Bare bottom

[CarlaW]

the tank pic was last year.
this was last month...

Nice!!!!!

 

[twilliard]

Dang what camera do you use :O

 

[Katchupoy]

It is a Nikon D50 with tamron lense.

 

[CarlaW]

Cesar, looking back, I think either, pvc or box, would work. the pvc might be a little less labor intensive
You could lay eggcrate on top of the pvc to make that idea a little more stable too.

 

[fishermann]

Charlie I just cut two 45 deg. angles on the end of 3/4" pvc pipe so as to end up with 2 points on the end of the pipe and then cut it to length and then cut a cross in the other end with a hack saw the depth of the eggcrate and just snap the pvc foot on the cross junction of the eggcrate if this makes since. Worked like a charm and all you have touching the bottom of the tank are 2 little points and since you cut 2 angles the foot is balanced on its stance because the points are in the center of the pvc pipe if that makes sense. I used a elect miter saw or chop saw to cut the 45's. John

 

[CarlaW]

John, did you cut the pipe in half first, lengthwise. I am missing something, wouldn't the pvc roll a little, or does the fact that the eggcrate is snapped in place stop it from rolling?

 

[fishermann]

Charlie I wish I knew how to do illustrations on here. I left the pvc pipe as is. I cut 2 45 angles on the end first so as to be able to hold the pipe without cutting off my arm. Imagine cutting 2 45's that taper the end of the pipe toward the center of the dia. out at the end, so you end up with 2 points on the end. Make sense???? John

 

[fishermann]

Charlie I think I just got where your coming from. The legs stand vertical not horizonal. The 3/4" pve legs are vertical and stand on the 2 points. John

 

[CarlaW]

OH, well DOH. Now I see the lite. Must have gotten out of bed to early and drank to much coffee
Now I definitly see how things proceed. Must have been fairly stable tho. Do you think having the 2 points on the tank bottom actually aided getting the detritus to flow around them?
I was thinking about 2" PVC about 1-1.5" high and then eggcrate on top of that. Do you think that detrius would settle in the 2" ring? Would that be enuf crap to hose things up?

 

[CarlaW]

Just to add to that last thought, I wonder if cutting "teeth" in the 2" stands would help detritus flow thru and out to where it can be bounced up into the water column.

 

[fishermann]

Charlie now you lost me a little. Are you laying your 2" pvc on its side?? I would just make 3/4" dia pvc feet on the vertical and all you have is 2 points on the bottom. Detritus can't get hung up anywhere. I also wanted to slope the eggcrate so as to have a slight slope to the reef. I put a leg about every 12" apart. Have several hundred pounds of rock I would think and haven't had an issue in 2 yrs. John

 

[CarlaW]

Maybe it is just me, but I tend to overbuild everything. I was just looking at a stability factor, but if you haven't had a problem, it must be good.

Yeah, I was laying the pieces on their side, I already had them cut for spacers between my ballasts.

 

[fishermann]

Yeh charlie I don't think you well have any problems. Just use a hack saw to cut the cross in the flat end of the 3/4" pvc leg, it makes for a tight fit onto the eggcrate and you won't have an issue with stabilaty, and no issues with detritus. Also Charlie I thought to late for me but a guy could make different levels of eggrate using different lengths of feet and different pieces of eggcrate to make some really interesting reefs. John

 

[Katchupoy]

John If im correct this is what your trying to say?

I agree this can be done.... in fact this is a very good idea.... just make sure that you use as many of these as possible so that you distribute the load throughout the tank... and not concentrate it on these 2 points time the number of legs....


Thats is why i want the box approach....
1) the load is distributed throughout
2) there will be no detritus at all below the box... so i dont have siphon....

Sometimes even under those eggcrate with 2 inch legs... its still tough to siphon under them...

Hope this helps..

 

[fishermann]

Very good Cesar. I don't use the hole through the side though, I cut a cross in the top end the depth of the eggcrate and make sure it fits on tight. I postioned mine roughly 10 to 12 inches apart I think, can't see them anymore very good. I have I would guess a couple hundred pounds of rock on mine for over 2 yrs now. The secret is ti cut the cross in the top so as to fit tight, and cut the cross at the same depth on all sides so the eggcrate sits on the bottom of the cuts. As Isaid above my eggcrate even has a slope to it from rear to front and the feet sit at a slight angle in relation to the tank bottom, and 90 deg. in relation to the slope of the eggcrate with the points on the feet orientated across the tanks length so as to pivot a little on the points and haven't had any issues with them wanting to fall over. Thanks again for the drawing, cool. John

 

[CarlaW]

I have to agree with Cesar on the load issue, although, if you use enuf legs, the load should be fairly well distributed. All in all it is a great idea, thanx alot.

I had already thought about using different levels of eggcrate John. It all depends on what kind of live rock I get and how heavy each piece is. I would really love to get about 3-4 pieces that weigh 60-70 lbs apiece. Add some branch to that and it could make for a real interesting scape!!

 

[fishermann]

Charlie I don't see an issue with load at all if you use the legs right and enough of them. There is no detritus under the reef anywhere in my tank with the spraybar and the reef raised it all blows forward. If the tank is sitting on a solid cabinet you won't have a load issue. If you had it sitting on a flimzy cabinet you might would have a issue if the bottom of the tank flexed down alot at the point of contact, but it would have to be pretty flimzy even then.

 

[CarlaW]

We'll get her figured out, that's for sure. Hell, with you guys around, who couldn't figure something out?

 

[Katchupoy]

John, can you show us a pic of your tank?.... I want to see how you did it...


Nevermind, I saw it in your gallery... nice, very nice...
thanks

 

[fishermann]

Thankyou Cesar, we enjoy it alot. John