New setup with "pseudo substrate"

[Todd March]

Okay Joyce and all,

Here are some pictures for ya... Not the best, but here they are anyway...

I haven't added any rock or life to my system yet, I am still fine tuning it all before really making it my reef tank. But these pictures give you a little idea of what to expect... There is a plastic algae plant in the tank to test flow and give scale...

I purchssed a 15lb. bag of the Geo-Marine for a 16.5" X 47" board and had a couple of pounds left over....

 

[Todd March]

And another....

 

[Todd March]

And yet another clearly showing how I cemented the coral over and onto the edges for the best illusion... To give the illusion of depth (some coral being higher at points) there are 5-6 layers of coral and glue in some areas (around the center of this pic)...

 

[Macimage]

Todd-That looks great!! I think this is really the way to go. I want to have lots of flow and this will keep the sand in place!!

Keep us posted when you have more pics.

Joyce

 

[melev]

Looks nice and clean.

 

[Macimage]

Did you have the starboard cut 1/4" shorter on all four sides so that you could add the coral to the sides?

Joyce

 

[Todd March]

"Did you have the starboard cut 1/4" shorter on all four sides so that you could add the coral to the sides?

Yes I did, and I allowed 1/4" per side... But honestly, this was a little TOO much, and I would allow even less the next time...

 

[RedEyeReef]

Did you seal this to the bottom? Meaning, can dertritus get underneath it?

 

[Macimage]

I was wondering as you put it in the tank, did small pieces of the gravel fall off and go under the starboard?? Was it tricky to get in without any pieces under it?

Also, I guess Nassarius snails would not be happy in this setup since they like sand?? Back to scarlett hermits I guess.

Thanks again for your comments and help,
Joyce

 

[Todd March]

RedEyeReef, if you are using live rock, the weight of the rock keeps the board flat and very married to the bottom of the tank. No detritus could ever make it down between the tank and the board...

 

[s13silvia]

looks good todd, i'm thinkin about doing the same exact thing on my next tank..


thanks for the great idea g money

 

[jimmy n]

Would it be reasonable to do this directly to the bottom of an acryllic tank? I was planning on BB but I like this better.


Jim

 

[s13silvia]

you could do it, but its going to be pretty much permanent.. maybe even just placing a thin piece of acrylic over the bottom would work

 

[marinenewby]

wow, i like this stuff...

if the starboard was left bare, how long do you think it would take to grow over?

do you guys thing that GSP's or zoo's would attach and say create a nice lawn?

 

[Marker]

Has anyone tried this:

Taking either Coarse sand and or crushed coral mixing in Liquid Acrylic or some sort of liquid resin then pouring into bottom of tank?

I figured it would seal and no detritus would get underneith. I got the idea from a fake plant that had glass stones in the vase with acrylic. it looks like water figured it might make a bottle look like a sand bottom but be sealed to keep any buildup from happening....

Don't know if you would have to worry about any expansion or not.

M

 

[melev]

You guys need to read Boomer's BareBottom thread. It answers many of your questions.

Acrylic will work, but is more brittle than starboard. Cutting board material is able to tolerate some dropped boulders. Yes, it will cover up with coralline with NSW conditions and enough time. Putting sand/CC on the bottom glass can work, but again you have no margin for error if you drop a rock or there is a rock slide.

 

[javajaws]

Has anyone tried this:

Taking either Coarse sand and or crushed coral mixing in Liquid Acrylic or some sort of liquid resin then pouring into bottom of tank?

I figured it would seal and no detritus would get underneith. I got the idea from a fake plant that had glass stones in the vase with acrylic. it looks like water figured it might make a bottle look like a sand bottom but be sealed to keep any buildup from happening....

Don't know if you would have to worry about any expansion or not.

M

Yeah, somebody has done it - can't find the thread off hand. Do a search on epoxy and you'll probably find it. I seem to recall somebody saying it would just grow over with coralline after awhile (as any static bottom probably would).

 

[javajaws]

Okay Joyce and all,

Here are some pictures for ya... Not the best, but here they are anyway...

I haven't added any rock or life to my system yet, I am still fine tuning it all before really making it my reef tank. But these pictures give you a little idea of what to expect... There is a plastic algae plant in the tank to test flow and give scale...

I purchssed a 15lb. bag of the Geo-Marine for a 16.5" X 47" board and had a couple of pounds left over....

Just my opinion, but that coral looks really "rough" - meaning that I would think even with high flow that detritus is going to get lodged in it. Why didn't you do with a finer substrate to glue on instead?

 

[G-money]

Look good Todd! I hope you didn't lose too many brain cells...

I agree with you, javajaws. I kept my layer thin and relatively smaller-grained to minimize areas where detritus could penetrate and settle/collect. I think Todd's approach will definitely allow more wear and tear, but my experience has been that the bottom starts to get "encorallined" within a month or two anyway. Because of that, you can't tell where board is exposed in mine unless you look real closely. I don't even know that I would go through the bother of affixing substrate next time or not...I'd consider plain board, mainly because it would increase the amount of light reflected off the bottom - at least until it was grown over with stuff.

 

[reeffantic]

I just want to join the party.