Fill my tank with bricks??

[pdxmonkeyboy]

huh? you're making the bottom sloped to make it appear deeper? Are you wanting something so that the rock stays in place and doesn't fall/slide to the lowest point? I'm sorry, I'm just confused as to how this would work. I would think you would have to support the bottom (to keep it from blowing out) since it is sloped and not flat.

If you fill that "triangle" up with sand (cured as a wedge or whatever) that slope is not going to make the tank appear deeper, that space will be filled with that sand

It will not make the tank any deeper.. but it gives the illusion of depth. This is a classic tenant of aquascaping. Additionally, having a long sloping sand bed will enable me to showcase more things on the sandbed as it will be sloping, and therefore you can easily see everything on the sandbed more readily.

I just don't want to have a 8" deep sandbed, and as mentioned above, circulation would tend to flatten things out. I am planning a closed loop system so could in theory have a couple outlets in front blowing sand to the back.

My gut tells me that it COULD look super cool, you just hardly ever see reef tanks scaped this way. But then again... meticulously aquascaped tanks are few and far between.

 

[jlts21]

It will not make the tank any deeper.. but it gives the illusion of depth. This is a classic tenant of aquascaping. Additionally, having a long sloping sand bed will enable me to showcase more things on the sandbed as it will be sloping, and therefore you can easily see everything on the sandbed more readily.

I just don't want to have a 8" deep sandbed, and as mentioned above, circulation would tend to flatten things out. I am planning a closed loop system so could in theory have a couple outlets in front blowing sand to the back.

My gut tells me that it COULD look super cool, you just hardly ever see reef tanks scaped this way. But then again... meticulously aquascaped tanks are few and far between.

right that's what I was saying. If you put sand on the bottom, it will all eventually fall to the lowest point and will no longer cover the entire slope. Same with making a sand wedge. If you make a sand wedge to put in the front/bottom space (to keep the loose sand from falling to the bottom) then that slope will no longer be there (the space will be filled with that wedge), eliminating that illusion. If you figure out a way to do it, I can't wait to see it

 

[oceanslide]

You could silicone in baffles each a different height and fill each section with sand to kind of make like steps or get large rocks and cut both sides down to have perfectly flat edges of both sides then stack those to create the height

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

The slope is so gradual that I don't see it being a huge problem. The tank is 4 feet wide. So 8" of rise over 48" is only a slope of 17% or 10 degrees.

 

[Paul B]

@Paul B he makes his own rocks. I'm sure it's on here some place.

Never heard of him.

My tank is probably half concrete "rock" I originally collected all my own rock in the sea but over the years I replaced much of it because home made rock can be much nicer than real rock. Real rock is thrown up on barges and all the protrusions break off leaving boring rock. But you can build anything you like.

I build rock using PVC that I bend in weird shapes and cover with mortar leaving the rock hollow which is great for bacterial growth.
I have also used clay brick under the rock to prop it up. Brick is very cheap and porous, it's great stuff and I am surprised everyone don't use it.












That above rock is about 3' long, you can see some of it here above and to the right of the Moorish Idol


This one is the Backbone of my reef. It is a bunch of smaller rocks cemented together.

 

[ramona]

He's the guy been using a reversed undergravel filter for 48 years and counting.....

 

[Rubblereefer]

In the freshwater planted tank world, we use gravel in mesh bags to create slopes, like the kind of mesh bags you’d put carbon in. They are totally inert and you can move/shape/remove them easily. Just put them where you want elevation and cover with sand.

 

[Paul B]

He's the guy been using a reversed undergravel filter for 48 years and counting.....

Yeah, that's him

 

[Shooter6]

Use eggcrate and zip ties. Add a couple wave makers to the back sides, then plenty of waterflow and no detritus buildup. Look at frag tanks instead of placing frags on it place rock.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

I dont think I follow about the egg crate. You mean egg crate then rock and sand?

 

[tony'stank]

I would be wary of bricks because there is no real way to know what’s in them . I would consider landscape limestone flat rocks to create the slope. Joe yuillo of the Long Island Aquarium and I believe Bill Waugh’s used used them. I think they both have blind threads on R2R. Good luck on what I’m sure will be an epic build