Idea for Faux sand bed. Envirotex Lite high gloss finish.

[Marshall]

I think if you used eggcrate it would be way cheaper and easier to move around because it is slightly flexible (whereas HDPE is not).

Luckycat: are you going to prop your rocks up on pvc or coat hanger pegs or something so you can shoot water under them? Or are your rocks going to sit on the faux sand?

 

[luckycat]

I think if you used eggcrate it would be way cheaper and easier to move around because it is slightly flexible (whereas HDPE is not).

Luckycat: are you going to prop your rocks up on pvc or coat hanger pegs or something so you can shoot water under them? Or are your rocks going to sit on the faux sand?

Yeah good point, but I have hdpe on order already...i've heard success using hdpe, and will be putting a very thin coat of epoxy/sand on it.

I'll put the rocks up on very short pvc tubes. That's the plan at least at this point.

 

[Bryan]

Do you think the eggcrate covered with epoxy/sand would curl up at the edges over time.

I think if you used eggcrate it would be way cheaper and easier to move around because it is slightly flexible (whereas HDPE is not).

 

[Marshall]

With the weight of the rocks I really doubt it and especially not if you silicone it in place. I believe that the eggcrate would distribute the weight fairly evenly throughout, especially with the epoxy/sand mixture.

I would be more worried about the eggcrate cracking/warping from the epoxy reaction heat or from all of the weight on top of it. I haven't used eggcrate as a structural support before. Perhaps someone else could comment on this?

 

[suver569]

The eggcrate seems ok so far. I believe that the curing process is pretty much over the hot chemical reaction, and it looks sweet. It came out a little more natural looking (like a real sand bed, with a little rough edges) which was what I was hoping for, rather than a smooth finish.

I'll set the tank up tomorrow for pouring in the pvc, and get some more pics up. I really like this setup so far, and using the oyster shells, it's super cheap, (50lbs was 10 bucks) rather than using sand, which can be pretty expensive.

 

[luckycat]

I have my cuttingboard, have cut it to size...for anyone out there who has used cuttingboard, did you silicone the corners to the glass? I don't know honestly much much of a diff that would make - the board is touching the glass, and I want to maintain flexibility (ability to take it out easily). I'm sure some junk will get under there but so very little it seems.

 

[sonofgaladriel]

Well, I did this last night and screwed up. I didn't put enough sand in the mix and my bottom simply looks like dull acrylic now. I used Southdown and the tiny particles just don't show up.
I'm debating wether or not to try another layer using crushed coral. Do I want to spend another $65 of the epoxy and another $20 on crushed coral?
Geez, sometimes I just can't do anything right!

 

[Bananimal]

It might help if someone could post a sand/epoxy ratio. I would imagine it would be around 1 part epoxy and 1.5 parts sand huh?

 

[sonofgaladriel]

I used the one gallon size kit and around 30 pounds of southdown sand. I probably should have used more like 50 pounds of sand.
I just realized that this stuff has only cured for about 16 hours, so its possible that it will clear up some more and expose more of the white sand.
I'm hoping anyway!

 

[FastUno]

suver569, I think it would have been more effective for you to have not used the elbows & just left the T's facing down. This way it would have blown the crap in all directions behind the rockwork. Now you still have dead spots between elbows & underneath them. Not to mention that there will be rockwork blocking some areas.

Great job though & thanks for the pics. Keep us informed as to how it goes.

Here is another tidbit for you BB'ers. Now that you have your BB & high flow rate guess what? The more rock you have & the more porous your rock is, the more detritus will get stuck in the openings & between the rocks.

 

[Marshall]

sonofgabriel: I believe you can coat another layer of epoxy on top of it and top it off with sand by pushing the granules into it and then letting that last layer cure. I think others have done that in this thread.

 

[sonofgaladriel]

On this application, I did sprinkle a nice layer of dry sand over the wet epoxy and let it sit there over night as it dried. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to make a difference. I brushed off the dry sand from the top and the epoxy underneath is still 'dull', almost a tan tinge to it. I know the sand was clean when I mixed it in. I'm going to give this application another day to cure and if it still looks bad, I'll splurge and do another layer using crushed coral instead. I'm hoping the large particles will show up better through the epoxy.

 

[Marshall]

You tried 1 gallon / 30lbs for a 180 gallon? Did it cover all of it and how high?

 

[sonofgaladriel]

I used the one gallon kit and 30 pounds of sand to cover my 240 cube, 4'x4' area, (16 square feet). I didn't want it too thick.
The one gallon kit will cover 32 square feet per the instructions. It spread out to about 1/4" over the entire bottom.

 

[luckycat]

suver569, I think it would have been more effective for you to have not used the elbows & just left the T's facing down. This way it would have blown the crap in all directions behind the rockwork. Now you still have dead spots between elbows & underneath them. Not to mention that there will be rockwork blocking some areas.

Great job though & thanks for the pics. Keep us informed as to how it goes.

Here is another tidbit for you BB'ers. Now that you have your BB & high flow rate guess what? The more rock you have & the more porous your rock is, the more detritus will get stuck in the openings & between the rocks.

I pm'd suver569 about that exact thing..I am planning on just having my ts right on the bottom, not elevated up at all. Focusing on shooting flow on the floor.

Thanks

 

[FastUno]

Looks like he burried the PVC's some, it would be hard to change now?

 

[luckycat]

Sand question ---for the epoxy/sand mix. Does the sand type matter, beyond the asthetics? I purchased some sand from Wal_mart that is very whittish, and very fine, reminds me of regular tropical southdown sand but only $2 or so for 50 lbs! I'm thinking of using this sand, mixed with some crushed coral, for the epoxy mix...then as recommended sprinkle some of this white sand on top of it, then vacuum when it's all set.

Does the sand need to be washed at all?

 

[suver569]

Here's some finished pics. I have the pvc 90's coming up, then attached some old Rio hardware for adjustable heads. Could be accomplished with flexible fittings. It'll mostly be covered by rockwork later on. For now, it's being used as a macro algae production tank.

 

[suver569]

Closeup of the pvc 90 and Rio fittings. Using 1/2" pvc 90's, the Rio fittings popped right in as long as you put a small pvc pipe stub out of the 90.

 

[suver569]

This is where I attached my powerhead tubing to the pvc system.

I tried a Rio 800, and it's not nearly the flow I thought. Going to go get a much larger one next week. It curculates, but just barely. The pvc manifold just needs alot of pressure.