Foam stuff for the "rock work" look????
- Thread starter ToUcHoFeLeGaNcE
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ReeferMonkey
Premium Member
Sunny, what size is your tank and how much LR do you have in there?
Beenalongtime79
New member
Jay,
I agree, looks awesome. I think extra depth makes it look far more convincing.
My future plans for a tank would be custom sized to be about 5' x 5' x 2' which should allow for great depth.
May I inquire as to what kind of equipment you are running? Filtration, water flow, lighting, etc.
Peace,
John H.
I agree, looks awesome. I think extra depth makes it look far more convincing.
My future plans for a tank would be custom sized to be about 5' x 5' x 2' which should allow for great depth.May I inquire as to what kind of equipment you are running? Filtration, water flow, lighting, etc.
Peace,
John H.
Thanks John!
For filtration I run a Lifereef VS3 36" skimmer plus there are two 50 Gal refugia/algae tanks tied into the system on alternate lighting cycles. I've got a Euroreef Skimmer on order but I haven't received it yet. Water flow in the display is accomplished by a Sequence Stingray on a closed loop thru an Oceans motions 4 Way. Two of the outlets are thru 1" seaswirls. The main pump is a Dart which returns water from the sump thru the two refugia and into the main tank thru bulkheads on each side panel of the tank. A part of the return flow also goes across the surface of the tank thru the loc line you can see in the pic at the top of the tank.
Lighting is two 250 W DE phoenix 14Ks in Reef Optix III pendants and 8 54W T5s all mounted in a custom rack. I can add one or two more pendants to the rack if I want but for now I'm trying to get away with just the T5s on for 12 hours and the two MHs on for three hours in the middle of the day.
Thanks again to everyone for the kind remarks!
Jay
For filtration I run a Lifereef VS3 36" skimmer plus there are two 50 Gal refugia/algae tanks tied into the system on alternate lighting cycles. I've got a Euroreef Skimmer on order but I haven't received it yet. Water flow in the display is accomplished by a Sequence Stingray on a closed loop thru an Oceans motions 4 Way. Two of the outlets are thru 1" seaswirls. The main pump is a Dart which returns water from the sump thru the two refugia and into the main tank thru bulkheads on each side panel of the tank. A part of the return flow also goes across the surface of the tank thru the loc line you can see in the pic at the top of the tank.
Lighting is two 250 W DE phoenix 14Ks in Reef Optix III pendants and 8 54W T5s all mounted in a custom rack. I can add one or two more pendants to the rack if I want but for now I'm trying to get away with just the T5s on for 12 hours and the two MHs on for three hours in the middle of the day.
Thanks again to everyone for the kind remarks!
Jay
Beenalongtime79
New member
Jay,
Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into the setup. The amount of lighting is on the low side or at least most would consider it, but after reading about what kind of lighting Tanu (TOTM a few months ago) has on his tank (2 150W DE bulbs w/ like 50 W of PC actinic supplementation) on his beautiful 160 gallon tank, I'm convinced you can create a thriving and very successful tank w/ that much light. Of course, he's got them like 5 inches off the water, but still impressive w/ what he is keeping in there.
Peace,
John H.
Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into the setup.
The amount of lighting is on the low side or at least most would consider it, but after reading about what kind of lighting Tanu (TOTM a few months ago) has on his tank (2 150W DE bulbs w/ like 50 W of PC actinic supplementation) on his beautiful 160 gallon tank, I'm convinced you can create a thriving and very successful tank w/ that much light. Of course, he's got them like 5 inches off the water, but still impressive w/ what he is keeping in there. Peace,
John H.
John,
I agree about the lights. It's kind of an experiment at this point. I have more pendants and ballasts ready to go, I just want to see if i really need them. I have seen quite a few German tanks run with all T5s or with combos of T5s and DE MHs. That's kind of where I wanted to go with this system. Those guys apparently keep SPS with these set ups so we'll see.
The T5s are overdriven to 80w each on Icecap ballasts. It seems quite bright to me even with only the T5s running. I've got the light rack mounted with sunlifts so i can raise or lower the lights to any height I want. Right now they are 5 to 6 inches off the water. The few corals i do have in the system now have been under Phoenix 14Ks for the past few months in my holding system. It seems like they've colored up a bit since I put them under the T5s. Is it the lights? I don't know. I guess time will tell.
Jay
I agree about the lights. It's kind of an experiment at this point. I have more pendants and ballasts ready to go, I just want to see if i really need them. I have seen quite a few German tanks run with all T5s or with combos of T5s and DE MHs. That's kind of where I wanted to go with this system. Those guys apparently keep SPS with these set ups so we'll see.
The T5s are overdriven to 80w each on Icecap ballasts. It seems quite bright to me even with only the T5s running. I've got the light rack mounted with sunlifts so i can raise or lower the lights to any height I want. Right now they are 5 to 6 inches off the water. The few corals i do have in the system now have been under Phoenix 14Ks for the past few months in my holding system. It seems like they've colored up a bit since I put them under the T5s. Is it the lights? I don't know. I guess time will tell.
Jay
00nothing
New member
wondering if the same way u guys have been using this to make backgrounds could be used to make a bottom for a tank ??
while its still fairly wet pour a lot of bomix into it and then whatever doesnt get sand on it will eventually get covered in corraline
i was thinking about doint this not in the tank but in a wooden frame made to the same specs as the tank so i dont have to worry about breakeage during expansion and also i can secure it all with silicone very easily when i insert it into the tank
btw in case anyone asks 40 gallon breeder tank
while its still fairly wet pour a lot of bomix into it and then whatever doesnt get sand on it will eventually get covered in corraline
i was thinking about doint this not in the tank but in a wooden frame made to the same specs as the tank so i dont have to worry about breakeage during expansion and also i can secure it all with silicone very easily when i insert it into the tank
btw in case anyone asks 40 gallon breeder tank
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
how are you going to keep it from floating?
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
No way that the silicone would keep it down...
00nothing
New member
in addition to the silcone holding it in place it would also have roughly 40 lbs of LR sitting on top of it do you think this would be sufficient or would i still have issues, also it wouldnt be strictly on the bottom it would be a one piece that would also climb the sides and rear of the tank where i would also creat anchor points to assist in holding down the entire piece as wella sholding it tight to the tank to prevent and dead areas from nasties to grow
docjay i saw your tank first on AP and that is what lead me to explore this option first off very nice tank i fell in love immediatly i am fairly unclear on how u made the bottom in your tank if you could maybe fill me in it will give me other possible options my reason for wanting to go this way is my aggravation with sand beds wether they be shallow or deep i dont want the headache anymore but i hate the look of barebottom or starboard
docjay i saw your tank first on AP and that is what lead me to explore this option first off very nice tank i fell in love immediatly i am fairly unclear on how u made the bottom in your tank if you could maybe fill me in it will give me other possible options my reason for wanting to go this way is my aggravation with sand beds wether they be shallow or deep i dont want the headache anymore but i hate the look of barebottom or starboard
shavedhead
In Memoriam
For what its worth, I used the Great Stuff (Cracks & Crevices) version and made a column of the stuff by spraying it onto a strip of plastic eggcrate...after expansion its about three inches in diameter and has little "horns" where I stopped applying the foam at that moment. I left one square of eggcrate visible at the bottom of it so that when its secured to the bottom piece of eggcrate that it will sway in the tank with the water movement. I also spray painted it a soft purple to make it look like a sponge and even tried paddle drilling into the top of it to make it look like an actual tubular sponge but I strongly advise against this...it is not attractive in the slightest. Once I figure out how to use photo bucket...I will post a picture of it here.
OOnothing,
Thanks for the compliments! The bottom is Faux sand. I got the idea here on RC. Did you read this thread ? http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=392144&perpage=25&pagenumber=1 . It pretty much explains a number of different ways to do it. Mine was poured directly onto the glass after the backgrounds were put in place to anchor them to the bottom of the tank.
Jay
Thanks for the compliments! The bottom is Faux sand. I got the idea here on RC. Did you read this thread ? http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=392144&perpage=25&pagenumber=1 . It pretty much explains a number of different ways to do it. Mine was poured directly onto the glass after the backgrounds were put in place to anchor them to the bottom of the tank.
Jay
mike89t
Premium Member
docjay said:
I might try this Envirotex on my back wall and sprinkle it with sand. Maybe even mount some rocks to my back wall first to create some artificial ledges.
I wonder if anyone has tried it yet?
To mount the rocks to the back wall I was thinking of using Acrylic dowells glued to the back wall of my acrylic tank. Holes in the rock would match up with the dowells for support. Epoxy would secure the rock to the dowells. The Envirotex/sand mixture would also help secure the rock to the wall.
Something like this:
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