Loose starboard sheet

Fishfinder · Mar 15, 2019

What’s the worry about bare bottom with no board? It’s fairly common

mfollen · Mar 15, 2019

If the rock falls hard on the glass. I like the way the black sheet looks on the bottom, then I’m not sure how much silicone i can scrape off the bottom of the glass. Maybe just going bare bottom is best after scraping the silicone off..

Otherwise I’m looking at:

A) cut the sheet shorter, use it without resiliconing to get the livestock back in the tank ASAP and hope for the best with the board.
B) cut the sheet shorter, resilicone and wait days for the thick silicone to cure. Livestock waits in brute containers.
C) forget the board and buy live sand. Dump the sand and get everything back in the tank ASAP. Not ideal for maintenance week to week.

Fishfinder · Mar 15, 2019

I personally am over the sand and slowly pulling it out

jsvand5 · Mar 15, 2019

madweazl said:
Easy fix; remove rock, throw starboard in trash because it's worthless, replace rock.

Best advice for sure

VSVP bet · Mar 15, 2019

Tautog said:
First, Starboard can be attached to anything with 5200 , but be careful, once cured, and it must be dry to cure, 48 hrs. This adhesive is super strong, in fact, you could fill a hole, and then drill back into it. If you want it permanent use 5200, if not, 4200 will stay soft forever, and it’s easy to remove, just in case. Unfortunately, you will need Acetone to clean your hands.
I would remove it. Be careful moving your rock and replacing. If nitrates build up under the Starboard your giving yourself problems. Remember, your tank is and will mature, and your landscape can change, I have changed mine serveral times. I never understood why anyone would permanently glue their landscapes. If you don’t know how to stack rock, practice on your wooden blocks. I don’t stack. I keep most of my rock above the sand, thus allowing more hiding places, break of flow, and little to no dead spots in your display

is 5200 and 4200 reef safe? use is all the time on my boat, never thought to use it in the tank.

afuel · Mar 15, 2019

I like the starboard for safety reasons and in a short amount of time you want even see it. It will get covered with coralline algae. I did silicone mine being fully aware it doesn’t completely adhere to hdpe but I believe it prevents the ability of detritus getting under it. Hopefully for me covered in different types of coral as well.

Tautog · Mar 15, 2019

VSVP bet said:
is 5200 and 4200 reef safe? use is all the time on my boat, never thought to use it in the tank.

After cured 5200 is non-porous, solid as a rock, it’s totally not necessary in this case, but in the boat, it’s just as important as is the gas!

Tautog · Mar 15, 2019

mfollen said:
If the rock falls hard on the glass. I like the way the black sheet looks on the bottom, then I’m not sure how much silicone i can scrape off the bottom of the glass. Maybe just going bare bottom is best after scraping the silicone off..

Otherwise I’m looking at:

A) cut the sheet shorter, use it without resiliconing to get the livestock back in the tank ASAP and hope for the best with the board.
B) cut the sheet shorter, resilicone and wait days for the thick silicone to cure. Livestock waits in brute containers.
C) forget the board and buy live sand. Dump the sand and get everything back in the tank ASAP. Not ideal for maintenance week to week.

Don’t put sand in, use a larger medium like gravel. Be sure the wash and rinse real well to remove the dust. Using sand will take a few days to settle, and the silt will need to be blown off your rocks and corals

mfollen · Mar 15, 2019

Currently planning on the following options:

Best case: trim one end of the sheet in the tank with snips by a little bit. Keep the other half of the sheet in the tank and still siliconed in. Once the sheet is trimmed, do not silicone the other half back in. Bring everything back in the aquarium right away.
Worry: one half off the sheet not siliconed in. It’s a tight fit, but should I be worried of detritus accumulating underneath with no siliconed edges for half the sheet?

Next option: silicone in the edges if I should. Wait a few days to cure before putting everything back in.

Then either go bare bottom if I can scrape silicone off or go with sand.

afuel · Mar 15, 2019

mfollen said:
Currently planning on the following options:

Best case: trim one end of the sheet in the tank with snips by a little bit. Keep the other half of the sheet in the tank and still siliconed in. Once the sheet is trimmed, do not silicone the other half back in. Bring everything back in the aquarium right away.
Worry: one half off the sheet not siliconed in. It’s a tight fit, but should I be worried of detritus accumulating underneath with no siliconed edges for half the sheet?

Next option: silicone in the edges if I should. Wait a few days to cure before putting everything back in.

Then either go bare bottom if I can scrape silicone off or go with sand.

I wouldn’t really worry about the silicone if the sheet is sitting flat but just my opinion. There can’t be that much that could accumulate under there. You see tanks getting tore down to upgrade to a larger size and people end up pulling pounds of detritus out that had been hiding in and under rock or coral. And they were beautiful tanks before emptying

mfollen · Mar 16, 2019

I want to thank everyone so much for helping me.

I got everything done last night. Ripped the board out, ended up going with sand.

It definitely was too tight length wise and the temperature change expanded the ABS sheet. Important lesson for anyone siliconing a sheet to the bottom of the tank: leave a little extra space.