Froggie's 33g Upgrade (Will Update Impulsively!)

[bad coffee]

It's gonna be sick with sps growing on those towers!

B

 

[Quang]

Q is the rock pictured, the exact rock you are getting? or is this where you got your idea?

i just don't know how it will look w/ corals. i think coral placement will be very hard w/ rockwork like that. i would like that in a freshwater tank better.

best of luck it is fresh and new.

Those are the actual rocks I'm getting...I don't think anyone has tried this before.
We can only know how the corals placement will look once I put it in my tank.

This was the project summary I sent them. They cut it exactly to my specifications.

 

[nanoreefer22]

LoL Looks nice. Very unique to say the very least. If this look doesnt work, have them carve out Atlantis

 

[scarf_ace1981]

don't you think it will block corals from view? what if one of those things falls over, won't it break the tank?

 

[Quang]

Scarf, I'll be using sand so I'm not worry about it falling to the ground and breaking the bottom glass.
However, I understand your concern about the side glasses.
I initially planned to sink the rocks into the sand a good 2" so it wont fall over. However, I'm thinking of also using Marinaboard, drilling a whole in the rock and a corresponding whole in the Marinaboard, and threading it with hard plastic air tubing. I'll then cover the Marinaboard with 1" of sand with 1" of sand underneath.

 

[scarf_ace1981]

good plan. i see you're getting a coral beauty for this tank. i love those little guys. best of luck.

 

[Quang]

Or maybe just epoxying the base to the marina board

 

[masterswimmer]

Wasn't Atlantis the sunken city? When did Stonehenge become submerged? :tongue1: I'll be tagging along on this one.

I used the Marina board on my nano then covered with a couple inches of sand too Q. Safety reasons. Drilling and embedding solid acrylic rods as opposed to the rigid airline tubing would be adviseable. I've found epoxy to eventually breakdown in SW.

swimmer

 

[herman]

Froggie, Rather than using epoxy and not being able to remove it if need be, you should screw a pvc flange on the marinaboard. On the flange you can glue several acryllic or small pvc pipes. These pipes will slip into the bottom of the stonehenge rocks into the holes that you will drill. Then you add the sand and no one can see how you fastened everything. This way you can remove everything and it will be stable.

As far as SPS or other corals distorting the look of stonehenge because they are growing, I would not worry to much cause you will have achieved the most desireable goal in reefkeeping which is to hide the rocks with coral.

As far as the design goes, its freakin awesome and you will have great flow through the entire thing.

 

[herman]

Master beat me - This just proves that alcohol and smokes slow you down!!

 

[Quang]

Whats the diameter of the pvc flange and pipes?
Do they come small enough to fit a 2"x2" footprint??
The rocks only have a 2"x2" base.

 

[cali_reef]

skip the marine board, use a PVC board and PVC rods, drill holes on the bottom of the verticle rock pieces and place them over the rods, they will not tip over.

Cool concept, interesting to see how it looks after it is done in a small cube.

 

[masterswimmer]

Master beat me -

Just a bit too personal for me :shhh:

Lots of good ideas floating around Q. Any one of a number of them will work fine.

FYI - acrylic rods << this one is only 3/8" dia. They come in different sizes.

swimmer

 

[Quang]

Thx Herman, Russ, and Pierce for the ideas.

I was thinking about using these acrylic sheets.
<table cellpadding="4" width="100%"><tbody><tr class="basketrow2"><td class="tiny" align="left">
</td><td class="tiny" align="left">Acrylic Sheet 24" x 24" x 1/10" (.100) Thick</td></tr></tbody></table>http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/pr...SPlastic&category_name=21314&product_id=10477

with the rods Russ suggested.
Good enough you think?

 

[masterswimmer]

Are you planning to use weldon to attach the rods to the sheet? 1/10" is much to thin to just drill holes and insert rod.

swimmmer

 

[Quang]

Russ, I'm thinking of not attaching the rods to the sheet at all. Just threading it through. So that I can pull out the rod/rock and insert into another hole if I wanted. Bad idea?

 

[masterswimmer]

I'm confused how the rods will provide any support Q. If they are inserted into the rock, but not into a base, then where is the support coming from?

swimmer

 

[Quang]

Sorry if I'm confusing you. I'm not such a good explainer.

The rod will be inserted and permanently set into the rock.
Then a whole will be drilled in the sheet matching the diameter of the rod.
1-1.5" of sand is laid down.
I put the sheet ontop the sand.
Then insert the rod (now as part of the rock) through the holes in the sheet...into the 1-1.5" sand.
Then add on another layer of sand...1"-1.5" ontop.

So the rock are supported by the rod being threaded through the sheet thats lying midway in the sandbed b/w two layers of sand.

I'm doing this so that I can pull out the rods/rocks from the holes anytime I want.

Hope that clarifies things.

 

[SaltWaterN00b]

Sorry if I'm confusing you. I'm not such a good explainer.

The rod will be inserted and permanently set into the rock.
Then a whole will be drilled in the sheet matching the diameter of the rod.
1-1.5" of sand is laid down.
I put the sheet ontop the sand.
Then insert the rod (now as part of the rock) through the whole in the sheet...into the 1-1.5" sand.
Then add on another layer of sand...1"-1.5" ontop.

So the rock are supported by the rod being threaded through the sheet thats lying midway in the sandbed b/w two layers of sand.

I'm doing this so that I can pull out the rods/rocks from the wholes anytime I want.

Hope that clarifies things.

Like Legos! good idea

 

[Quang]

Thx Salt...

I jsut realized I've been spelling holes with wholes. Sorry, I didnt get much sleep planning this whole thingy.