elaak Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 Ive been a longtime lurker on nano-reef.com. I recently made the decision to downsize from my 100 gallon 36x36x18 BB SPS tank to a much smaller and more managable Finnex 30g M-tank. Anyways after reading the UK 180g thread on reef central I was inspired to adapt the techniques in that thread to my nano's aquascape. Unfornatly I didnt take any inbetween step pictures of the light panels with just LR ziptied all over the place or the foam before having sand glued to it but I would be happy to answer any questions Anyways I didnt want to make another "centered pile of rocks" (it looks lke it is from the pictures) aquascape so I used some baserock I had from an old tank and the insulation foam called "great stuff" to glue my LR into what would normally be pretty unstable formations. The overall structure is very solid, it acts as basicly one giant piece of LR and I can tip it over or pick it up without too much to worry about. I used the light panels to attach pieces of rock using zipties. Once everything was built with the foam I slathered some epoxy resin on it and imbedded sand into it to protect the foam from UV and to make it looke more natural. All in all I think it turned out fantastic. Link to comment
Kirin1 Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 Wow, very natural looking, I wouldn't have guessed from the front on shot that the back is entirely supported by eggcrate. Nice job man. Link to comment
sweetpea355 Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 Looks realy great. Link to comment
Shortie Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 That will look fantastic after the coraline gets ahold of it. Well done. Link to comment
elaak Posted December 30, 2007 Author Share Posted December 30, 2007 thanks, my finnex comes on friday and I have the LR and sand cycling in another tank right now. Its going to be difficult getting this thing in there. Link to comment
Dave61 Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 Looks awesome! Is "Great Stuff" safe to use in an aquarium? Link to comment
elaak Posted December 30, 2007 Author Share Posted December 30, 2007 I have looked at a couple of other threads on reefcentral about people making backgrounds with it and from what I can tell there hasnt been a problem. I did come across information that it can be broken down by UV light so I took the procaution and used epoxy on all the light exposed surfaces. I then used sand to further block the foam from light. Link to comment
The Propagator Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 Looks excellent ! Great stuff foam is fine for use as long as it has cured all the way through. A friend of mine uses it for biological filtration in his fuge with real live rock stuck to the bottom to hold it down. Link to comment
Fanof49ASU Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 Looks great! Can't wait to see it underwater. Link to comment
elaak Posted December 30, 2007 Author Share Posted December 30, 2007 Less than a week until my tank arrives. Btw I got the best deal ever on a flame angel. I am keeping it in my current reef's 125 gallon "sump" that I installed to add more water volume. It was only $25 and 2in long. Link to comment
mattquist Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 Looks great...but your wife's gonna be pissed when she sees what you did to the patio table!!! Link to comment
elaak Posted December 30, 2007 Author Share Posted December 30, 2007 Looks great...but your wife's gonna be pissed when she sees what you did to the patio table!!! lol, nothing a good garden hose spritz cant fix Link to comment
noobwithatank Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 what about unwanted stuff building up in the light panels ( behind the rock and under it ) where snails etc cant get to Link to comment
The Propagator Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Water wont take off scratches my man ! :LOLI'll take a folding saw horse and a 2 X 12 for the win Bob !! what about unwanted stuff building up in the light panels ( behind the rock and under it ) where snails etc cant get toAreas hidden from light wont be an issue. Areas that are exposed to light will be though.Thats a good point. I periodically use a small SS brush to remove algae and crap from my egg crate racks. Link to comment
elaak Posted December 31, 2007 Author Share Posted December 31, 2007 if places that the CUC can't get to are bad then why is having very porous live rock a good thing? Kind of contradictory isnt it. either way, I am ording some new CUC from pacific east (Dr. Mac's) and I plan on ordering either a mated pair of coral banded shrimp or 2 skunk cleaners. They have some pretty good reach as far as inaccessible places go. Link to comment
The Propagator Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Hair algae, red slime, problem algae in general, will draw to your exposed egg crate like a magnet since it is NONPOROUS. Trust me it will happen. You just have to blow it off, scrape it off, or use a brush. Now thats mainly with part exposed to light though. The reason the CUC will hardly do anything with it is because the crabs can't climb it very well and the snails will get stuck every time they try it as well. Mine always do. But its not that big a deal. Link to comment
elaak Posted December 31, 2007 Author Share Posted December 31, 2007 There isnt any eggcrating that will be esposed to light (other than reflections) Link to comment
noobwithatank Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 what about the part that is considered the bottom.. wont the sand sifting snails not be able to do thier job as they cant get into the "holes" Link to comment
The Propagator Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 There isnt any eggcrating that will be esposed to light (other than reflections) Shouldn't have any problems then. Link to comment
elaak Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 So I modified the piece a little bit using a hacksaw. I decided is was too much of a giant mound so I cut a V-shaped section out of it. These are some pics of the LR cycling in a bucket right now. And a picture of the sand becoming "live". Might as well start early so its done sooner when my finnex arrives. Regarding sand sifting snails I am not to concerned. The crating is less than .5in thick so the snails will have plenty of room to move the surface around to keep the micro algea at bay. Was considering making the tank a dedicated mantis shrimp tank but decided against it. It wouldn't be a wise desicion to mix a 4-6" peacock with a 25g glass(display) and valuable SPS on top of that. I think I am going to use the 10g acrylic top-off water resivour from my 100g after I downsize to make one though. Link to comment
elaak Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 So, i went a little nuts with it. I decided it was to much rock and my tank would look very crowded a couple years down the road. Sooo, I hacked alot off. Link to comment
coolwaters Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 anyone think its wise to smash live rock really small and put it together like legos? it might lose some natural looks? im trying to build a type of edge reef where theres like a half circular wall. Link to comment
psychochase138 Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 anyone think its wise to smash live rock really small and put it together like legos?it might lose some natural looks? im trying to build a type of edge reef where theres like a half circular wall. you can but i wouldnt smash it into rubble size pieces try to leave some holes in the rock for fish and inverts to get through Link to comment
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