What about using ONLY PVC...

[Agu]

As a display of trophy corals the above tank works.

However it's my goal to recreate a small piece of the reef biotope. In my tanks the above display would be an embarrassment and an abomination. If it works for someone else to have such a display that's their privilege. Although I accept their vision it's not going to happen in my tanks.

 

[lordofthereef]

Let me just put it simply.

Can we use all PVC? Sure, if you want to, but don't assume that LR is only meant to provide structural support. That pic looks cool, no doubt, but those frag plugs don't have enough volume to be the soul source of nitrification. OP mentioned detritus. I certainly hope you don't plan on keeping fish in an all pvc situation. That would provide almost no room to hide. Without fish, you should have much less detritus to begin with.

 

[pledosophy]

I have seen a tank setup with only Blown Glass as the decor, no rocks or sand. Just seahorses and blown glass. Was pretty interesting.

I am sure it was plumbed with a significant amount of filtration in back. If I recall there were over 20 seahorses in the system.

I believe it is still on display in the Newport Aquarium Oddball section.

 

[Caesra]

I have to give credit, wow totally unconventional, that looks really cool.

Not sure about acrlyic rods, hard to envision

 

[BeanAnimal]

I don't get it...

But then again I don't matter.

 

[fishmonkey]

It seems plausible, but I sure wouldn't attempt it. It would pose problems with bacteria, although roughing up the PVC might give it more space to grow. I can picture the end goal, but it would look really weird in my eyes, even if it WAS covered in corals. doing it in conjunction with live roock is cool though. I've seen that before.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Folks, a tank FULL of "roughed up" PVC will only provide a tiny fraction of the surface area of a piece of pourous (just about any) LR.

From an easthetic perspective, ugly is in the eyes of the beholder. From a biological perspective, the idea is a non starter. Sure, you can put your LR or other bio filter in the sump, etc. but then your just left with ugly

 

[Caesra]

Our tanks with LR only provide a fraction of the surface area of the ocean =).

All in perspective.

 

[phuzzykins]

Our tanks with LR only provide a fraction of the surface area of the ocean =).

All in perspective.

Sorry, but that makes no sense.

Our bioload is also only a fraction of the bioload of the ocean... and grossly proportional to our amount of live rock. That's why our tanks work.

 

[Jmnazari]

What about the water being trapped by the PVC? stagnent water anywhere is bad news...

 

[A. Grandis]

Huummm...
Live rock, live sand and/or any media to house the bacteria for the nitrogen cycle is a must for a long term success when we are trying keep fishes/inverts in a closed tank. Period.
How much of it? Depends.
One can use any type of porous media in the sump for that purpose and not necessarily have live rock or live sand in the display tank, like the canister filters.
The more bioload, the more surface area you'll need, normally.
Hey, remember the basics?
A tank full of pipes and corals will need a minimum of filter media to support the beneficial bacteria in order to support the live corals.
You'll need a lot of creativity to make it look natural, unless you don't care about that.
Try to choose the media that gives you more surface area to place in the sump. The use of acrylic sheets with the pipes will help you a lot to reproduce a more natural looking display.
Hope the above makes sense to you.
Good luck!

Grandis.