Faux sand bed questions

[Rob Top]

I tried to search this, but must have done something wrong. I got almost 6000 threads and nothing in the 1st 4 pages had faux sand bed in them. Wierd. So any how here is the deal.
The plan is to use envirolite, mix sand in it and pour this on sheets of acrylic. The acrylic I have is 10x22" pcs(they where free) and I am covering the bottom of a 220. The 220 has euro bracing on the bottom. So there is a border of glass around the edge that is about 2" in. So the questions
1. I want to go from the edge of the viewing glass, on top of the euro brace, so do I fill in the void space or have the sheets "floating"? I have enough acrylic that I could put sheets down to build the bottom up to meet the edge of the bracing then lay the sand sheets down.
2. Should I glue the sand sheets together or leave them sepearate
3. what about the area under the sheets of sand, if it isn't sealed will the water become stagnit, and foul things up, or trap detrius?
4. Finally I was thinking of putting pvc couplings into the epoxy to help in building the pvc structure my rock will be on. Thoughts

 

[bleedingthought]

Start at Louey's tank page as that was the easiest for me to find:

http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=70766&start=0

HTH

 

[Anonymous]

1) Build up the bottom or the acrylic may sag.
2) Up to you. I didn't glue mine.
3) It depends on how big the void is. If it is like 1/2 I would fill it.
4) Should work.

How thick is the acrylic? Corners of acrylic tend to warp over time which is one of the reasons people use starboard for this application.

 

[Anonymous]

My tank also had euro bracing on the bottom. I filled it with acrylic sheets so that the whole bottom was level.

I ran a bead of silicone around the edges of each piece of acrylic to hold it in place and to stop "stuffs" from getting underneath it. I did the same thing again with the faux sandbed pieces. I siliconed the joints in between each piece to.

Louey

 

[Rob Top]

I have an assortment of acrylic from 1/8 to 1/4". I just messured the area I need to build up and it is 3/8". Something else I have on hand is vinyl composit tile. Reef Safe? I have like 6 cases sitting in the garage. I could use that to build up the void pretty easily. They are 1/8" I am thinking 3 layers of tile just sitting on the bottom, over lapping so no seems line up, then the sand layer glued down to seal it so that no water gets under there.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know if the tile is reef safe or not. I wouldn't chance it if your not 100% sure.

I hated to do it, but I went ahead a spent the money for acrylic sheets, cut to fit, in the exact thickness that I needed. I wanted the fewest possible joints that could allow water seepage where nasty could develope.

I was money I didn't want to spend, but in the overall picture of setting up a 300G tank, it wasn't even a drop in the bucket.

Your way might work too though. We are pioneers here.

Louey

 

[Rob Top]

the VCT could break down over time, so that's a big fat NOPE.