Fake sandbeds!

[jweintraub]

I'm curious to know what the plan is once coraline starts to grow on it?

 

[tyler1503]

Wow my own tread got away from me a bit on this one!
I'm going to experiment with a few ideas when I have some spare money.
I'm going to try epoxy and sand. Starboard if I can find it (or something similar) cheap locally. The tiles. And painting the outside bottom.
I have some spare 3gals lying around to be my test subjects :)
The plan is to put the fake sandbed in place. Add some dry rock to the tank and fill it with fresh water an a small pump and leave it in sunlight. After a few days there should be some kind of algae growth. This will give me and idea of how it will look in a marine tank with some colour on it. It's not a perfect plan with perfect results, but it will serve it's purpose.
Once coralline starts to grow, the plan is to let nature take it's course. There's not much I can do once that happens. The idea behind the fake sandbed was to put in in my fowlr when I upgrade, so I may just add a few sea urchins to keep the coralline at bay.

 

[teamx151]

I had bare bottom on my 65 reef and then after a few years decided to add sand. I'm in the process of building a new tank and I think I'm going to go back to bare bottom with a starboard insert. I think its a cleaner look and easier to keep clean.

 

[Weaver6116]

Sorry to ask, but what is starboard?

 

[Aqua fire/medic]

Sorry to ask, but what is starboard?

It's a plastic material they use for certain cutting boards.

 

[Weaver6116]

Ah ok, thanks.

 

[Fin]

Starboard is a brand name for a marine grade plastic that is used in place of plywood on boats, docks or other water related applications. You can cut it with any tools used for cutting wood. It does not rot and holds it's color, even with direct exposure to sunlinght. Safe to use in reef tanks too.

 

[fremont roger]

nice pic that branch is nice looking

 

[Red_ant]

Does starboard stay white or eventually get covered with coraline? I was thinking of using starboard or plexiglass, but with sand/epoxy mix to make it look like sand. But, just curious as to how it will hold up through time. Like in a year will it just turn into purple sand?

 

[tyler1503]

It'll eventually get covered in coralline. That's why if I go that route I'll have a few urchins to keep the coralline at bay. I imagine scraping with a razor would just scratch up the plastic.