Not so bare bottom tank?

[Aadler]

I just had this idea and wondered if anyone had done something similar and preferably had pictures.

One downside is I don't think I could have a tank without at least one wrasse so sand is always preferable.

I was thinking of covering the bottom of the tank with some marine epoxy and then dumping about 1/4 inch of reef sand on it and letting it dry, possibly building up some deeper areas to give it a bit of depth, then blowing off/cleaning out any loose sand and presto, you have a 'bare bottom' tank that does not look so ugly, (sorry I just can't stand the look of the glass reflecting, painted is ok, but still 'eh' IMO).

Anyone try this? I may have to do this to a 10 or 15g tank i have laying around, or even the 29 I Have.

Mike

 

[MSU Fan]

I have read of people making "false" bottoms for their tanks. Personally, if I did this, I would make a false bottom outside of the tank. Then I would insert it and silicone it into the tank (assuming it floats). If it doesn't float, I would just place it in the tank then. Maybe use starboard as a backing material?

 

[LisaD]

I have a well established BB tank. Over time, much of the bottom became covered with coralline algae. I don't have a problem with how it looks at all.

 

[scarter]

I think king kong did this and had issues with silicates leaking from the epoxy, so be sure to research the epoxy you use..

 

[tedu]

Lots of discussion on this concept here:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=392144

 

[bored4long]

I was strongly considering this as well as a way to have a BB with a better looking bottom. I came to realize that with time the faux bottom will just be overgrown with coralline algae just like a glass bottom. So the aesthetic reasons to go with a faux bottom will be lost with time. If you read the thread linked above, you will find those with faux bottoms found this out as well.

 

[silverwolf72]

I have eggcrate lifted off the bottom and covered with rock, I use part of my closed loop flow across the bottom underneath the rocks to keep deterius from settling. It's only been running for a little while so I'll see how well it works

 

[JNye]

i've seen tile and marble bottoms and if you don't like corralline you could scarpe this off, if i ever did sps i think i'd do this.

 

[Jens Kallmeyer]

HI

I used marine grade Polyurethane 2K foam. That stuff floats like mad so I had to anchor it on the sides of the tank. The grey color was achieved by mixing powdered activated carbon into one of the chemicals.
Here I was about halfway done dripping that stuff onto the glass

This is how it looked after everything was done. The walls are custom made pieces of Riffkeramic (Reef Ceramics) from Korallenwelt, a German company. They have built in holders for two Tunze Streams and a compartment for a Tunze Wave Box (on the left side).

This is how it looked after about half a year (bad picture...I know), you can see how it becomes overgrown with coralline algae

Currently I am doing another tank for my parents. This time I covered the bottom and the back wall of the tank. I glued in an internal filter, installed some tubing for better circulation bedind the rocks, then I coated everything with PU Foam.
Working with that stuff isn't that easy, it takes 30 seconds (!) to start foaming after mixing the two components together. So you better work with small amounts and work fast. Don't get this stuff on your skin, it will take days to get it off.