Reef Central Online Community

Go Back   Reef Central Online Community > General Interest Forums > Reef Discussion
Blogs FAQ Calendar Mark Forums Read

Notices

User Tag List

Reply
Thread Tools
Unread 10/15/2018, 09:48 AM   #1
ReefsandGeeks
Registered Member
 
ReefsandGeeks's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 1,708
Support under rock structure? building new aquascape

I'll be switching from my existing 65 gallon to a new 150 gallon tank that I am working on now, and will soon be starting on the aquascape. so far, I've relied solely on stacking my rocks to create my aquascape, but that's limited me to some pretty bulky aquascapes and I'd like to go a more open route for this new tank. I'm planning on building something with some arches and over hangs, maybe a pillar. I don't want to simply have a rock wall like I've done in the past. I've tried to stack up some caves like structures, but never had any luck making something stable. This time around I'm planning on using epoxy/cement and likely some acrylic rods to help stabilize everything and stick it all together.

Is there anything I should be putting under my aquascape to protect the bottom glass? It's been a while since I've read about it, but I think I've read something about egg crate? not sure if it's to protect the glass or some other purpose. Would a thin sheet of acrylic work as well? I just want to make sure I'm not going to damage the tank or anything with the new rock structures.

On another note, for those of you who have built up your own rock structures and cemented or epoxied them together, do you just lift up the whole rock structure and put it in the tank, or do you build it in place in the tank?


ReefsandGeeks is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/15/2018, 09:52 AM   #2
tdlawdo
Registered Member
 
tdlawdo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 68
I am building mine in the tank prior to sand and water. BRS sells and/or talks about the stuff they put on bare bottom tanks but I think the general consensus is that there is little to no risk of breaking the glass. If you are placing a rod you will have to drill etc outside the tank. Then after placement pour in the sands brush excess off the rock and add water. The open scapes look so much better I agree.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


tdlawdo is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/15/2018, 10:13 AM   #3
JWClark
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: MD
Posts: 576
I'm using travertine tile from Lowes. Travertine is a metamorphic rock from limestone I believe, so CaCO3 based. Got the idea from someone here a few years ago but just started using this past week--finally did a system reboot because of colonial hydroids and vermetids (but mainly the hydroids).

I did try some simple aquascaping w/ JB water weld epoxy but it didn't hold together. Was originally making several sections that I planned to move, individually, to the tank. I was able to basically get the same thing though through creative trial and error stacking. Having large pieces of rock helps--if you can chisel out the shapes you need.


__________________
Back after a 13yr hiatus--much to my wife's dismay. Though she sure loves looking at the tank and feeding the fish!

Current Tank Info: Reefer 450 seed tank for the retirement 315gal Reef Savvy build.
JWClark is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/15/2018, 10:25 AM   #4
Vinny Kreyling
Registered Member
 
Vinny Kreyling's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Miller Place, NY
Posts: 7,206
Marco Rocks makes a product for this very purpose.


__________________
250 gallon mixed reef, 2 Reefbreeder's Photon V 2, Deepwater BLDC 12, DAS EX-3 Skimmer, MTC mini cal, 2-3/4" Sea Swirls, Aquacontroller & 6 Tunze pumps.
Vinny Kreyling is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/15/2018, 10:27 AM   #5
tdlawdo
Registered Member
 
tdlawdo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 68
I used the dry reef rock from BRS and it is curing now in my Brute containers. It locks together well. No hitchhikers at all since it was “Mined” from dry land.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


tdlawdo is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/16/2018, 08:27 AM   #6
Kevin Guthrie
Registered Member
 
Kevin Guthrie's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 506
If your rock has holes or you can drill them, you can also tie things in with zip ties. They drill pretty easy with concrete drill bits. If I did it again I'd use the ties to hold things together while the epoxy cured so that I could remove the visible ties, but they get overgrown pretty quickly so you can't see them after a year or so.


Kevin Guthrie is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/16/2018, 11:27 AM   #7
Fourstars
Registered Member.
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Third rock
Posts: 291
I built a cement base about two inches thick and inserted three fiberglass rods. Then drilled holes in the rock and stacked. Just place the base directly on the glass.

thumbnail (8).jpg



Last edited by Fourstars; 10/16/2018 at 11:52 AM.
Fourstars is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/16/2018, 11:36 AM   #8
davocean
Registered Member
 
davocean's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 14,655
I still swear by my acrylic pillar structures, super stable.

I can even lift the whole structure out of tank if swapping or moving, makes easy, and we've had some good quakes around here, pillars hold fine.

PVC works as well, but I prefer acrylic.








__________________
There's a fine line between owning your tank and your tank owning you!

Current Tank Info: SCA 120g RR Starfire, Tunze silence 1073.02 return, 40g sump w/ fuge, SWC Extreme 160 cone skimmer,Geismann reflexx 4xT5, 2x Panorama Pro LED strips, Vortech MP40QD
davocean is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/16/2018, 02:34 PM   #9
albano
SALTWATER since '73
 
albano's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Katonah, NY/ San Fernando Ca./ Sea Isle City NJ
Posts: 6,210
If you look closely you'll notice that the large piece of LR on left, is not on the sand bed... It is elevated by 3 or 4 acrylic rods that were drilled and cemented into the bottom of the rock, which also makes it more stable to support LR stacked on top.


Attached Images
File Type: jpg image.jpg (104.4 KB, 37 views)
__________________
______________________________________

Jan. '11 TOTM Manhattan Reefs

Current Tank Info: 500g & 200g acrylic DTs/2 separate reef systems
albano is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/18/2018, 07:20 AM   #10
ReefsandGeeks
Registered Member
 
ReefsandGeeks's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 1,708
all good ideas, I'm going to try going with the Macro rocks cement stuff and some fiberglass rods. I think that will work for what I'm trying to do. I'll be generous with te cement stuff so I can be a lottle more confident that the structure wont fall apart as I'm picking it up and putting it in the tank.

So I have a bit of a delema. With the new tank I got, I also got a good bit of dried out live rock. I was planning on building the rock structure out of that dead rock in advance originally, but I'm wondering how I'd incorporate truely live rock with attached corals into the structure. I will be moving over my current livestock and rock from my existing 65 gallon reef tank to the 150, so I can't take all of the rock out and build up all of the aquascape in advance. What should I do about this? I was thinking maybe build the main rock structure out of the dead rock, put that in the new tank and once I'm ready, move over a rock or two at a time from the existing tank to the new. If i want to cement any of them in place, I'd have to be ready to do that as soon as I took the rock out of the old tank, wait 20 minutes for the cement to cure while misting the coral and rock with tank water, then moving the structures to the new tank. Of course anything that doesn't get cemented in place will simply be moved over and placed in the new tank. Does that sound like a reasonable plan? will my coral be okay out of water for a full 20+ minutes if I do it this way? I certainly couldn't move the rock to the new tank untill the cement was cured enough to not melt away in the new tank water.


ReefsandGeeks is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/18/2018, 07:42 AM   #11
Fourstars
Registered Member.
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Third rock
Posts: 291
That sounds like a good plan. Corals should be fine. Another option is to build the main dry structure and use cable ties to attach the live rock. It will eventually cement itself to the structure.


Fourstars is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:52 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Use of this web site is subject to the terms and conditions described in the user agreement.
Reef CentralTM Reef Central, LLC. Copyright ©1999-2022
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.