Bare Bottom- HDPE | Starboard | ABS

[Reefahholic]

Ordered my hdpe off Amazon and it cuts like wood. I would recommend 1/2 inch as the 1/4 seems to not want to lay completely flat at the edges.

Did you silicone it to the bottom?

Once you silicone, it should be fine. Plus it’s recommended to silicone so detritus and other undesirables do not make their way under the board to rot.

If you silicone, report back and let us know how it adheres to the HDPE. Some of these materials apparently don’t glue or silicone well. It doesn’t stick.

 

[Reefahholic]

Ordered my hdpe off Amazon and it cuts like wood. I would recommend 1/2 inch as the 1/4 seems to not want to lay completely flat at the edges.

Did you silicone it to the bottom?

Once you silicone, it should be fine. Plus it’s recommended to silicone so detritus and other undesirables do not make their way under the board to rot.

If you silicone, report back and let us know how it adheres to the HDPE. Some of these materials apparently don’t glue or silicone well. It doesn’t stick.

 

[Idaho-reefer]

I tested some with my cut pieces and the silicone doesn’t stick. I have zero concerns about anything getting underneath it. The posts I have seen about detritus getting under the board seem a bit over inflated. There just simply isn’t enough room for a accumulation large enough to make any kind of difference.

I do love having a bare bottom. I have a few encrusting corals that are growing out in it. Seems like once the coralline starts on it the corals are will encrust right behind it.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Starting up a new bare bottom tank myself and I wanted to go with frag tiles. that way once corals grow I can remove the tile, frag it and then just replace with a new tile.

could tiles be added into this equation? or is there a negative side i'm overlooking?

Several have used Travertine tile as well.

I used King Starboard from boatoutfitters.com. I did silicone it down. Nothing really adheres to Starboard, but it floats! The silicone was enough to hold it down while filling. Once the heavy rock was in place, the silicone provided a seal.

 

[Jmas4]

Not to hijack the tread, but may I ask why you would want to put hdpe on a bare bottom tank? The plastic is just as smooth as glass so it's not for bacteria and if it's for aesthetic reasons why not just spray paint the underside?

 

[NY_Caveman]

Not to hijack the tread, but may I ask why you would want to put hdpe on a bare bottom tank? The plastic is just as smooth as glass so it's not for bacteria and if it's for aesthetic reasons why not just spray paint the underside?

For me, I wanted to avoid a possible mirror effect. Not certain that would have held true, but I knew with the Starboard it would definitely not mirror. Just my personal thought on the aesthetic.

EDIT: the LED black box I use just would not look great reflecting off the bottom like a Christmas tree.

 

[Reefahholic]

Not to hijack the tread, but may I ask why you would want to put hdpe on a bare bottom tank? The plastic is just as smooth as glass so it's not for bacteria and if it's for aesthetic reasons why not just spray paint the underside?

Because Starboard looks better than glass. It’s textured. It provides protection for the glass if the rocks were to ever fall. Not to mention glass has a green tint. So painting the bottom of the tank would never look completely white or black.

 

[Reefahholic]

For me, I wanted to avoid a possible mirror effect. Not certain that would have held true, but I knew with the Starboard it would definitely not mirror. Just my personal thought on the aesthetic.

EDIT: the LED black box I use just would not look great reflecting off the bottom like a Christmas tree.

Agreed!

 

[Reefahholic]

Several have used Travertine tile as well.

I used King Starboard from boatoutfitters.com. I did silicone it down. Nothing really adheres to Starboard, but it floats! The silicone was enough to hold it down while filling. Once the heavy rock was in place, the silicone provided a seal.

I know that siliconing wouldn’t work well for structural purposes, but will it hold it down enough so that it won’t float? Will the silicone seal the edges or does it just flat out not adhere at all?

It’s recommended to lightly sand the surface with 120 grit sandpaper, clean with acetone or alcohol, and then flame prep the surface.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I know that siliconing wouldn’t work well for structural purposes, but will it hold it down enough so that it won’t float? Will the silicone seal the edges or does it just flat out not adhere at all?

It’s recommended to lightly sand the surface with 120 grit sandpaper, clean with acetone or alcohol, and then flame prep the surface.

I did nothing to treat mine. The silicone held actually pretty well. I had it attached, then it sat while I filled the tank. I then added salt to the tank and ran the returns. If I recall, it was several hours before I added 8 pounds of rock on top. Then three more days until I added the additional 24 pounds of live rock.

I put the black silicone all over the bottom of the Starboard everywhere somewhat haphazardly, then did a line all around the bottom face along the edge. Some have done a seal around the side edge once placed, but I am terrible at doing that accurately and was worried I would hit the silicone seal of the tank somewhere. I left about 1/4” of glass around the edge.

 

[Reefahholic]

I did nothing to treat mine. The silicone held actually pretty well. I had it attached, then it sat while I filled the tank. I then added salt to the tank and ran the returns. If I recall, it was several hours before I added 8 pounds of rock on top. Then three more days until I added the additional 24 pounds of live rock.

I put the black silicone all over the bottom of the Starboard everywhere somewhat haphazardly, then did a line all around the bottom face along the edge. Some have done a seal around the side edge once placed, but I am terrible at doing that accurately and was worried I would hit the silicone seal of the tank somewhere. I left about 1/4” of glass around the edge.

Great info bro! So it should hold then. I just need it to stay put. I don’t plan on pulling on it or trying to test its strength. As long as it will hold until I can get rock on top of it. Hopefully the silicone will have a good enough seal so that nothing can get under it.

 

[don_chuwish]

So BRS just went with ABS and stuck it down with silicone - I assume it bonds well? If I were to do it I'd want it stuck down and well sealed at the edges. If you can get it to stick well then you can go with thinner material.

 

[Reefahholic]

So BRS just went with ABS and stuck it down with silicone - I assume it bonds well? If I were to do it I'd want it stuck down and well sealed at the edges. If you can get it to stick well then you can go with thinner material.

Yes BRS went with 1/8” black ABS. It does silicone better than the others, but doesn’t commonly come in white like Starboard and HDPE.

I’m personally going with Starboard because I think it’s a more durable material. Plus I like the white. It reflects light better and my stand is white.

 

[Reefahholic]

 

[Reefahholic]

ABS is basically the black plastic used for drain pipes.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I used 1/4” for my 6.5 gallon tank and 1/2” for the 45 gallon. Maybe overkill, but I was concerned about warping.

 

[Reefahholic]

 

[MikeAndrews]

Why not just paint bottom of tank on outside and leave inside bare glass?

 

[Antics]

I just saw your video when googling the subject. Then I found your link in here. Crazy how quickly that happens. LOL

 

[Reefahholic]

Why not just paint bottom of tank on outside and leave inside bare glass?

Because people worry about rocks falling and breaking the glass. I’ve painted the bottom of my tank white, and with the green tint from the glass, it wasn’t white at all.