Re-aquascaping the tank
 

I'm looking to re-aquascape the left side of my tank and I'm looking to build two large free standing pillars. I've read about people drilling their rock and using acrylic rods and PVC to secure the rock together and I guess that's how I'm going to go about doing it. Now trying to figure out how to do it right without killing myself or sending a 20" LR pillar through my front sheet of glass.

I was wondering if anyone else has tried this and if you have any ideas for me to make my job a little bit easier! How did you construct the base so it is sturdy enough to handle the rock.

Any help would be . . . helpful!!

:lol:

I hope this link works.
[url]http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=227546&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500[/url]

I used some of the smallest PVC pipe, I think it is the 1" diameter, and fitted it together. Some of the joints I glued, some I intentionally did not. Instead of using the white vertical PVC pipes shown in the photo, I used the clear acrylic rods that fit right into the PVC elbows, that is if you get the right diameter. I also drilled a million holes in the bottom pipes so that there would be water flow, refugium type space for pods, etc. I even considered attaching a power head to blow water through the pipe, I considered a piece of clear tubing from a submerged powerhead hidden in the back blowing water through the pipe.

I had a very tall tank and wanted some open space in the front. You can see from the photo I had 2 smaller rock stacks in the front and 3 tall ones across the back. I used a mason drill bit and had the rock in a bucket of tank water, pulled it out, drilled the hole in about 10 seconds, and then submerged it back into the bucket water to rinse it. then plopped it back into the tank. The typical reef rock drilled much easier than I expected.

Newschool, if you are talking about the $5 fiberglass rods from homedepot, this link has really good pics and explanation:
[url]http://thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92079&page=10&highlight=acrylic+rods[/url]

I have not done it, but plan to use this scaping technique on my upcoming build. I would actually like to help you out in the rescape, if youd like some help (of course, I'd be learning with you). let me know, my schedule is pretty flexible this weekend.

I did everything outside of the tank. I used the largest and heaviest structured Rock pieces on the bottom and tried to get the rest of the rock to naturaly stack. Then I started drilling piece by piece. I used super glue to hold it all together "I also Used lots of glue in between the rocks too".

Here is a pic when I first set up my tank. I will see if I have any pics of me putting the pillars together.
[IMG]http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m292/rvision/frontshot.jpg[/IMG]

That looks great Steverino!

Where did you get he clear acrylic rods and I take it they come in PVC sizes, right?

Did you have the base of the structure in resting on top of your sand or on the glass? That is what worries me the most, it not being stable and falling.

Thanks for the pic and the great ideas!

Here is a more up-to-date shot
[IMG]http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m292/rvision/FTS_28_07.jpg[/IMG]

I used white driveway makers for mine, and they hold very well.

Most of the rocks sat on the horizontal tubes themselves, which are pretty much resting on the bottom glass. I had enough sand to cover most of the tubing. I used the larger pieces or rock at the bottom of course. I drilled some of the rock pieces at the end instead of at the middle, so they would create overhangs and create good coral ledges. McMaster Carr sells the arcylic rods, I believe they come in 1/8" increments, so you can get 1/2", 5/8", 3/4", 7/8" etc. You pick them up over in elmhurst at McM-Carr. The nice thing about this method is that you can slide the rocks off since they aren't glued, you can slide a piece off if you want to frag off or glue a coral to it, change out pieces, etc. The whole thing is very stable since the base structure is connected. i was afraid of rocks falling off a tall pile into the glass, that is why I did this structure.

JRAquatics, your tank looks great. I should say that gluing pieces would be fine if the tank is shallow like Jr's, but my tank was about 30" or 31" tall, so I needed some major league stacking height and having 50 lbs or rock glued together was impractical.

That looks great JRaquatics! What are driveway makers?

I'm not sure about those rods he uses in that thread mcliffy2. They just look two damn thin. Have you seen this TOTM, about halfway down he shows how he built his stand: [url]http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-10/totm/index.php[/url]

That is how I was thinking about doing it. Just not sure if the stand should be burried, or the best way to secure it without worrying that it will topple over.

Sure you can come over to help, I never turn help down. You may be witness to a great success or complete flop!! I'm thinking about doing this Saturday if I can get what I need by then.

Thanks for the comments. I'm sorry, I did mean driveway markers. Acropora Nut used 1/2 inch pvc for his. I was going to use PVC for mine but my pieces of rock were too small and would shatter if drilled.

I think I'm going with the PVC route. What I'm the most nervous about is having it steady. I have some large rocks to use as a base but I can't see them . . . because they are all buried. I'm going to build the stands and then go into this blind!

[QUOTE]
I used white driveway makers for mine, and they hold very well. [/B][/QUOTE]


Pat, I believe those are the fiberglass rods I pointed you to in that thread above. The guy in that thread said they were sturdier than PVC, but who knows. I think Jim (jglackin) also used them to do his aquascape and it seemlike it worked well for him.

Thanks for the link, I have seen that TOTM, but was not thinking about the stand when I looked at it. Going to try and mimic that for my stand I'll be building in the next few weeks.

Let me know if you do want help with the aquascape, I wouldn't mind at all having one under my belt before I endeavour on mine.

sure, practice on mine and then make yours unbelievable!!

Let me get back to you in a couple of days, I want to be fully prepared before I go and do this. Do you have a drill that uses a power cord? Mine is battery and I've been reading that they might not have enough umphhh to do the job.

Check out this thread:
[url]http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=746318&perpage=25&pagenumber=1[/url]

I just found it so I haven't had a chance to look through, but I think we might get some good ideas.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11545776#post11545776 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NewSchool04 [/i]
[B]sure, practice on mine and then make yours unbelievable!!

Let me get back to you in a couple of days, I want to be fully prepared before I go and do this. Do you have a drill that uses a power cord? Mine is battery and I've been reading that they might not have enough umphhh to do the job.

Check out this thread:
[url]http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=746318&perpage=25&pagenumber=1[/url]

I just found it so I haven't had a chance to look through, but I think we might get some good ideas. [/B][/QUOTE]

haha, tis true, no worries if you find a more experienced assistant, just let me know.

I also have a cordless (12V I believe), so looks like a drill will be in my future.

No way, you're in!! I've already got another assistant that is both taller and much bigger than both of us combined. We'll let him do the majority of the hard work while we take care of making sure it looks great!!

Don't tell ataylo13 about this thread. . .

I'm big on the holw pillar thing and the best advide i can give you is to not drill your rock. Whats your hurry? Take your time and slowly put the pillars together. I found Tonga to be some of the best rock for doing pillars and such. I actually started out with pillars and switched to islands. To make more room for coral. But seriously i thought about going down the drilling and acrylic rod road but after some patients and a few (cases) beer i ended up with a real nice aquascaped tank. If patience wears thin then go the acrylic road but it will be very rewarding in the end if you build a solid structur with just the rock.

JMO

You ned to do what works best for you.

There's no turning back now bignick, the idea is bouncing around in my head!

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11546329#post11546329 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NewSchool04 [/i]
[B]No way, you're in!! I've already got another assistant that is both taller and much bigger than both of us combined. We'll let him do the majority of the hard work while we take care of making sure it looks great!!

Don't tell ataylo13 about this thread. . . [/B][/QUOTE]

sweet, when do you want to get going? I have someone coming to pick up a desk that is taking the space I need for my new tank on 9-10 sat...I'll shoot you a PM so we dont bore everyone else here.

Looks like I have two partners in crime. Come Sat. it will either be success or failure, there is really no in between!!!

Youve probably seen these, but here are a couple recently scaped tanks that have given me some inspiration.

[url]http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1288059[/url]

[url]http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1204467[/url]

I was looking at the bonsai tank yesterday. That is very impressive.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11548800#post11548800 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NewSchool04 [/i]
[B]I was looking at the bonsai tank yesterday. That is very impressive. [/B][/QUOTE]

I know which one you are talking about on the SPS forum. If you can pull something like that one off that would be super sweet. Good luck, make sure you take pics.:D

if it turns out half as nice as that, I'll be happy.

pat id suggest acrylic or fiberglass rods and D&D epoxy. post pics and let us know how it goes :thumbsup:

what's D&D epoxy?

Eric, if I decided to use the rods, how do you suggest I take care of the base. Some have said just don't drill the base rock all the way through, place the rod in the hole and start stacking. Others suggest building a base with acrylic. I'm not sure if I can do this and how I would connect the rod to the acrylic base.

Any suggestions? As you can probably tell, my main concern is the stability of the structure.

deltec/d&d it's the best epoxy i've used.

for the base, it completely depends on the structure. if you're stacking rocks (which is tought for it to look good) use the acrylic sheet base with the PVC tube "pole"

for the fiberglass rod, either find a stable base rock, or use the rods to even out the base as a support.

there really is no "proper" way to do it. each rock and aqua scape is unique.