how is your live rock set-up? on your glass with sand around it? on the sand?
or do you incorporate any of the lift methods? any feedback on the lift methods positive and negative aspects would be appreciated? For some reason I still see the egg crate collecting detritus.
I was thinking about making a lift structure with acrylic rods.
good pics of acrylic rod method…
http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/kbseo.php?url=http:/www.thereeftank.com/forums/f76/new-and-improved-invisible-rock-lift-82542.html
Mine is set up in the sand / on the glass / sand around method. nothing is tied together, no structure under or behind it.
If I had to do it over I would probably put a sheet of eggcrate on the bottom, if for no other reasons then to hold some of the sand in place and keep from blowing around, and to provide something for the points of the rock to “lock” in to, instead of sitting on smooth glass.
I use plenum sand beds. i place a layer of nylon screening 2 inches deep in it to prevent burrowing and drifting. then i embed some base rock on the screen in the top two inches of gravel. that makes a stable base. and in the old 75 i had it stacked like bleacher seats agaisntthe back glass. the down side of that is dead flow behind the rock . all the detritus collects ther, and all the fine tailings from scraping coraline off the glass buildsup there as mud. in time this makes anerobic dead zones that can make hydrogen sulfide.
so next time i will make islands that are easier to vacuum behind and keep clean. better flow too.
Dont waste money on acrylic rods… 1/2" PVC works just as good, and it doesnt cost nearly as much. Plus, you can get elbows, T’s, and screw fittings so that you can make all sorts of shapes. I made a pillar with an overhang with dry rock zip tied on a PVC frame. Next time I set up a tank that is how all of my rock will be connected and aquascaped.
[quote=“icy1155, post:5, topic:3431”]
Dont waste money on acrylic rods… 1/2" PVC works just as good, and it doesnt cost nearly as much. Plus, you can get elbows, T’s, and screw fittings so that you can make all sorts of shapes. I made a pillar with an overhang with dry rock zip tied on a PVC frame. Next time I set up a tank that is how all of my rock will be connected and aquascaped.[/quote]
+1 you can make alot of different configurations, I did the tall column thing with 1/2 inch PEX PVC
i kind of used the pvc method in my old 55 and i really liked it…i used the pvc and two nineties to make an L that i could hang on the rim of my tank.
any concerns with the pvc being hollow and allowing build up vs. using a solid structure?
i used inch and a quarter pvc on my 55 and drilled as many holes in it as possible, then i used whatever holes i could to zip tie my rock…i really liked this method because I had two structures hanging on the back of my tank that didn’t come close to touching the bottom.
other than a possible 6’ bristle worm living in the pvc pipes, no probably no problems.
yeah, i remember seeing that pic before, I couldnt imagine coming downstairs and seeing that thing at night.
I had a dream there was a snake under my desk at work…still freaks me out when i brush my leg against something under my desk.
I used 1" couplings in the past to prop things up, but then again I wasn’t too worried about the appearance as it was in frag tanks. I think the acrylic rods can come out nice, but I think the link you provided shows very poor planning. All it was was a lifted up rock pile.
You have a lot of rock now start to play with it and come up with a plan. If you don’t care about the entire look of the aquarium and just want to house animals thats one thing. An LFS could use a rock pile like the one shown on that link or someone who is a laid back coral farmer who wants a semi natural look. I would recommend planning things out ahead of time and place your supports appropriately.
My new display tank will have supports to lift up the rock structures off the glass and off the closed loop. The entire tank has been planned out ahead of time. Now I just have to find the time to do it and get my brothers to come help me finish the stand.
I’ve always had great success with reflector poles. Those marker lights you put around mailboxes and such. Just pop the reflector off and cut to size. Biggest problem with PVC for me is the hole is a lot bigger in the rock, limiting your options (only can use large enough rocks to handle that sized hole) and possibly weakening the rocks. I used epoxy to tie everything together but will be experimenting with foam for a more natural look and to really strengthen my pillars up.
The look of epoxy, PVC, or whatever is a mute point in a reef tank vs FOWLR. Few American reef geeks leave much of any space between their corals and everything else becomes invisible. Consider the last pic of my tank I uploaded.
I mentioned to someone recently that the whole left side of the tank was one rock, and they were surprised and couldn’t tell that at all from the images. In the image below I circled the rock in red and green is where the three 1" couplings hold up the rock. A small rock of the same time was placed infront of the PVC in each spot.
That is one other thing to consider with propping things up. If you use larger rock and/or rock that is attached together some home you will have less touching the sand then just a pile of rocks. I like the look of an area that is open in the tank as well to give the tank a bit of balance of filled in and empty space, give the fish room to swim, and let some light down to LPS corals that like to sit on the sand such as your Lobos, Trachies, Fungia, and so on.
Mike if you are considering a tank just to hold rock then certainly forget putting a lot in your display. Just enough to place corals. The other tank if it shares the same water will help filter.
I was thinking one or two totes like 50 or 100 gal ones…its just tanks that I’ll be placing base rock into until it grows coralline algae. one will be for the rock…one for something undecided…and then i want to place the 40 gal sump i have under it…these are ideas as of right now, not sure what im going to go with in the end.
Atleast the tank the sump and one tote is what I would like to do. From past experience I’m going no baffle on all of these. I don’t find them 100% necessary like I did in the past. I’ve had good tanks with both and im just going to go this route this time around.
[quote=“longballz84, post:13, topic:3431”]
From past experience I’m going no baffle on all of these. I don’t find them 100% necessary like I did in the past. [/quote]
Used ATO in the past? If you are considering getting a controller it doesn’t cost too much to add in an ATO with a couple of cheap float switches. If you want to drain from 3-4 other tanks into one tank you may get a decent amount of splashing and it could make an ATO bob up and down a bit. You can keep it from driving a pump nuts with a little bit of programming, but ultimately it is up to you. No baffles needed at all in the rock tanks.
Consider the 100g rubber made stock tanks. They are food grade and cheaper then the 50g stock tanks! Build an egg create shelf a couple inches off the bottom use a closed loop or even simple check a submersible pump like a mag5 in the bottom with a couple of Ts, that and a heater and your set. I’ve got a regular old hole saw bit(not diamond coated) you can use to drill the stock tanks if you want to put bulk heads in high, you can borrow it if you’d like. Oh and if the stock tanks won’t fit in your car and you need a hand just let me know.
I would NOT recommend placing all of the rock connected to your main tank at all once if it is dry. It will likely significantly effect your chemistry. Perhaps plumb it in line with True unions closed off and do water changes into it until the chemistry stays solid for a week. I would use blue T5HO for coraline and make sure your Ca, Alk, and Mg stay solid. Jared was selling a Calcium reactor recently in the market place, however I think he may have already sold it to me. I may go check it out today and beat you to it.
very good point about ATO and baffles…I still think I’ll manage a little better without them…I’ll be using the JBJ ATO. I’ll be ordering that when I order the ES upgrades for the vortechs…
How much base would you consider ok to add say every two weeks? I’ll have to check parameters often until I get a feel for it, but I wanted to add atleast 50-100 lbs every two weeks. I would like to ideally get the Neptune before I purchased a Calc. reactor…let me know if you dont end up purchasing it, or if you did, and you have an old one to get rid of lmk…
where can I get those 100g totes? I like ones your talking about because the plastic is very rigid and I know someone with them drilled with bulkheads on a reef tank which is assuring.
Jon uses the 100 rubber made and takes advantage of the “steps” they have built into them to rest his PVC platform on. but i like the oval tuff tubs. they have flat sides, flat bottom, more compact and cost less. only problem is a while back they added a bronze 1 inch bulk head into the bottom side for drain or supply pipe in the field. we don’t like that. but you could order one without, i think. Ive used one without bulkhead for my koi tub for 4 or 5 years now. a 110. its 21 inches deep, and 48 long by 34 wide on the oval inside. it gives more area than the taller, narrow rubbermade. costs less and weighs less too. i think the bulkhead could be painted over and sealed with silicon, to keep it from coroding into the salt water.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/livestock/livestock-equipment/stock-tanks-accessories/stock-tanks/
just another choice.
you think the tractor supply on 896 has these? I’ll give them a ring…Do the home depot/lowes style stores carry totes? Ill have to check the old thread we had going about reef safe plastic…i think we agreed the lower the number the safer?
You know anyone interested in my old tank Jon? I could give you a nice deal/equip. trade for it ;D
100g totes come from tractor supply usually. There is one in Elkton Maryland just over the line across from Walmart on 40.
Don’t get the JBJ ATO if you are getting a Neptune. JBJ ATO is about 4-5 times the coast of just the floats for use with the Neptune.
You’ll kind of have to get a feel for what adding the base rock does to your system. If it is figi dry rock it will have more dead material onto then quarried material. There are at least 6 different types of dry rock.
yup, the tractor supply on 40 usually has some tubs on the racks outside. but check if it has the brass fitting. i wish they would go back to no drain fitting on the tuff tubs. last year they had a 150 gallon tuff tub also. i was thinking of one for my koi.
Missed the second page.
If there is a 1" brass bulk head perhaps you could pop it out and put in a 1" FTP? If it is glued solid in cut it and and replace it with 1.5" or 2" life guard or spears bulk head.(the types we typically use with reef tanks)
What size is your old tank? Did it come Reef Ready?
The recycling symbols really don’t mean crap. The only think you can do is experiment and possibly crash your tank with antimolding agents you don’t know about, or find the material becomes brittle and cracks with age, or find how food grade safe the materials are. USplastics.com and the companies that make float switch list more information then you would ever need to make a decision. Best best is to google around for the best option and then call up both the vendors and the manufacturer to make sure food safe materials were used. Food safe = reef safe.
Hope this helps. BTW, you got PM