My "Gooch" shelves in action

gparr · Apr 22, 2009

I bought two medium shelves and one large shelf from Midwest Saltwater. The two medium shelves are currently installed at one end of my 65 in staggered positions. The long shelf is in an open area on the back wall of my 40 breeder. I've not yet put corals on them, but will be doing so in the next few days. I'm sure the long shelf is in it's final position. I'll see how the two medium shelves work out. They might get moved.

The first shot in this series shows my 65 before I installed two medium shelves. The next three shots show the shelves installed on the end wall. These shelves allow me to use what is essentially dead area to hold corals without having to pile rock up the side. This allows me to keep the open aquascape I prefer. The modified Maxijet will go away when I get my Vortec MP10. It will probably go on the other end of the tank. The last shot shows the backside of the shelves.

The first shot in this series shows my 40 breeder before I installed the large shelf. You can see the open area on the back left wall where the shelf will go. The next three shots show the large shelf in place. Again, this provides me with several places to place corals without having to pile rock up to get the height, something I donâ€™t want to do.

Ldogg · Apr 22, 2009

nice! I ordered 1 today from MWS. Are those the 13x5 one's he had listed? they look great!

Ldogg · Apr 22, 2009

are you going to drill them to insert plugs?

SaraB · Apr 22, 2009

Those look nice in the tank Gary! I think you picked some winners on sunday!

gparr · Apr 22, 2009

Thanks, Sara. I'm really happy with the results of our collaboration. Can't wait to see yours in your tank. They're going to be perfect.

Ldogg, the one in my 40 breeder is about 12 in. long, i.e., large. The two in my 65 are about 9 in. long, i.e., medium. No, I'm not going to drill them. Gooch makes shelves and other products that are already drilled for frag plugs. I'm working hard to grow my corals beyond frag plugs and don't want a collection of them in either tank. The shelves will be used to hold colonies in their final positions.
Gary

Eye Candy Coral · Apr 22, 2009

Those look great Gary. I am getting excited to see what people are going to do with these things.

gooch · Apr 22, 2009

Ldogg said:
are you going to drill them to insert plugs?

The Reef Shelf does not have holes for frag plugs. The Magnetic Frag Station has holes for frag plugs.

If you try drilling them be very very very careful. They are hard to drill without breaking. I wouldn't do it.

Nice pics Gary.

gparr · Apr 22, 2009

Thanks, Bill. I think they're terrific and look forward to seeing corals growing on the shelves.
Gary

Zoalover34 · Apr 22, 2009

Those are really nice but really expensive IMO!

mevstheworld · Apr 22, 2009

Very cool.

gparr · Apr 22, 2009

Zoalover, yes, the price will strike you as hefty, but I can assure you that the quality is worth it. They are well built, well designed, and will quickly blend into your reef. You're also getting a quality magnet/magnets and you shouldn't ever have to worry about failure.

This past weekend I saw another company's product based on the concept. It was a literal clump of some kind of material with no real surface on which to place corals and held by two 1-in. disk magnets. It looked like the magnets would have trouble holding up the clump of stuff and that adding any corals would be problematic, at best. Gooch has done an excellent job with his design and construction of all of his products.

As I said in another post, I put my shelves in my tanks when I got them. For about 10 min. their was some quantity of air bubbles rising from the shelves while water filled the voids. I checked the water parameters 12 hr. later and there was no change. Not one coral or fish showed any adverse reaction to the shelves.

In other words, you can use them in your reef with confidence that they will be inert and stay on the wall as long as you want them to be there. Sorry to ramble, but I think these are a tremendous idea.

Gary

Zoalover34 · Apr 22, 2009

For sure it's an awsome idea.. I was actually talking about gettin magnetic (sp) frag plugs and putting them on the back of my tank for some monti caps.. Figure if I cut the plug down they should grow on the glass rather quickly..

SaraB · Apr 22, 2009

gparr said:
Zoalover, yes, the price will strike you as hefty, but I can assure you that the quality is worth it. They are well built, well designed, and will quickly blend into your reef. You're also getting a quality magnet/magnets and you shouldn't ever have to worry about failure.

This past weekend I saw another company's product based on the concept. It was a literal clump of some kind of material with no real surface on which to place corals and held by two 1-in. disk magnets. It looked like the magnets would have trouble holding up the clump of stuff and that adding any corals would be problematic, at best. Gooch has done an excellent job with his design and construction of all of his products.

As I said in another post, I put my shelves in my tanks when I got them. For about 10 min. their was some quantity of air bubbles rising from the shelves while water filled the voids. I checked the water parameters 12 hr. later and there was no change. Not one coral or fish showed any adverse reaction to the shelves.

In other words, you can use them in your reef with confidence that they will be inert and stay on the wall as long as you want them to be there. Sorry to ramble, but I think these are a tremendous idea.

Gary

+1 on this. They are a high quality product that a lot of time and effort were put into designing and making the final product. We have been fortunate to be able to see and hold the product and can attest to the quality. Once I get out of Canada for work, I'll have to post some photos of mine as well.

Also, Gary and I saw the "other" product this past weekend at a show and were not impressed at all and can't imagine how they are going to hold up in use!

Hypertek99 · Apr 22, 2009

I must order one now!!

gooch · Apr 22, 2009

Zoalover34 said:
Those are really nice but really expensive IMO!

There is definately sticker shock on the large ones. Each one takes average three weeks to make start to finish. Every bit of the texture is done one brushstroke at a time. We use one of the best magnets designed for the hobby. The Sure Grip 100's alone retail for $34 each and there are two in every large. When you add it all up the price IMO is well in range for a product like this. I had originally intended to set the MSRP on this at $150. It would be in line with the cost of the small and medium sizes. But with the economy in the nose dive that it is I actually lowered it. It shows in the sales so far. The larges are selling much faster. I realize you probably havn't seen the smalls and mediums yet. But others have. A bunch were sold at the Max show. The majority were the large size. And out of all the products I make this product has my lowest profit margin, is the most difficult, time consuming product I make. But I have to admit one of the more enjoyable products too. I get to be creative as possible.