How-to question

[Anihiel1]

Bottom line- my horsehoe crab needs more sand-space. After looking at the price of larger tanks (omg!) , I happened upon a video of a floating reef. And thought, well that would free up sand-space inexpensively. ...wondering if anyone has done this, and would something like this work...?

 

[Anihiel1]

and sorry if that might be a stupid question or solution, we really weren't expecting her to molt as quickly as she did and don't have a few extra grand laying around to upgrade just yet , soooo doing the best we can for her

 

[Idoc]

How much rock work (in weight) are you attempting to raise up?

I've seen some threads on floating reef construction on R2R in the past. Maybe do a search and see what you come up with. If I recall, some used large PVC pieces to raise their structures.

The acrylic piece you are showing may be ok for a small rock, but my guess is that it's probably 1/8" thick and will bend and snap with weight in the middle.

 

[TriggerFinger]

That doesn’t look sturdy enough to hold up rock work. Some people use pvc and make frames and attach the rock to them. Some people also drill holes in the rock and put fiberglass rods to keep the rocks off the sand.

 

[Anihiel1]

Yes agreed! that's exactly where i got the idea from I'm a huge fan of research-research-research
So the rock is split into 2 sections about 20, 25 pounds respectively / one shelf per side. While these shelves might not have the load capacity, so I'm wondering if others have suggestions or a better solution?

 

[Anihiel1]

That doesn’t look sturdy enough to hold up rock work. Some people use pvc and make frames and attach the rock to them. Some people also drill holes in the rock and put fiberglass rods to keep the rocks off the sand.

that sounds interesting! A reverse bed of nails. I'll have to look into that.