Show me your Pillar's

[Shouse94]

-Warning to those with TBS rock-

I was out drilling my TBS rock last night and to put it quite simply,
it's a B*TCH! I don't wth it's made out of but that's some tough stuff.
I have some very high power tools and bits and it's not easy. Just thought i'd offer a warning :mad2:

 

[erics3000]

What are tbs rocks?

 

[Purple Haze]

"Tampa Bay Saltwater" if i'm not mistaken.

In a few weeks i'll post some pictures of my medium-sized cube. 90 percent of the rock work consists of pillars.

 

[skatezen]

If I'm not mistaken TBS rock is aquacultured and made mostly of a cement like substance. Not very porous, rather dense and heavy.

 

[GreshamH]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10831521#post10831521 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by skatezen
If I'm not mistaken TBS rock is aquacultured and made mostly of a cement like substance. Not very porous, rather dense and heavy.

TBS is mine sourced rock and dumped into the ocean years ago IIRC.

 

[orchidsnfish]

That is one nice pillar! Looks like reef ceramics. I like it.

Here are my pillars...

When I first set the tank up

And now...

 

[Reefski's]

i will tell you what i don't like about the man made rock. sure it developes bacteria in a few weeks to process ammonia but the surface doesn't have the rich diversity of life that real live rock has. it is much more prone to algae growth with no competitors on the rock. most people don't give it months in their tanks to develop before adding livestock.

 

[Reefski's]

i will tell you what i don't like about the man made rock or dry rock for that matter. sure it develops bacteria in a few weeks to process ammonia but the surface doesn't have the rich diversity of life that real live rock has. it is much more prone to algae growth with no competitors on the rock. most people don't give it months in their tanks to develop before adding livestock.

Carl

 

[SDguy]

We filmed rock drilling/pillar formation demos at our last club meeting. Hope these are useful!!

Thanks Coral Diver for filming and editing!

Part 1:



Part 2:

 

[laserjim]

Do you know what to use to heat the rod so you could bend it to maybe have a curved pillar. Maybe curve 2 of them and slide them together to make a arch.I was then thinking of putting red and blue mushrooms over the entire arch. Pretty cool. Thanks, nice video.

 

[SDguy]

Not sure how you would drill a curved hole through the rock though....

 

[laserjim]

You would have to use smaller rocks and not make the curve of the rod to drastic. I might try a heat gun to bend the rod. Something to think about anyway.

 

[SDguy]

Well, actually, the rod can bend to that extent on it's own, depending on span length you are talking about...

 

[gjh289]

Lots of great ideas. Keep them comming.

 

[stevedola]

ty orchid. Its starting to look good in the tank too. fish and shrimp like the arch way alot. Your tank is really starting to take shape...nice color.

 

[gnatp2]

Well I'm going to be building 2 large pillars for my 120 but I am EXTREMELY concerned about them toppling over. Here's why.... One of the pieces is about 28" x 16". I am planning on suspending this 1 foot high (mid level) in the tank. Below it I'll just be using smaller pieces of rock so this thing will be extremely top heavy. The piece is pretty flat but weighs in at 45 lbs. With lots of flow and coral growth (weight), I'm worried about it eventually tipping.

My question is, what do you guys think is the best way to go about making sure this guy stays in place. I think 5" acrylic circles are going to be too wimpy. I was thinking of going bigger, but what size would be safe? Also, I'm going to be using weld on 40 to glue the rod to the base. I'm worried about this joint failing. Any advise around that?

Thanks,
Nate

 

[taku]

give it tripod legs

 

[gnatp2]

Yeah, thought about that and may have to go that route, but i thought it would look better with just 1 leg.

 

[Konadog]

For stability, I would go with three legs minimum.

 

[taku]

You're right it would probably look better with 1 leg... but you don't want to have that thought in the back of your mind, that one day when your coral grow out it may topple over and break glass..

On the flip side 3 legs would give your fish a place to swim in and around like a cave of sorts, which I have always thought are really cool to look at.