55 Gallon Zoa Only Tank Build

[fishindude]

Any new progress?

Just cycling the rock as of right now. My old live rock is cooking going on 3 weeks now... trying to get all the algae off. The rubble rock is cycling with a powerhead going on 2 weeks.

I should be getting my Koralia soon and then I can cut the crate some more. The only other thing I was thinking about was using the foam and sand first on the eggcrate and then epoxying rock onto that. This way it is not as messy and it is all covered. The only question is will it hold properly?

 

[Doherty]

The only other thing I was thinking about was using the foam and sand first on the eggcrate and then epoxying rock onto that. This way it is not as messy and it is all covered. The only question is will it hold properly?

That is a good questiion......

With putting the foam and sand first it would be alot easier and wont make a mess of the rock...... i have never worked with the stuff before.....

Im thinking by doing it the way you talked about..... in a sense you are adhering the rock to a thin layer of sand glued to foam..... it might not hold that well, with the weight it thr rock may peal off.

Or are you thinking of leaving some space to adhear it right to the eggcrate?

 

[fishindude]

That is a good questiion......

With putting the foam and sand first it would be alot easier and wont make a mess of the rock...... i have never worked with the stuff before.....

Im thinking by doing it the way you talked about..... in a sense you are adhering the rock to a thin layer of sand glued to foam..... it might not hold that well, with the weight it thr rock may peal off.

Or are you thinking of leaving some space to adhear it right to the eggcrate?

Thanks for the help by the way, you have been very helpful!
I was not planning on leaving spaces, but you are right it may peel off. I didn't think of that. I was only thinking of the rock adhering to the surface with the epoxy. The only way to tell is if I do a small sample piece. I have plenty of left over eggcrate so I will buy the stuff and see how it feels.

 

[Doherty]

Thanks for the help by the way, you have been very helpful!

No problem..... I'm thinking of doing that with my 5.5, its a very cool idea. When i decide to start up mine i will have this thread to look back on. Mine will just be on a much smaller scale....

Like you said do a test piece first and see how it holds up..... you never know it may be stronger than we think

 

[fishindude]

Everything is almost ready... I bought my light, a 4 bulb T5 fixture. The rock, both live and dry, is still well within cycle range which is okay since the tank doesn't need to be filled with water until June to stay on schedule.

The next piece I want to get ready is my refugium. While I could buy a hang on back version, I would rather convert my 5 gallon or 20 gallon into a refugium. What do I need... I have the lighting for both and the sand as well as some extra live rock. What would the process be?

 

[fishindude]

One more thing... one of my goals is this display to be as quiet as possible. It will be in a bedroom so as far as water return pumps and such, I am looking for as quiet (and reliable) as possible.

 

[JasonandRay]

ehim pumps are silent =]

 

[fishindude]

ehim pumps are silent =]

I guess my question is about ensuring there will be no overflowing. If I use some sort of syphon to remove water from the DT and then a ehim (or other) pump to pump it back in, how can I make sure there is never an overflow?

 

[JasonandRay]

what are you look for a closed loop? or a sump eheims are internal pumps and wont work for closed loops.

 

[KJB]

+1 on the Eheim. I have a 1260 for my return. It is zero noise. I run mine externally, they can do either.

 

[fishindude]

what are you look for a closed loop? or a sump eheims are internal pumps and wont work for closed loops.

I am not looking for a closed loop, I want to have my 20 gallon next to my DT and maybe run a syphon taking water out of the DT. I then want a pump to return the water back. This 20 gallon will be lower than my 55, say, 3 feet from the top of the 55.

 

[JasonandRay]

the either drill your tank make a diy pvc over flow or buy a hob over flow.

 

[fishindude]

the either drill your tank make a diy pvc over flow or buy a hob over flow.

hmm... How can you tell if I got a 1/2'' diameter tubing how many gph that is? When I buy a return pump do I simply match that number?

 

[fishindude]

I contacted Kannin (a fellow rock wall builder) and asked him about attaching rock directly to foam. He said he wouldn't do it that way as he believes too much foam would need to be used.

I am now thinking of spraying the entire thing with foam and sand first and then using silicone to attach the rock. Either way, by the end of this week or early next week, I will pick up a can of the foam and do a test.

 

[jason12345]

i know 1" is about 600 gph

 

[naturebatslast]

Foam can be not so friendly, that was a wall...

[/IMG]

 

[fishindude]

yikes! What happened? What kind of foam was this?

 

[coralcor]

Foam can be not so friendly, that was a wall...

[/IMG]

it started floating? first i have ever seen that...... id you leave a place to burry it in the sand? or did it not have any rock on it?

 

[naturebatslast]

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=47998&highlight=foam
Probably one of the best complete tank builds on BRS, until the foam.

 

[mchartier]

The foam is very bouyant, I used it many times when I was keeping poinson dart frogs. The only thing is that I siloconed the back wall then placed wood and rock in place using string to hold the objects in the angle that I wanted and then foamed the back wall. I have heard of others making the entire background on a piece of acrylic that is the size of the back wall then securing that to the tank.