My DIY Rock/Foam Reef
 

220 gallon with external overflows... 72" L x 30" W x 24' H.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/100_1413.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/100_1420.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/100_1427.jpg

very cool I like it, good job

WOW! Looks awsome. Care to elaborate more on the build?

very nice!!!!!!!!!! any more close up of the center piece

how did you make the rock?

I started by constructing a framework from eggcrate...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/100_1320.jpg

Then I zip tied 150 lbs of Marco Rock to it...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/100_1324.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/100_1322.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/100_1389.jpg

Then I filled in the gaps with Great Stuff insulating spray foam. (this actually tightend up the structure alot)...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/100_1326.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/100_1330.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/100_1394.jpg

Then I used an epoxy finishing resin on the foam and covered it in sand and crushed coral...

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/100_1410.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/100_1411.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/100_1412.jpg

I learned this all from a thread by a guy in England named Tiggsy. I just know a good thing when I see it...

Hopefully, you can see the center piece a little better. It's got a 3 way pass thru for tangs + a gobie cave behind it. The structure has several other pass thru type caves and gobie type spots as well...

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/100_1415.jpg

i am thinking of doing this but am worried that the foam will leach into the tank. have you heard or read anything on this? also what epoxy resin? or are they all the same?

ShipOFools
The foam is inert when cured,so no problems with it leaching anything into the tank.

Kannin
Great work on the wall,I see Tiggsy has left his mark on the hobby with this combo he came up with.I am planning on doing the same to my nano in the near future.I have to say your setup looks way better then tiggsy's does,and you dont even have water in it yet.

Gonna have to keep an eye in this thread to see what the final outcome looks like once you have corals and fish in the tank.

looks great! will the wall you constructed seed and become live over-time?

Does Anyone know what kind of epoxy finishing resin to use when doing the Spray foam rock work? Will the stuff you buy for Fiber glass work(without using the fiberglass pads of course)? Cause the Fiber glass Epoxy resin with hardener is about all i can find where im from.

Rick12
Yes the rock will become live over time.

Vinnie I replied to your PM.

Thank you for the nice words. The tank of the month used the same stuff.

The epoxy that I used was a two part finishing resin that I bought at a model train store. Tiggsy used a product called "Z-Poxy" fro Zap, (the original super glue company). I could only find it on line and I needed quicker so I used the other stuff.

I have some very rich (in life) live rock and cheato in my other fuge that I will seed it with. I'll also use some coraline scrapings to speed up the process.

Hey Kannin
Just a little hint to help you with the spread of coraline algae.I always use a small fully coraline encrusted rock with a powerhead or one of my returns pointed at it to spread the coraline around.

Believe it or not it actually works.I was very skeptical about 6 years ago when a friend told me to try it.After a month,you could literally see that the coraline was spreading across the tank covering all the rocks and glass.

Very nice! How did you make the external overflow?

Thanks Alpine... for thew coraline tip.

Tunjee... I purchased the tank with the external overflows on it.

WOW Nice job!!!

question- if the foam is inert after it has cured, why the epoxy? to hide the colour?

I'v been told that the UV can have an effect on it... but, the main reason I used it was so that I could stick the sand to it.

I've also seen people paint a very watery cement mix over the foam to even up the color

Thank you for posting this!!! I have an empty tank on my hands and 100# of 4-6 inch Marco rock that has been cooking for a couple of weeks to get all of the junk out of it. I've been planning a build very similar to yours, and I really appreciate the opportunity to see how you did it.

I had been planning on making the rockwork look like a big "M", with the rock forming walls on both ends of the tank, going along the back, and coming to a peak in the center, with pass-though holes in the rockwork, just like you did.

Thanks for posting the very cool photos. Its nice to see how someone actually executed an idea that is very similar to the one I've had in my head!

Let me know if you have any questions during the process.