Going BB ... starboard?

[platax88]

Hey guys ... i think i have decided on going BB for the upgrade.

What do you think of starboard on a 180?
Would it be very expensive?
any place local to buy it?

I am planning on pillars with plexy rods and epoxy holding the rock together so a rockslide is not much of a concern ... maybe no starboard at all?

Who is running BB here?

Thanks!
Jack

 

[dkh0331]

My tank runs commando.

Noting but its bottom as bare as could be. Except for the corraline.

 

[sandalscout]

Thanks for bringing this up, I've all but decided to go BB on my 90 also, and I need to locate some, hopefully locally. I would go truely bare, but I'm afraid of breaking the glass, and I have a light underneath that's on part of the time, would look weird at the beginning.

 

[ocd_mariner]

Woohoo!

You guys will love BB!

Check out regal plastics in nashville. I got white 3/4" starboard for my 120 for about $65 I think.

 

[mamagoose45]

I'd have to dig around to see where we got ours locally as I don't remember the name. The price wasn't bad but we got the black instead of the white for aesthetics. One thing I can say on experience, I liked the look of the starboard better than the straight glass bottom. We had issues with the light shining up through from the sump area and I think it just had more character to it. To each their own though.

 

[platax88]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13701120#post13701120 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sandalscout
Thanks for bringing this up, I've all but decided to go BB on my 90 also, and I need to locate some, hopefully locally. I would go truely bare, but I'm afraid of breaking the glass, and I have a light underneath that's on part of the time, would look weird at the beginning.

What do you think about painting the bottom glass panel white like we do to our back glass? Dry side of course.

 

[platax88]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13701215#post13701215 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ocd_mariner
Woohoo!

You guys will love BB!

Check out regal plastics in nashville. I got white 3/4" starboard for my 120 for about $65 I think.

Thanks Chuck for the tip!

 

[H@rry]

Is starboard not the same stuff that cutting boards are made from? There's a place here in Huntsville called Mike's Warehouse that sells overrun and excess stock items that had a lot of cutting boards a while back. I think it was a bad batch at the factory because you could see a few darker streaks in them. I had thought that they might be good for a tank bottom. You could cut them like wood and lay them on the bottom glass side by side.

 

[Angela Short]

I think the down side to having a lot of seams Harry is that is more cracks for detriutis to find its way under the starboard. But I guess you could silicone them shut.
I am going with a very shallow sandbed for astetic look only this tank. I am stacking from the glass up and using rods and epoxy for stability. Unless you have a huge rock or moster rock slide is it very easy to break the tank bottom? I like the idea of painting the bottom of the tank. And its way cheaper than the other stuff!
I always had very high P04 in my DSB tanks but there was a lot of factors added in besides the sand like lots of big fish and overfeeding...

 

[poolkeeper1]

Any body ever think of using that pink stryofoam insulation board that they put on the outside of new home construction, under the bottom glass. It would give you that instant corraline look. And as the real corraline grows it would just blend in but keep the light from the sump from shining thru. Same thing as sitting the tank on stryfoam to level it. Just a thought!

 

[platax88]

Good idea poolkeeper1 ... or just the white insulation to give the sand/starboard look. The only thing that i see as an issue is that the reflection of light and the viewing angle will not let you see anything painted on under the bottom pane... wont it always look like plain glass?

 

[lotsoftats]

I am going BB on my 90 and I just painted the bottom black...But I like poolkeepers idea also.

 

[poolkeeper1]

I'm not sure on that. I had an old 150 gal that had the bottom painted white and it was OK, but the stryfoam would be just laying underneath not sure if you would get the same effect. If nothing else it would help level your tank.

 

[platax88]

I see what you're saying.

Has anyone starboard a glass cages tank? What do you do about the class strips they lay on the bottom for fraiming? I would hate the starboard to span shorter than the whole bottom of the tank

 

[ocd_mariner]

I've done it two ways.

First - The old glasscages tank I had came with the lip on the edge. I purchased extra starboard that was the same thickness and layed it inside the lip, then the 3/4" starboard over that.

This time, on my new tank, I just told Tom that I wanted the bottom to be flush, and he made it so.

 

[DMBillies]

Our 270 is a GC with the lip. It also has 9 bulkheads in the bottom for the CL. Basically, I don't think it is worth it for us to even try to fit the starboard in there. If I didn't have the closed loop I would probably put a smaller piece inside of the framing and a bigger piece across the whole tank. As long as the pieces fit tight I don't see any problem with that solution other than the fact that it will cost you almost 2x as much.

Now I have one more monkey wrench to throw in... black or white? I have always thought tanks with a black background looked sharper than blue tanks, so on our 90 we did black starboard. Accounting for the fact that you will not be able to prevent it from growing coralline, I also figure that black will look better than white as it does.

I don't think you'd be able to say black will look "natural" but I think it does make a good contrast to the colors of the rocks, corals, and fish. Anyway, just something else to think about

 

[platax88]

Thanks guys.. I am actually thinking of no starboard at all now. I am doing the acrylic rod and epoxy pillars so i am not worried about a rock slide. Might just go with straight glass painted white on the bottom. This will save some $$ too!

Chuck, did glasscages charge more to leave the bottom flush? Is it still safe that way?