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

[suver569]

Last one. The Rio 800 attached with a rather long chunk of flexible hose. I'm probably going to shorten it, and put it near the back of the tank if it becomes a display. It's just a prop tank, so I dont really mind the looks right now.

Oh, dont mind the bulb resting on the tank. It is proped up to keep from melting anything, and it's only temporary till I get some 36" lamps.

 

[luckycat]

Advice needed WHILE MY CRUSHED CORAL/EPOXY/SAND MIX IS DRYING!!!

OK so I mixed up epoxy and a crushed coral mix..very thick consistency. After pouring the mixture onto my cuttingboard, and smoothing it out, it was looking pretty good...then my wife came out and said I should sift some sand on top (we had a bag of carribean white sand) to make it look more like sand and less like little stones...so I did that.

Now it is looking as though I'm going to wind up with a cloudy clear epoxy cover over the crushed coral/shells...not attractive.

Does the epoxy clear up as it dries, or if it appears to be cloudy now will it dry that way? I can easily put a bit more of the crushed coral on top and push it down at this point... but don't know how many hours it'll be before I don't have that option.

Any thoughts?

 

[luckycat]

PS too late, everything is dry! It looks OK...really what wound up happening is the corals that were covered with sprinkled on sand now look like fattened up rice krispies - almost like they exploded - as opposed to the pieces of crushed shells that were not covered with sand, which really look great.

I'll post pictures in a bit so others can learn from this. It will work out fine, not ideal for me but good enough for a faux bottom.

One good thing - I used duct tape around the edges of the cuttingboard to hold in the gravel/epoxy mix, just pulled that off and it was reasonably easy to do, there was a bit of epoxy leakage that can be scraped off with a razor blade. So anyone going down this path (cutting board substrate, with epoxy/gravel on top) using duct tape seemed to work well for me to hold it in place.

 

[KingfishJohn]

Using a RIO powerhead for your manifold is just asking for disaster. Some have success but personally, when I log in everyday and see a new RIO leaked and spilled oil thread, I would steer the heck away. Use a small mag and I guarantee a better piece of mind.

 

[suver569]

Using a RIO powerhead for your manifold is just asking for disaster. Some have success but personally, when I log in everyday and see a new RIO leaked and spilled oil thread, I would steer the heck away. Use a small mag and I guarantee a better piece of mind.

I've kinda been hearing the same thing...I'm starting to steer away from them.

 

[acropora1981]

I've been following this thread for a few weeks now, and I just recieved my completed 75 custom (30x24x24) and I want to do this faux sandbed deal. Im nervous because it took a while to get the tank done and I dont want anything to happen... Anyway im actually more concerned about falling rocks. Would it be ok to put a sheet of styrofoam under the epoxy? I dont know how styrofoam and epoxy would react together, although styrofoam isnt all that reactive. Anyway I was thinking of placing a thin sheet of styrofoam (1/4") on the tank bottom and then pouring the epoxy mix on top of that to cushon any rock falls.

 

[Marshall]

Anyway I was thinking of placing a thin sheet of styrofoam (1/4") on the tank bottom and then pouring the epoxy mix on top of that to cushon any rock falls.

I think you should use eggcrate. If you do use styrofoam I'm not sure about the reaction with saltwater/marine life and you will probably want to use at least 1/2" to minimize warping at the corners/edges.

 

[acropora1981]

I dont quite understand how eggcrate would soften a blow from a rock is all... The styrofoam would be locked away underneath the epoxy. Maybe I'll try it in a 5g tank or something first.

 

[Marshall]

You fill the eggcrate with the sand/epoxy mixture and it fills in the grid. Once it dries you are left with a solid piece that will disperse the load across the whole bottom rather than just where the rock will hit.

 

[joeychitwood]

I'm afraid that the heat generated by the epoxy setting up could melt the styrofoam and create a real mess. The eggcrate diffuses the weight of a falling rock over a larger area than the simple impact site.

 

[acropora1981]

ahhh brilliant. Ok, one more question. Can I simply place the eggcrate on the bottom and then pour the epoxy in? Is that how its done? I didnt quite understand from the posts above. Looked like they filled it in with loose sand and then poured overtop?

 

[luckycat]

ahhh brilliant. Ok, one more question. Can I simply place the eggcrate on the bottom and then pour the epoxy in? Is that how its done? I didnt quite understand from the posts above. Looked like they filled it in with loose sand and then poured overtop?

I think that is what FastUno did, but can't recall this thread is so darn long.

To make my bb removable, I put a crushed shell/rock/epoxy mix on top of cuttingboard...So far so good, but I haven't put any H2O in the tank yet. Good luck to you.

 

[suver569]

I took mine, mocked it up with the oyster shells dry, then placed the oyster shells with the epoxy in a separate container to do the mixing, then poured over the eggcrate, which was placed in the tank when empty.

HTH

 

[rtwoody4]

I'm sure its been answered before but I want to do a 180 gallon tank. I already have the starboard so I want to add the faux to the top of that.
Can you please tell me whats the best epoxy to use and cheapest place to get it. I have time so I can order it on line also how much epoxy should be enough to cover a 180
Thanks for the help
Bob

 

[suver569]

I'm sure its been answered before but I want to do a 180 gallon tank. I already have the starboard so I want to add the faux to the top of that.
Can you please tell me whats the best epoxy to use and cheapest place to get it. I have time so I can order it on line also how much epoxy should be enough to cover a 180
Thanks for the help
Bob

Envirotex, can be found at Michaels craft stores, or probably any other craft store for that matter, or ordered online for much cheaper.

 

[rtwoody4]

how much should be enough do do a 180

 

[suver569]

Hmm, the 16 ounce pack did my 29 gallon. I'm guessing you'll need about 4 of the big packs, think they're the 24 ounce.

 

[Marshall]

Has anyone purchased the REICHHOLD DION ISO 6631T
ISOPHTHALIC POLYESTER RESIN from Merton's? Seems like it is the cheapest gallon size ($30).

 

[luckycat]

Has anyone purchased the REICHHOLD DION ISO 6631T
ISOPHTHALIC POLYESTER RESIN from Merton's? Seems like it is the cheapest gallon size ($30).

That is pretty good. I used Famowood epoxy, from HD, as FastUno did and I think a few others...around $17 for 32 oz total, I used two on my 90g, and that was just about the right amount. I mixed up the epoxy and crushed coral/rock into a very, very thick paste and poured it on cuttingboard that was surrounded by good 'ole duck tape to make sure the mix didn't spill over. Had some leakage, but was able to easily chip it off with a razor blade.

I tried putting my faux bed in last night, found that in fact the epoxy mix did spill over a tad in some areas, so I'll be sanding the corners down so it will fit nicely in the tank.

 

[Old Yeller Tang]

I'm thinking about doing the same with my tank as I'm just not too sure about the look of a bb tank. Has anybody had any issues with the epoxy they used? Just want to make sure before I decide to do it and not have any casualties. TIA