HDPE or PVC Sheets?

Jimbo · Jul 28, 2015

Thinking of going barebottom this time around, anybody know if either are available locally ? I'm in Clarksville.

Jimbo · Jul 29, 2015

Disregard. Ordered on line

Rhino · Aug 2, 2015

Out of curiosity, where did you end up ordering them from?

mcarroll · Aug 2, 2015

I'm curious what the sheet has to do with going bare bottomed?

FWIW I would recommend HDPE vs PVC if it was for something in-tank.

reefwiser · Aug 2, 2015

I have had club members put this on the bottoms of their tanks with disastrous effect. [emoji3]

Jimbo · Aug 2, 2015

I guess it's more commonly called Starboard which is a brand name. Protects the bottom glass in case of rock falling. It's debatable whether it's necessary or not, I like the look better than bare glass and like the protection also, although either will eventually be encrusted in Coralline I'd imagine.

The worst I have heard is that sometimes some detritus makes its way underneath the Starboard which is still probably way less than collects in a sandbed. What disastrous effect are you referring to?

Eckolancer · Aug 2, 2015

My rimless tank bottom is starboard. Been up and running for about 2 years no issues so far and bottom is completely covered in coralline.

reefwiser · Aug 2, 2015

Had a tank crash from star board. Club member is a long time reef keeper. I wanted to try bare bottom starboard tank. Didn't go well.

Eckolancer · Aug 2, 2015

reefwiser said:
Had a tank crash from star board. Club member is a long time reef keeper. I wanted to try bare bottom starboard tank. Didn't go well.

I would like to know how you figure starboard crashed your tank? It is just plastic based like a lot of other equipment in the tank. If you had barebottom with minimal live rock. You can have faster fluctuations than a tank with say sand or lots of live rock.

mcarroll · Aug 4, 2015

I dunno about tank crashes, but I know gravity will see to it that detritus gets under it. Gravity only has one job, works 24/7, and is very persistent. [emoji1]

Eckolancer · Aug 4, 2015

mcarroll said:
I dunno about tank crashes, but I know gravity will see to it that detritus gets under it. Gravity only has one job, works 24/7, and is very persistent. [emoji1]

This is true if you just lay a piece in there but mine is siliconed in place with no way for anything to get under it. I would recommend everyone to do it that way if using it.

Jimbo · Aug 4, 2015

I've read that silicone does not stick to Starboard. Worked for you?

Eckolancer · Aug 4, 2015

My tank is glass wall with starboard on the bottom. Been holding water for 2 years and tank was bought used. Guy before me had it for a couple years. So pretty sure it's holding just fine.

Jimbo · Aug 4, 2015

What I meant was does the silicone hold the Starboard to the bottom glass and prevent detritus from getting underneath?

Eckolancer · Aug 5, 2015

If you do it right. If you just slap random spots of silicon in there I'm sure it would go under it.

reefwiser · Aug 5, 2015

The club member removed the sand from his display tank. And placed all rock and corals in the rest of his system. He has a whole fish room setup with breeding clowns and coral frag system. He silicones the starboard to the bottom an put everything back into the tank. From that point on he had noting but problems with the tank till he removed the starboard. This is just a data point your mileage may vary.

mcarroll · Aug 5, 2015

Ya silicone would do it. [emoji6]. No sheer force so it's mostly filling space vs any structural role. (Of course you'll be looking at that from the other perspective if you ever want to get the star board out.[emoji41])

FWIW, I've seen large custom tanks built with PVC bottoms - I assumed that was a weight-saving (thus cost saving) maneuver tho. Regardless of the intention it would get you the same benefit I guess.

If I were worried like that about falling rock I'd be equally worried about the glass walls. And the animals! Personally, I would re-stack the rock before relying on a plastic bottom to save the day. [emoji56][emoji56]