioned about the rod. It WILL eventually leech out. I used to be a resin mixer, making fiberglass rods, poles, louvers, etc. We used to add chemicals to help with UV rays and weather, really nasty stuff. I would be concerned about the long term use of the rods. Most of the pigments used in coloring fiberglass are lead based. Sorry for throwing a wrench, but thought you might want to know.
 
You might want to contact Deer-G see if he can get any acrylic rods for you. I am picking up a tank from him so may be able to get those rods for you if he can get them.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14839182#post14839182 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by aerius007
You'll notice the first pic is on carpet, that was before my wife came home...
Click to expand...
My wife doesn't complain when I work on the blue carpet!
 
What could be worse than the wife coming home and finding you hammering away on her nice carpet with your new drill? Hope you were wearing safety glasses, Zach.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14841105#post14841105 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by johndawg
My wife doesn't complain when I work on the blue carpet!
Click to expand...

Maybe you guys could set-up a trade...lol
 
So now you guys have me worried about these orange rods. I've read a bunch of posts about using fiberglass rods, some even mentioned the orange ones. Is there a place to get acrylic locally or is it all online? I might have to flip a coin on this one.
 
Maybe post in the DIY thread and ask if any1 has used them 1+ yrs and if they have had any types of algae blooms of mysterious happenings.
 
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