Idea for you BB folks

[Cody Ray]

Thought I might just throw this idea out there. I was wondering about coating the bottom of the aquarium with an un-even layer of great stuff foam, roughly 1-5" deep. After that use sillicone to tack down some mesh screen. Then on top of that put several layers of quickcrete or portland cement and some crushed coral to put a natural finish on the foam. After letting this dry, cure it until pH becomes balanced. Then add liverock on top of this. I think this would be a better solution for people who dislike the look of startboard or plan glass/acrylic. After awhile it would be covered with coralline so it would look great IMO, might even put a couple sps frags to help blend the rockwork and the foam/concrete bottom.

 

[zapata41]

would look good no doubt, only thing i wouldnt like is that with my BB it is smooth and flat so all the junk blows into one pile, with your method i think stuff would get stuck all over

Tim

 

[Wiskey]

The problem with that is the ruff texture helps to trap deatris, however it may be plenty doable.

I am trying to go for a GSP, and encrusting monti bottom

Whiskey

 

[Cody Ray]

You could always inset a spray bar into the foam to help blow detritus off of the bottom. Might be a good excuse to add more flow

 

[clkwrk]

I had a huge gsp mat in the 120 and it collected alot of detritus

 

[Large Polyp Dave]

same. i had a 10" x 10" GSP mat on the bottom of my BB tank . Detritus collects in it and it makes the whole area start to look really gross. I peeled it all off and threw it out. (i tried mounting the peeled mat in various places but it never worked)

 

[MiddletonMark]

Yup, any LR [zoanthid covered] I have on the bottom tend to trap detritus, require more maintenance around.

Excuse for more flow? I'm over 50x circulation ... a spray bar will consume more energy than it'll add for flow. [I do have removable PH's behind my rockwork ... so I guess I cover that base differently]

An interesting idea, though. Just seems like it would be very difficult to keep detritus from being a problem.

I do see that a few folks have added substrate back to the front of their tank, where they'll regularly maintain [siphon or remove] it - ala www.oregonreef.com or the current TOTM [feb 06] who replaces his substrate every few weeks.

For aesthetics, I can understand - even though I personally don't really see the bare bottom much anymore ... same way I don't see the back glass when I look at the tank

 

[fishdoc11]

Portland cement also has quite a bit of phosphate in it.

 

[graveyardworm]

Instead of the wire mesh and portland you may be able to sprinkle fine aragonite over the fresh spray foam while its still gooey.

 

[Stephany]

graveyard worm, I have entertained that as well. Have you done it?

It seems that with the flow high enough to blow the sand around (usually the case w/bb+sps tanks)...
Why wouldn't it be enough to blow detritus off the "fine aragonite" bottom?
It would be a "better looking bare bottom", I would think...

 

[Cody Ray]

Portland cement also has quite a bit of phosphate in it.

I have never heard this before, though I have heard that oyster shells do.

 

[fishesRdelicious]

that is the same idea i had, only i was going to use something similar to starboard and spray foam adhesive on the sheet so it would be removeable. then when it is still sticky, pour sand on top and let it dry. also thought of coating the whole thing in a thick lacquor or something so that the sand would stay put and also it would be smoother so that dirt wouldnt get stuck. i figured it would only be about 1-2'' thick
would the foam adhesive float, i am thinking probably?

 

[Stephany]

Why make it removable? I would think you'd want a seal on the bottom... so detritus doesn't get underneath it.
I don't think it would float with live rock on top of it...

 

[fishesRdelicious]

i guess your right, it wouldnt have to be removeable
i dont know how strong foam would float, do you think it could cause a problem if it was too strong. the constant force on the rocks upward could eventually cause a rock fall if the rocks were unstable

 

[graveyardworm]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6863801#post6863801 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Stephany
graveyard worm, I have entertained that as well. Have you done it?

It seems that with the flow high enough to blow the sand around (usually the case w/bb+sps tanks)...
Why wouldn't it be enough to blow detritus off the "fine aragonite" bottom?
It would be a "better looking bare bottom", I would think...

I've never used it in an aquarium, just was tossing in an idea. How much weight ( LR ) do you suppose it would take before it begins to crack and compress?

 

[Stephany]

Never used it either.

Great project to try.... *looks at 10 gallon quarantine behind me*

Hmm...

 

[Large Polyp Dave]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6862261#post6862261 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fishdoc11
Portland cement also has quite a bit of phosphate in it.

who told you that fishdoc11?

i tested several batches of made homemade LR from various kinds of portland cements. No phosphates at all in any of the batches

 

[graveyardworm]

I dont want to change the focus of this thread, but since it was brought up. I made my homemade LR with crushed oyster shells and portland. The only nuisance algae has been Bubble algea which I cannot get rid of, it does however grow quite well on my WC LR as well. Way back in the day however I did dump a small pile of the crushed oyster shell on my sand bed and had an algae bloom ( diatoms if I remember correctly ) on the pile of shell only so there may be some truth there, or it could've just been that it wasnt cleaned and had trace bits of dried oyster with it.

 

[fishdoc11]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6870028#post6870028 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Large Polyp Dave
who told you that fishdoc11?

i tested several batches of made homemade LR from various kinds of portland cements. No phosphates at all in any of the batches

It's very possible I am completely wrong about that. It wouldn't be the first time
There is a chart in this thread that says the level of phophorous in concrete is 50ppm.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=533895&highlight=phosphate+in+gulf+rock

Not sure where the chart came or how accurate it is from but I have seen it posted several times here on RC. FWIW I have about 90 lbs of Walt Smith aquacultured Fiji rock, which is made with concrete, in my main tank and for some reason I have allways had more problems with algae on it that I have had with the regular Fiji I have. Might just be coincidence I don't know. Good to see you tested those batches Large polyp Dave. What was your method of testing?

thanks, Chris