Gooch's Tank

[ecotoxlady]

Looks beautiful!! I love it and cannot wait to see the corals grow in :)

 

[gooch]

Nice rock wall gooch, really different. Is that the ceramic material you've been talking about? Works like live rock because of porosity doesn't it? Do you have an oven on site or do you pay for use?

I am not gonna say it is as good as liverock but it does aid in filtration and over time could be just as effective. I have no actually proof that it is better just belief and experience. Remember with liverock it is already colonized with bacteria and the denitrifiing process is much quicker. The ceramic does take longer to colonize so more patience is needed. But once it matures I believe it will act similar if not better than liverock. I am positive it will be better than the thick dense tonga branch I have in the tank. I try not to go any thicker than one inch when I make stuff. I believe most of the filtration you get from the rock is in the first 1/4". After that depending on how much porosity you have in the rock effects how much filtration you get from the rock. Remember not all liverock is created equal. And once it becomes completely encrusted with coralline I think it becomes even less effective as water passes through it even less when it's pores are plugged by coralline. I feel that a six inch thick piece of completely coralline encrusted rock has more dead zones than a one inch thick piece of ceramic. In the ocean billions of gallons of water passes over and through the rock. It isn't the same in our tanks. I think much of the liverocks effectiveness is lost and wasted in our tanks and over time the waste buildup in the rock in our aquariums contributes to much of our problems. How many liverock cooking threads are out there? I also feel the ceramic gives more of an opportunity for increased filtration over time due to the fact you have more surface area for bacteria to colonize in comparison to liverock. I believe a two pound one inch thick piece of ceramic will have more surface area than a two pound four inch thick piece of liverock in most cases. There is just less wasted space. Will it eliminate nitrate? I don't know for sure but I am gonna guess probably not. But amonia and nitrite yes. So we may have to rely a little more on water changes and mechanical filtration.


I have a kiln on site. I was limited to what I could do with the wall do to the kiln size. When I relocate my shop I will be putting in additional kilns. One capable of firing very large pieces. Right now I can only fire about an 18" piece. With the new kiln I will be able to do double that.

 

[mak060]

You've obviously put a lot of thought and hard work into this project. Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm very interested in seeing posts on your observations of evolving water parameters. I'm optimistic. Thanks again. Steve

 

[gooch]

My first all ceramic tank was a 40 breeder. It was tied into another 40 breeder with liverock. The results of this tank were so positive I was hooked. I had to take the tank down to some issues not aquarium related. Well I guess you could call a bad gfi causing a near housefire aquarium related. That rock went ito a friends tank and is still there. You can not tell it is fake.

These are some pics of the ceramic rock over time in my old system.

I have been working with ceramic in the aquarium for over four years now. I would have to go to my old compuer to dig up some more pics, but I think you get the idea.

This is one of the original pieces I made still in use. It is in a buddies tank now.

 

[gooch]

Well I was suppose to get some stuff today for the tank but it never came. But that's another thread. I did spend over two hours last night pulling out the ceramic wall in back and reaquascaping. There was nothing wrong with it. It was just taking up to much space in a small tank. I like having a real open tank. Not to mention I have other plans for the back wall. I was suppose to get an elegance, scolymia, a prism favia, a christmas favia, and a couple other small frags. But it didn't happen.

I personally think it looked better the other way but what is done is done until I try something new.