Fake substrate ideas

[tecoral]

Hey guys, Im in the middle of an upgrade into an AGA125 but will be going with RDSBs instead of display tank substrate.

Now, I didnt want to get into the old BB vs. SB talk but I really dont want substrate in this tank. The remote sandbeds and fuge should keep Na down. Now heres what Im thinking, but havent heard anyone doing it. I was wondering about spreading a thin layer of silicone on the tank bottom and putting a coat of sand over it. This is purley for looks, since I dont want to deal with sand, white starboard, or a plane glass bottom. Im thinking it will coralline up naturally and might look pretty good till its covered. Also It may be easier to scrape silicone in the future than coralline.

I suppose I could coat some starboard in silicone and do the same thing but from what I remember its pretty spendy. Any thoughts or drawbacks to this plan?? Other ideas?

[SIZZLA KALONJI]

I have two friends that have done what you describe ..only using epoxy,then sand(besause they could mix and pour a very thin layer in the bottom of the aquariumand it would lay perf. flat unlike trying to spread/smear the silicone flat.-Respect

[tecoral]

Interesting, I wonder if the epoxy could ever be cleaned if you wanted to do something different. I think that would scare me a bit. I wonder if I cut a piece of thin plexi and coated it with silicon and sand if that would be something that would look pretty good, it should be easy to take out if I ever got tired of it and it shouldnt float if I dabbed a bit of silicone on bottom, not to mention the 100+lbs of rock. Good idea or no?

[szeth13]

for the epoxy, you have to put the epoxy and sand onto something the size of the bottom of your tank. you can't put it on the bottom of your tank. it expands and contracts when curring and might crack/ break your tank.

[hahnmeister]

I would do something removable instead. You can coat starboard with the epoxy and attach the sand to that. Or, my favorite solution was to simply make aragacrete plates that fit in the bottom of the tank.

[96p993]

I have done exactly what hahn has described....works great. You cant tell it isnt a shallow sandbed unles you stick your hand in the water. It really is the best way to go

[tecoral]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8523155#post8523155 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by szeth13
for the epoxy, you have to put the epoxy and sand onto something the size of the bottom of your tank. you can't put it on the bottom of your tank. it expands and contracts when curring and might crack/ break your tank.

That makes more sense. OK, Ill check into an epoxy bottom probably made of a few sections.

Thanks guys.

[Fishguru]

What i did to make it look like a Sand bed was took a sheet of plex, just smaller than the tank size, and coated it Very lightly with Aragocrete, and the when it was still damp, i pored a consistant 1/4" sand over it and let it harden, then dumed off excess sand, and then soacked it in fresh water for 3 weeks, changing 2 times a week. I guess if you didnt like the look of sand you could just make it aragocrete, if you have the remote DSB, and then you could make a bottom, that had a texture, but was also beneficial to your tank.

[tecoral]

What is a decent tank safe epoxy, just any 2 part or is there a certain kind I should look for?

I think Im going to make a 3 piece bottom to wrap around the overflows and coat the epoxy with sand. I like this idea because I can make slight depth differences to keep it from looking too flat.
The argacrete idea is a good one but Im using black sand and I cant get the look I want with cement.

[Rhodophyta]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8528093#post8528093 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tecoral
What is a decent tank safe epoxy, just any 2 part or is there a certain kind I should look for?

I think Im going to make a 3 piece bottom to wrap around the overflows and coat the epoxy with sand. I like this idea because I can make slight depth differences to keep it from looking too flat.
The argacrete idea is a good one but Im using black sand and I cant get the look I want with cement. Make a cardboard or heavy posterboard model form of your tank and line it with a double layer of wax paper.That way you can do a little sawing if needed, and you are not "stuck" like if you do it in the tank and don't like the results.

[z_rivers]

what your trying to do is called a faux sandbed, do a search and youll get many results. the only problem with it is coralline algae will grow over it causing the whole bottom to turn purple. something to think about.

[Rhodophyta]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8528600#post8528600 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by z_rivers
what your trying to do is called a faux sandbed, do a search and youll get many results. the only problem with it is coralline algae will grow over it causing the whole bottom to turn purple. something to think about.

Such as this one:

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=372666&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

Make it in parts, with each unshaded part duplicated, so you can trade each part out, bleach and dry, and set aside for the next time. This is based on the old 60's, 70's style of marine tanks where "dead-coral keepers" would have two sets of bleached coral skeletons for each of their tanks and swap them out when the then-desired bone white began to pick up reds, purples, browns, and greens.

[tecoral]

Rhodophyta, thanks. Thats just what I was looking for. I couldnt get the search to work the other day, must have fixed it. Im not too worried about the purple bottom, I just didnt want to look at glass til its covered. With any luck someday it will be covered in corals anyway. Having high flow and being able to blow out the floor as well as not keeping up on the SB is a good trade off to me.

Dont get me wrong though, I do love a nice maintained SB
:)

[hahnmeister]

I like the aragacrete better. I like that option that G-money did as well, but it looks, well... FLAT!!! Lol. Kinda weird to look at almost... TOO FLAT. With aragacrete, you make a contour to the bottom, even putting in small posts and pegs to hold rocks in place. you can run hidden piping in it for flow, or even make channels inside of it to act as collection areas for detritus (it will go somewhere, so you might as well make a home for it so you can easily get it out).

[tecoral]

Hahn, the argacrete would be a good way to go also. I wish I had gotten enough argonite to do something like that but Im really itching to get this thing going. Ive been building the stand and being lazy for 6 months:rolleye1: Well, not really, I just didnt have the funds to get the equipment I wanted. I still have to refinish the light fixture (3- 250w MHs).

I just got done with some new argacrete rocks to suppliment the 80lbs in the 55 and it literally took 2 months to cure. Im not looking forward to another wait although I still need even more.

Im going to check on the starboard tomorrow, but I like the idea of epoxy instead of pvc cement. Will any epoxy work for a glue?
Looks like Ill have about 50x turnover so Im thinking this will be a good solution for me.

[Dr.FuManchu]

I have a 10 gallon w/ limestone bottom. I had a friends of mine who installs kitchen counters cut me a piece of limestone 3/4" thick by 19and1/2" long. It is unpolished stone with shells and stuff imbedded in it. It is turning into live rock with stuff growin in/on it. Looks like a ssb from a short distance.

[mbbuna]

i used FRP (fiber reinforced panels) you can get them from HD for about $25 for a 4x8 sheet. its only 1/16" thick and easy to cut. then just smear silicone on it and through sand down. its pretty flexible so you may want to put a dab of silicone in the corners to keep it from lifting from the flow

[tecoral]

Ill check that stuff out too thanks, I havent totally commited to one way or the other yet.

[hahnmeister]

The limestone does work very well, it is just old old coral skeleton anyways. I used to use paver-like pieces as rockwork for my african cichlids. Much cheaper than other aquarium stuff at the store (or that texas holey rock), and since Lanonstone is mined about 30 minutes from where I live, I can get a whole pallette for about $50 delivered.

I remember the 90g that I had with tanganyikans, bare-bottom, with just flat slabs of the limestone for a 'pseudo substrate' that the fish couldnt move around.

After time, detritus, poop, etc built up, and filled in the cracks, as well as the gaps underneath the rocks. Over time, these pockets became so dense that denitrification started under the rocks... I could tell by looking throught the bottom of the tank and seeing the gas bubbles. Also, if any of the rocks shifted, the gas would escape.

This does make me wonder... do you guys elevate the bottom of the starboard or panel off the bottom of the tank? It would seem that that small gap between the bottom of it and the glass could develop some crazy stuff otherwise...