New setup with "pseudo substrate"
- Thread starter G-money
- Start date
Todd March
Premium Member
Check out cuttingboardcompany.com for HDPE cut to your specs and shipped to your door very economically. Their service is oustanding too and they will cut and ship within 1-2 days... You can also find HDPE at local plastic shops or marine suppliers as Starboard, but it tends to be more expensive and comes in funky shapes which equate to lots of wasted plastic for a lot of commonly sized tanks...
BTWââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Âcuttingboardcompany.com was completely surprised by the landslide of orders they got and are getting from reefers after one reefer posted about them in a Starboard thread... At one point they were filling far more orders for reefers than for actual cutting boards...!
BTWââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Âcuttingboardcompany.com was completely surprised by the landslide of orders they got and are getting from reefers after one reefer posted about them in a Starboard thread... At one point they were filling far more orders for reefers than for actual cutting boards...!
staticfishmonger
New member
LOOKING GOOD. this is the only BB thread i have seen that accualy makes me want a BB tank for my next set-up. cant wait to see it with the live stock and all. keep it up. and of course happy reefing....
G-money
Premium Member
It should be, but I guess it's not guaranteed.
I'd think PVC cement would work with most plastics...but that's a guess.
You need to coat it on fairly thick - I used almost an entire large can (12 oz?) on mine (2x4). As I said earlier, it did take more than one application.
Thanks for the kind words, staticfishmonger. :beer:
I'd think PVC cement would work with most plastics...but that's a guess.
You need to coat it on fairly thick - I used almost an entire large can (12 oz?) on mine (2x4). As I said earlier, it did take more than one application.
Thanks for the kind words, staticfishmonger. :beer:
Todd March
Premium Member
G-moneyââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Âwhat exactly do you mean by "more than one application"...? Are you referring to glue, or glue and coral, as in layers...?
G-money
Premium Member
By more than one I mean that I did the first application - had to do it in about 4 segments down the length of the board so the cement wouldn't dry by the time I got to adding the gravel.
Put it on real thick and spread it evenly - a little thicker at the ends of the board - and put more gravel than necessary on the cement. I applied pressure to the gravel and let it set for about 10 minutes. Then I continued another section in the same manner until the board was done. I let it dry for about 1/2 hour and then tilted the board up to let all the unfixed gravel slide off the other end.
This left me with mostly bare lines where the sections ended and began. This is mostly because you can't really apply cement up to the point of the last gravel application right away - the gravel wants to stick to the cement dauber.
Anyway, the next day, I applied gobs of cement to the areas that were bare. This is kind of messy, as some gravel will still want to stick to the dauber. It tales patience and a few runs, but eventually, persistence pays off and you should be able to fill most of the gaps and holes. You can apply it right over the gravel around holes and gaps, but you almost have to let the cement drip onto the gravel or some will stick to the brush. When you press the gravel into the cement, you can spread it around a little (inches) to cover more area than what you dribbled on (I hope that makes sense).
As I said earlier, it's real hard to completely eliminate small visible areas of the board. If I would've spent more time, maybe I could have gotten it closer to perfection, but I had my fill of cement fumes by then!
Be as gentle as possible when moving the board around. It will help keep gravel from dislodging, as it's definitely not adhesive to the point of taking much abuse. It can handle a Tunze Stream on it, though!
Put it on real thick and spread it evenly - a little thicker at the ends of the board - and put more gravel than necessary on the cement. I applied pressure to the gravel and let it set for about 10 minutes. Then I continued another section in the same manner until the board was done. I let it dry for about 1/2 hour and then tilted the board up to let all the unfixed gravel slide off the other end.
This left me with mostly bare lines where the sections ended and began. This is mostly because you can't really apply cement up to the point of the last gravel application right away - the gravel wants to stick to the cement dauber.
Anyway, the next day, I applied gobs of cement to the areas that were bare. This is kind of messy, as some gravel will still want to stick to the dauber. It tales patience and a few runs, but eventually, persistence pays off and you should be able to fill most of the gaps and holes. You can apply it right over the gravel around holes and gaps, but you almost have to let the cement drip onto the gravel or some will stick to the brush. When you press the gravel into the cement, you can spread it around a little (inches) to cover more area than what you dribbled on (I hope that makes sense).
As I said earlier, it's real hard to completely eliminate small visible areas of the board. If I would've spent more time, maybe I could have gotten it closer to perfection, but I had my fill of cement fumes by then!
Be as gentle as possible when moving the board around. It will help keep gravel from dislodging, as it's definitely not adhesive to the point of taking much abuse. It can handle a Tunze Stream on it, though!
Jive Turkey
New member
Great aquascape!
I ordered my piece of HDPE today, and I'm trying to get access to a gas mask from my crazy uncle.
Joe
I ordered my piece of HDPE today, and I'm trying to get access to a gas mask from my crazy uncle.
Joe
Todd March
Premium Member
I just finished my faux substrate this last week. Will post pics as soon as I get batteries for the camera...!
G-Money's idea works like a charm. The PVC cement really holds the coral quite well. I even made little sporadic "mounds" of coral near the front of the board (tank) using extra layers of cement and coral for a more rolling and natural look to the front of the tank. I also used the PVC cement for the edges, and not the silicone as G-money did.
It takes two layers to cover over everything, because as G-Money mentioned, dime and quarter sized patches just don't pick up the coral, so you need to go back over them.
Also as G-money mentioned, the whole thing is delicate, and you have to be a little careful handling it. I originally planned to cure it outside of the tank, but it is just too delicate for this sort of handling. I will just cure it in the tank for 30 days as G-Money did...
Looks FANTASTIC though and I am really super pleased. The best of both worldsââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Âthe look of a bed, and the ease of a bare bottom!
THANKS G-MONEY FOR PIONEERING A GREAT IDEA!!!!!
G-Money's idea works like a charm. The PVC cement really holds the coral quite well. I even made little sporadic "mounds" of coral near the front of the board (tank) using extra layers of cement and coral for a more rolling and natural look to the front of the tank. I also used the PVC cement for the edges, and not the silicone as G-money did.
It takes two layers to cover over everything, because as G-Money mentioned, dime and quarter sized patches just don't pick up the coral, so you need to go back over them.
Also as G-money mentioned, the whole thing is delicate, and you have to be a little careful handling it. I originally planned to cure it outside of the tank, but it is just too delicate for this sort of handling. I will just cure it in the tank for 30 days as G-Money did...
Looks FANTASTIC though and I am really super pleased. The best of both worldsââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Âthe look of a bed, and the ease of a bare bottom!
THANKS G-MONEY FOR PIONEERING A GREAT IDEA!!!!!
G-money
Premium Member
Glad it worked, Todd!
Well, I do have everything in the tank, but it's not really picture worthy at the moment...hehe. I will give it a couple weeks and post some pics.
The transfer went well, except for a couple of Acros that RTNed on me. I'm not sure why - especially since they had done just fine jam-packed in the 75 for 2 months. I don't have much experience with RTN
, so I'm kind of suprised it happened. At least they were all frag-grown, so I don't feel too bad. I don't know if it was the stress of a new system or what (even though it ran empty for 2 months). I'm sure it had nothing to do with the setup itself, as only the Acros mentioned looked "unhappy". Anyway, pics will come as things start to stabilize...
Well, I do have everything in the tank, but it's not really picture worthy at the moment...hehe. I will give it a couple weeks and post some pics.
The transfer went well, except for a couple of Acros that RTNed on me. I'm not sure why - especially since they had done just fine jam-packed in the 75 for 2 months. I don't have much experience with RTN
, so I'm kind of suprised it happened. At least they were all frag-grown, so I don't feel too bad. I don't know if it was the stress of a new system or what (even though it ran empty for 2 months). I'm sure it had nothing to do with the setup itself, as only the Acros mentioned looked "unhappy". Anyway, pics will come as things start to stabilize...
Macimage
Active member
Is HDPE (high density polyethylene) the same as Starboard??
Also, do you think the Geo Marine is the best for this application? I was wondering if the Bermuda Pink Reef sand with a grain size of 2-4 mm might work? I have not seen the CaribSea sands in person, so it is hard to tell. Is the Geo Marine the largest grain sizes that they have or are there others that might work too?
I am redoing my 55 gallon reef and am going to try this.
Thank you,
Joyce
Also, do you think the Geo Marine is the best for this application? I was wondering if the Bermuda Pink Reef sand with a grain size of 2-4 mm might work? I have not seen the CaribSea sands in person, so it is hard to tell. Is the Geo Marine the largest grain sizes that they have or are there others that might work too?
I am redoing my 55 gallon reef and am going to try this.
Thank you,
Joyce
Todd March
Premium Member
"Is HDPE (high density polyethylene) the same as Starboard??"
Yes, it is...
I think you could use almost any substrate you wanted, I almost went with the Bermuda Pink myself, but really got jazzed about the bigger sized Geo Marine as it reminded me of my first marine tanks from the 80's... I suppose the larger Geo Marine would work a little better, but it's no big deal. It's all about the time you spend pressing and working the subsrate into the cement, and then going back over the spots that don't catch... Mine took me 5 days of multiple coats to look right...
Yes, it is...
I think you could use almost any substrate you wanted, I almost went with the Bermuda Pink myself, but really got jazzed about the bigger sized Geo Marine as it reminded me of my first marine tanks from the 80's... I suppose the larger Geo Marine would work a little better, but it's no big deal. It's all about the time you spend pressing and working the subsrate into the cement, and then going back over the spots that don't catch... Mine took me 5 days of multiple coats to look right...
