Jojoyojimbi
New member
daaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn that's some nice looking rock
Third Time's A Charm!
- Thread starter dascharisma
- Start date
dascharisma
New member
I took a look at Sanjay's thread. I think those stone pavers are a great idea for anyone who can cover them up with a sand bed. Since my tank will be bare bottom I can't use them.
I also read about thorite (a concrete sealer sort of substance) that people have used for building a rock structure. My question is, whether or not I should use something like thorite given that I will be building the structure while everything is dry. Anyone know about thorite or epoxy?
Brad
glaspie69
Premium Member
If it were me I'd make a portland mix and use that to bond the rock together.....drill the rock, get it set like you want for sure and then cement them together.....with that large of a tank and done carfull enough you shouldn't notice the ph of the concrete or the patch between rocks I've used like 6 underwater epoxies and they all seem to do the same thing, hold for a week then crumble. I would want to take the chance of one of the top rocks cracking the pvc rod and having all the weight supported by the epoxy.
dascharisma
New member
Any reason for picking portland mix over thorite? Is portland cheaper or easier to work with? What kind of ph issues should I expect with portland?
With the underwater epoxies, did you use them underwater, or did you epoxy while dry?
Brad
glaspie69
Premium Member
I've never used thorite so I'm not sure how it preforms. Portland will raise the ph if theres a large amount of it (like the homemade rock) but I can't imagine a few smaller patch connections raising the ph to a concerning level. Portland is also 8 bucks a 90lb bag so it's a cheap bonus. I've never used any of the underwater epoxies outside of water, but it's my understanding that epoxies are used just to "hold" things from falling not to "glue" them persay. That and at 8 to 15 bucks a stick for epoxy you going to mow through them with all that rock.
dascharisma
New member
I started playing around with the rock structure today. My plan is to have a semi-open backwall with a number of bridges connecting to some large shelves in the front of the tank. This structure took about 15 minutes to put together. There are no rods or concrete/epoxy holding anything.
Here is a backwall attempt.
Here is a side view. I want the wall to be as narrow as possible. The area behind the wall will hide all of the pumps.
Here is a supportless version of what the front structure will look like. My plan is to make the arches higher and more dramatic, but without supports it isn't possible.
This is a view more representative of what you would see when standing in front of the tank. The arches and front shelves should give tons of room for coral placement without obstructing too much flow.
Brad
Here is a backwall attempt.
Here is a side view. I want the wall to be as narrow as possible. The area behind the wall will hide all of the pumps.
Here is a supportless version of what the front structure will look like. My plan is to make the arches higher and more dramatic, but without supports it isn't possible.
This is a view more representative of what you would see when standing in front of the tank. The arches and front shelves should give tons of room for coral placement without obstructing too much flow.
Brad
dascharisma
New member
Today the Lumenarcs and the fan arrived.
Here is everything on its way in.
Here is a pic of one of the Lumenarcs.
Here is a pic of the fan to hook up to the reflectors.
Brad
Here is everything on its way in.
Here is a pic of one of the Lumenarcs.
Here is a pic of the fan to hook up to the reflectors.
Brad
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10168487#post10168487 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tinytool
and you only have to replace them every 6 months. Although it's hard to beet the color temp it gives ya
Don't kid yourself, slick. You'll see them and then end up changing your setup a week later! Ha! BTW, I still have 2) Radium bulbs for you if you want to go that route. :lol:
dascharisma
New member
You know it. 4 X 400 watt radiums on HQI ballasts, 3 X 5 ft T5 HO, and 4 X 4ft VHO actinics. I don't think I will have any trouble pounding a 60" X 40" area.
Brad
leeweber85
New member
Remind me to bring my sunglasses if I ever get to see it in person!
dascharisma
New member
Let me start this post off by saying that JJ IS THE MAN!
This week he and I are going to tackle building my stand. Check out this sketchup he made of it. IT will have 3/4" plywood on top and then 3/4" foam on top of that. Anyone see any problems with it? Think it will hold 2 tons?
Brad
This week he and I are going to tackle building my stand. Check out this sketchup he made of it. IT will have 3/4" plywood on top and then 3/4" foam on top of that. Anyone see any problems with it? Think it will hold 2 tons?
Brad
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dascharisma
New member
Again, I better start this one off with a "PRAISE JJ!". This tank was too big to fit in my van, so JJ met me at sprayer specialties and brought this thing to my house.
Here is a pic of my 310 gallon conical bottom tank (30 gallon tank for reference). It will be fed (though its top) from the return pump in the sump and it will drain (through its bottom) back into the sump. The extra water volume should really be great. Even though it was more expensive than other shapes, I chose a conical bottom tank because I want to prevent settling. Unlike a traditional sump in a bare bottom system, this bad boy won't lend itself to siphoning. So gravity is going to be put to work. The other thing I like about this piece is that it will add water without increasing evaporation and humidity (my main foes).
I plan to use this to do water changes. I will simply plumb it so that I can drain as much water as I please to the drain. It has markers on its side indicating how much water is in it. I also intend to drip Kalk into it, so that the kalk will be very dilluted before seeing the display.
Its sitting in the garage right now, because my basement window needs to be removed for this thing to get into the house. I plan to bring it in when the display and sump show up.
Brad
Here is a pic of my 310 gallon conical bottom tank (30 gallon tank for reference). It will be fed (though its top) from the return pump in the sump and it will drain (through its bottom) back into the sump. The extra water volume should really be great. Even though it was more expensive than other shapes, I chose a conical bottom tank because I want to prevent settling. Unlike a traditional sump in a bare bottom system, this bad boy won't lend itself to siphoning. So gravity is going to be put to work. The other thing I like about this piece is that it will add water without increasing evaporation and humidity (my main foes).
I plan to use this to do water changes. I will simply plumb it so that I can drain as much water as I please to the drain. It has markers on its side indicating how much water is in it. I also intend to drip Kalk into it, so that the kalk will be very dilluted before seeing the display.
Its sitting in the garage right now, because my basement window needs to be removed for this thing to get into the house. I plan to bring it in when the display and sump show up.
Brad
dascharisma
New member
Well, I hadn't considered the need to reinforce the floor. Since JJ's tanks is 7X3 which equals 21 square feet, and my tank is roughly 5X4 which is 20 square feet, and both tanks hold nearly the same water, I just assumed that if his tank is fine, then my tank would be fine.
Plus, JJ has his sump under his tank, adding another 150 gallons to the mix. My sump and 310 conical will be 15 feet away from the tank.
IF anyone should be concerened I think it is JJ.
Anyone have any idea about all this?
Philby
New member
The only question I have regarding your stand is what it will be "skinned" with?
Is the part that sticks into the room going to be drywalled and painted to match th walls around your tank? or when you build the wall that the tank is on are you just going to leave a 4' "door" in the wall and treat your tank separate?
If you're going to have it all drywalled - i would think you'd need the front/sides of the stand to have the vertical supports even with the horizontal to make it easier to install drywall.
I'll try to draw what I'm talking about - (Edit - didn't work)
If those are 4X4 posts (or 2X4, just assuming) with 2X4 or 2X6 everywhere else, you could just cut some 2X4s to put on the vertical posts between the bottom and top.
Is the part that sticks into the room going to be drywalled and painted to match th walls around your tank? or when you build the wall that the tank is on are you just going to leave a 4' "door" in the wall and treat your tank separate?
If you're going to have it all drywalled - i would think you'd need the front/sides of the stand to have the vertical supports even with the horizontal to make it easier to install drywall.
I'll try to draw what I'm talking about - (Edit - didn't work)
If those are 4X4 posts (or 2X4, just assuming) with 2X4 or 2X6 everywhere else, you could just cut some 2X4s to put on the vertical posts between the bottom and top.
