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Stock Cat Entry

2.5 AGA

Tetratec PF150 HOB (for the surge effect)

Tetratec Heater

13W or 18W PC (running either 6700 or 10k bulb)

Digital Thermometer

DIY Autotop off

 

Currently building a foam background for the tank, out of egg crate and Right Stuff foam. Will take pics once its done.

 

DSCN0662.jpg

 

-Mike

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Ok,

 

Here is my first attempt at a foam background - mainly to hide the intake of the HOB and to provide more of a reef wall effect in such a narrow tank. Right Stuff foam over egg crate, coated with southdown sand. Once foam cures, I'll add SW some live sand and tons of coralline scrappings and hopefully jump start the growth.

 

Foam should provide a good place to mount frags and I will supplement with some smaller LR pieces.

 

DSCN0663.jpg

 

DSCN0664.jpg

 

DSCN0665.jpg

 

-Mike

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you'll know your great-stuff is cured when it's a sickening orange color

 

Yes, its called Great Stuff, I've used it before for house repairs - its always cured to a yellowish color. As for being against the rules, didn't see anything against making your own LR, which is basically what I'm doing - you can also do the same thing with Portland Cement #13 just takes a whole lot longer to cure. I believe the intent of the stock category was to see what people can do with a basic unmodified equipment set. People should be free to aquascape or stock how they like.

 

-Mike

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i would think you'd want to preset some holes/tubes in that stuff. (e.g. straws) for flow tubes and circulation, rather than a large chunk.

 

the foam isn't porous, right? it's light (i.e. not dense) but i thought it's still impermeable or solid.

 

if you preset the foam with such tubes or pathways, you'd get tunnels (think lava flow tubes) throughout the structure. the trick would be laying it out beforehand. you could glue together some type of lattice/matrix for a skeletonal structure. that may also allow you to craft some caves and such too.

 

also, what tube material to use? hmmm... straws would be good but even better if you could remove them afterwards. imo tho slight damage wouldn't be an issue as you're looking to replicate a chaotic LR growth anyways. hth

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i would think you'd want to preset some holes/tubes in that stuff. (e.g. straws) for flow tubes and circulation, rather than a large chunk.

 

the foam isn't porous, right? it's light (i.e. not dense) but i thought it's still impermeable or solid.

 

if you preset the foam with such tubes or pathways, you'd get tunnels (think lava flow tubes) throughout the structure. the trick would be laying it out beforehand. you could glue together some type of lattice/matrix for a skeletonal structure. that may also allow you to craft some caves and such too.

 

also, what tube material to use? hmmm... straws would be good but even better if you could remove them afterwards. imo tho slight damage wouldn't be an issue as you're looking to replicate a chaotic LR growth anyways. hth

Hi,

Its actually one solid piece of foam around an eggcrate skeleton. I shaped it as it was drying and once it dried I used a kitchen knife to shape it to fit the tank. The stuff is a closed cell foam so its not porous unless a cell is cut. It has the same consistency as the spray in packing foam some companies use to ship stuff in. The foam LR has alot of nook and crannies so there is a high probability of detrius build up unless I have good random - turbulent flow. The Tetratec PF150, as bad of a HOB as it is is the only one that has a surge device built in, it actually works well as long as you keep the water level with a ATO. I'm hoping the turbulent flow will be enough to keep the detrius in suspension so it its captured by the supplied filter/carbon pad. The foam itself doesn't look that great - but if I'm able to jumpstart growth and once the tank is established for 4-6 months it should look like live rock. The foam would be good to tie together base rock as well or even fashion into small rocks. You would have to weight it down with something since it floats.

 

-Mike

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Some updated pics

 

Added live sand, water, and one Tetratec carbon/filter pad to help clear the water. Pics were taken shortly after water was added. Tank lit by one old 13W 50/50 bulb. I'm still deciding what type of lighting to use, either the 13W or a 18W retrofit. The 2.5g nano is next to my 12g custom nano.

 

The surge effect is producing some pretty good flow - but its towards the right side of the tank. It also produces a good amount of bubbles.

 

Tank on its hogshood hood/base.

DSCN0671.jpg

 

DSCN0674.jpg

 

 

Crappy 13W Galaxy light for now.

DSCN0675.jpg

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I don't know if you're familiar with it--but there was a discussion about this a long time ago in RC, and I contacted the manufacturer of "Great Stuff". I inquired if it was safe to be in a saltwater tank--they said that over time the foam will diminish and break down...and they've confirmed that it WILL leech contaminants into your water thereafter.

 

I think it's a cool idea but just be wary that it's not something you'd want to keep in your tank for a very long time.

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Tank generated a lot of discussion which is good. In terms of long term implication of foam, its generally agreed that UV will cause the foam to fall apart after several years of exposure - depending on how much UV. The various types of foam have been used for years for pond building, etc. There are many opinions on this so its best to take it to another thread.

 

Here are some updated pics - I've added 2 small pieces of LR the rest will be from mounted frags. I adjusted the output so that the surge goes against the front glass producing a nice wave effect, water level rises about 1/4" when this happens.

And now I don't have a problem with the sand being dug out on the right side of the tank.

 

-Mike

 

 

DSCN0714.jpg

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2.5g has completed its cycle. The 13W retrofit kit I ordered from AH supply arrived today so I put it in to replace the 13w galaxy light I had before. The reflector is quite nice - still using the old 50/50 bulb, will swap that out in a few days.

 

Will do a water change tomorrow and add a small frag and see how it does.

 

DSCN0738A.jpg

 

Top shot of reflector and 2.5g glass canopy cut down (replaced the acrylic one I had on there before).

DSCN0741B.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

Update - frags added 2 weeks ago are doing fine. Will frag out some mats and add them to the foam wall later this week and also frag a gorg for the left side of tank. Will look at adding in a small snail or hermit in a week or so.

 

Added 2 LPS frags, some very small ric frags, a small umbrella mushroom, and some polyps, two small xenia frags (brown and pink)

 

Added DIY ATO, 2 water changes so far, aprox .5 gallons each time.

 

nov_13_05_tank.jpg

 

frogspawn_frag.jpg

 

caul_frag.jpg

 

polyp_frags.jpg

 

polyp_frags2.jpg

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Hi,

 

Thanks - the foam is called Great Stuff you can buy it at Home Depot or Lowes. Coralline will grow on it just takes longer. The concept is similar to using dead rock (www.hirocks.com) and seeding the tank with LR. In time the dead rock -> live rock.

 

Here is a pic of a hirocks dead rock, that has been in my other tank for about 2 yrs, it has decent coverage and looks pretty close to standard Fiji liverock, albeit a bit less porous.

 

hirocks-base.jpg

 

Here is a nice tank that using relatively low light and a foam background

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-02/totm/index.php

 

A link on other reefer's that are trying the foam experiment

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...threadid=447292

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