Join me for a strange one...

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I wonder if I can make the basic plate and once that's formed add the desired projections bracing them with sand.

Why not just do it all at once? Make a deeper form, "pour" your plate, gently mound on some sand, then add more of the concrete near/on the sand to create projections.

As far as hiding those straight lines along the joints - how about making your various panels at least several inches oversized, then smashing the edges randomly with a hammer to create a jagged shape? It would take effort to get the edges to match but might be worth it.

 

[noahm]

This might work to hide the straight seam. If you lay the panels together as if they were in place, cover the seam with a kitchen garbage bag (I think saran wrap would be too thin and tear). Then proceed to make a MMLR strip over the seam about 3-4" wide with random edges and thick enough that it doesn't break easily. You might end up with a strip that you can just lightly silicone in place after installation. Of course it might really stick in the contours and you will wind up with pieces of a strip. Of course those could be put in place as well. Just guessing here.

Another option might be to silicone between the seams and smash some perlite/sand into the uncured silicone. Coraline will cover it, but you'll still be able to cut it apart easily if you every need to pull it.

 

[XSiVE]

I hope you don't end up with all your fish hiding behind your back rock.

You say that jokingly but even with what you think is a tight fit, you may still end up with an occasional dead fish behind the wall (I did), so do everything you can to be sure it's secure/flush against that wall.

 

[dzfish17]

I hope youre wrong about the fish staying behind the rock. Im gonna look pretty stupid sitting in my living room staring at a tank full of rock. Maybe I should rethink my idea.

I was wondering if maybe putting some holes in the diy rock would make it look more like the rock in the picture. There was a guy on another thread that used a small socket to make barnacles. It looked pretty good, just a thought.

Dave

 

[Poeticlydead]

You could just do the same thing the foam rock walls do and add actual dry base rock and acro coral skeletons to the panels. Should be able to place them in the panel before it fully sets up or if you use large enough ones simply place them in your mold and pour around them.

 

[kcress]

Why not just do it all at once? Make a deeper form, "pour" your plate, gently mound on some sand, then add more of the concrete near/on the sand to create projections.

I'll give that a shot.

As far as hiding those straight lines along the joints - how about making your various panels at least several inches oversized, then smashing the edges randomly with a hammer to create a jagged shape? It would take effort to get the edges to match but might be worth it.

Hmmm. Maybe. Like an idiot I picked up my panel by holding only a half inch of the edge. It snapped right off in a little semicircle about 3" long. So it might be possible to just finger or pliers work the edges.

This might work to hide the straight seam. If you lay the panels together as if they were in place, cover the seam with a kitchen garbage bag (I think saran wrap would be too thin and tear). Then proceed to make a MMLR strip over the seam about 3-4" wide with random edges and thick enough that it doesn't break easily. You might end up with a strip that you can just lightly silicone in place after installation. Of course it might really stick in the contours and you will wind up with pieces of a strip. Of course those could be put in place as well. Just guessing here.

Another option might be to silicone between the seams and smash some perlite/sand into the uncured silicone. Coraline will cover it, but you'll still be able to cut it apart easily if you every need to pull it.

I'll do that if the "straight line" issue is definite. I like it as it also will break things up in three dimensions as compared to just 2.

You say that jokingly but even with what you think is a tight fit, you may still end up with an occasional dead fish behind the wall (I did), so do everything you can to be sure it's secure/flush against that wall.

Yep I can totally see some fish getting in there and never finding its way out again - rather like a fish trap.

I hope youre wrong about the fish staying behind the rock. Im gonna look pretty stupid sitting in my living room staring at a tank full of rock. Maybe I should rethink my idea.

I was wondering if maybe putting some holes in the diy rock would make it look more like the rock in the picture. There was a guy on another thread that used a small socket to make barnacles. It looked pretty good, just a thought.

Dave

Holes... now that's a novel idea! I think it's worth thinking about. I'll have to think about it as that kinda violates the 'rock wall' scheme. Not sure I care. I am somewhat concerned that I'll be left with windows to uncleanable acrylic back wall which will likely look like - dirty acrylic back wall.

Hey what about a separate take on that. How about two dozen vertical ridges of various height. Some floor to out of the water, some floor to half way up, some bottom 1/4 to top 3/4, etc. The back can be dirty acrylic and it would be hard to see clearly down thru all the ridges. It could look like some lava extrusion.

Something like this, but of course, more organic than I can make it look in Autocad.

You could just do the same thing the foam rock walls do and add actual dry base rock and acro coral skeletons to the panels. Should be able to place them in the panel before it fully sets up or if you use large enough ones simply place them in your mold and pour around them.

Nice idea PD. I could also pre-make some shapes then include them into a panel build... Yeah like that too.

 

[XSiVE]

I'll give that a shot.

Hey what about a separate take on that. How about two dozen vertical ridges of various height. Some floor to out of the water, some floor to half way up, some bottom 1/4 to top 3/4, etc. The back can be dirty acrylic and it would be hard to see clearly down thru all the ridges. It could look like some lava extrusion.

Something like this, but of course, more organic than I can make it look in Autocad.

that looks like a pretty good idea, how far out from the wall are you thinking the maximum will be? How do you plan to ensure you get enough flow in between them?

 

[kcress]

that looks like a pretty good idea, how far out from the wall are you thinking the maximum will be? How do you plan to ensure you get enough flow in between them?

Hi XSIVE.

I was thinking something like 3 ~ 4" from the face of the panel.

Flow? Remember that I have that right-of-center standpipe that will have eductors all over it. I'll aim some along the panels and hope some of the flow is intercepted and directed back into the grooves.

I wanted to try this this weekend but our normal temperatures of 73F were absent and the thermometer was hovering around 102F in the shade. So I just stayed under a rock.

 

[XSiVE]

Hi XSIVE.

I was thinking something like 3 ~ 4" from the face of the panel.

Flow? Remember that I have that right-of-center standpipe that will have eductors all over it. I'll aim some along the panels and hope some of the flow is intercepted and directed back into the grooves.

I wanted to try this this weekend but our normal temperatures of 73F were absent and the thermometer was hovering around 102F in the shade. So I just stayed under a rock.

Ah, I forgot you were going to have multiple outlets off that standpipe, I was thinking in terms of the water test that you did with only the tee off the top.

 

[streak]

Hi XSIVE.

I was thinking something like 3 ~ 4" from the face of the panel.

Flow? Remember that I have that right-of-center standpipe that will have eductors all over it. I'll aim some along the panels and hope some of the flow is intercepted and directed back into the grooves.

I wanted to try this this weekend but our normal temperatures of 73F were absent and the thermometer was hovering around 102F in the shade. So I just stayed under a rock.

Couple of things to consider i know you live where its cold but a hearth is just that a hearth i know you insulated but onece it heats up summer or winter wont there be a temp problem with either sun exposer or heat loss due to extreme cold.. so chillers or heaters might be needed? And once you do introduce the sun thing which i think is wonderful idea but i dont understand how it works i looked at that site saw 4 mirrors on a stick didnt make since how you run that down a hole. Reading that article they were boiling water and making steam with that as well.. So the light/heat your going to be putting down the hole will be comming in and you have all that insulation in there now.. It just my observation.. Ohh how is the natual light thing going to work with 40" snow covering the skylight and light panels im just wondering i dont know that much about it but i have a double fireplace one upstairs and one downstairs this intrigues me alot...

 

[kcress]

Hi Streak.

Thanks for voicing your concerns.

Where I live it's normally about 70F and sunny. We have a dusting of snow, about once every decade, that lasts about 6 hours.

I'll have adequate LED lighting to go completely without solar. So, on extended overcast periods the coral can still do its thing.

As for the solar gain... Yes that is a concern. I'll only have two mirrors adding up to about 2 square feet. Not a bunch of ten square foot mirrors like those seen in most heliostat movies.

If even 2 square feet proves to be a problem I will consider adding gold filters. A very thin layer of gold blocks infra-red wavelengths which are the ones transporting most of the heat. That way I can keep that heat from ever entering the chase at all.

 

[Dustin1300]

WOW is all I can say. A brave man with this design. Subscribed. Good luck and keep it up.

 

[widmer]

Hmmm. Maybe. Like an idiot I picked up my panel by holding only a half inch of the edge. It snapped right off in a little semicircle about 3" long. So it might be possible to just finger or pliers work the edges.

I just stumbled across this thread and haven't been through it so I don't know if you already knew this but- I've worked with manmade rock on a number of occasions (my favorite being making "frag plugs" that look like little cement cookies)... Anyway, I've found that it takes a number of weeks for the cement to fully harden, and once it does, it can be incredibly strong.

I've made rocks where I start to play with them within a few days of making them and their crumblyness at this point makes me worry that they will be useless, but then fast forward a couple weeks and they are, well, rock hard.

Also of course you know it is crucial to keep the cement moist the entire time it is curing, due to the way it is actually solidifying on a molecular level.

This might all be old news...

 

[kcress]

Thanks Dustin1300. Glad you're tagging along.


Hi widdy.

It is old news.. But! It helps to be reminded. That could be the reason I broke the little piece out of it - since the panel was only two days old at that point.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Air cured portland concrete (what you guys are using) dries in a somewhat logrithmic time curve. Very quickly over the first few hours and days and then more slowely as time passes.

1 day 15% strength
3 days 40% strength
7 days 60% strength
14 days 80% strength
28 days 90% strength

From 28 days to 100 years the concrete goes from 90% strength to 100% and then starts to decline in strength over the next 100 or so years until it turns back to powder and aggregate

 

[tahiriqbal]

Came across this lovely aquascape on UR and might give you some ideas for your setup...

 

[kcress]

Thanks Bean for the reminder chart.

tahiriqbal; !!!! Thanks a bunch for this! Horizontal strips make way more sense. I like that very much. It will also provide interesting shadows.

 

[tahiriqbal]

You are welcome Sir....

 

[Dustin1300]

tahiriqbal, I love that rockwork. You happen to have the thread where they outlined the making of the rockwork? Not trying to hijack thread here. Keep up the good work on this unique build

 

[tahiriqbal]

tahiriqbal, I love that rockwork. You happen to have the thread where they outlined the making of the rockwork? Not trying to hijack thread here. Keep up the good work on this unique build

Here you go http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?t=411400