joezimm
Member
Whew... finally.
Installed DIY reef wall. I'm pretty happy with the results.
Ok, some background.
When I started this tank, I knew I wanted to give DIY live rock a try. I also saw a few examples of tanks where people built reef walls out of rock + eggcrate + black expanding pond foam. I figured, as long as I'm making my own rock, I may as well give this a shot as well.
I started making the rock around June. I had limited space to cure the rock, so I did it in about 8 batches. Only doing 1-2 batches per week, it took quite a while to get the 60lbs made that I calculated was necessary for the tank.
Once it was finally done, I started laying out pieces onto two flat sections of eggcrate that I had already cut out to fit onto the two back walls. I was going to zip-tie each piece to the crate, but I did a quick foam test on a couple small rock pieces and found that it was PLENTY strong to hold the rock to the crate.
With the pieces placed on the crate, I simply sprayed the foam in the open spaces. I didn't do the whole thing in one shot. Instead, I did about 1/4 of each section at a time, throwing handfulls of aragonite sand and rock at the sticky foam. This helped cover the black of the foam quite a bit and helps it blend in with the rock. Once those set for a day, I stood them upright inside an old box and attached the center piece that covers the overflow in the tank. Seriously huge pain that piece was... but that story is for another thread.
Upright walls with center curved piece in place.
With the side walls secured, I stacked the rocks in place. (Yes, that knife is basically holding up those rocks.)
And sprayed more foam and sprinkled more sand.
After setting in my garage for a week, I finally lugged it inside and gently placed it in the tank. The foam warped the wall a bit, so it didn't quite fit flush with the tank wall. To fix that I used a little more foam along the front edges to close off the space between the tank wall and the back of the reef wall.
I'll be letting that foam set for a couple days before I start filling.
Full tank showing my modified Current Sundial 150W MH mounting bars.
Overhead shot showing some of the plumbing in the overflow.
I'll post more about the lights, diy sump, and stand later. It's late and I need sleeps.
Installed DIY reef wall. I'm pretty happy with the results.
Ok, some background.
When I started this tank, I knew I wanted to give DIY live rock a try. I also saw a few examples of tanks where people built reef walls out of rock + eggcrate + black expanding pond foam. I figured, as long as I'm making my own rock, I may as well give this a shot as well.
I started making the rock around June. I had limited space to cure the rock, so I did it in about 8 batches. Only doing 1-2 batches per week, it took quite a while to get the 60lbs made that I calculated was necessary for the tank.
Once it was finally done, I started laying out pieces onto two flat sections of eggcrate that I had already cut out to fit onto the two back walls. I was going to zip-tie each piece to the crate, but I did a quick foam test on a couple small rock pieces and found that it was PLENTY strong to hold the rock to the crate.
With the pieces placed on the crate, I simply sprayed the foam in the open spaces. I didn't do the whole thing in one shot. Instead, I did about 1/4 of each section at a time, throwing handfulls of aragonite sand and rock at the sticky foam. This helped cover the black of the foam quite a bit and helps it blend in with the rock. Once those set for a day, I stood them upright inside an old box and attached the center piece that covers the overflow in the tank. Seriously huge pain that piece was... but that story is for another thread.
Upright walls with center curved piece in place.
With the side walls secured, I stacked the rocks in place. (Yes, that knife is basically holding up those rocks.)
And sprayed more foam and sprinkled more sand.
After setting in my garage for a week, I finally lugged it inside and gently placed it in the tank. The foam warped the wall a bit, so it didn't quite fit flush with the tank wall. To fix that I used a little more foam along the front edges to close off the space between the tank wall and the back of the reef wall.
I'll be letting that foam set for a couple days before I start filling.
Full tank showing my modified Current Sundial 150W MH mounting bars.
Overhead shot showing some of the plumbing in the overflow.
I'll post more about the lights, diy sump, and stand later. It's late and I need sleeps.
