vanz - 125g Reef Build "Bambucha"

[vanz]

My project is called "Bambucha", which means extremely large (Hawaiian slang)....haha well large to me anyway. Coming from a 40 being the largest tank I've ever owned, this is gonna be one kick *** project.

 

I picked it up on 8/8/09, and have been just researching and finding creative ways of building a reef.

 

The first thing I needed done was the stand. The tank I got was in okay shape, but the stand needed some work as it looked like it had lots salt damage and didn't look sturdy enough to hold. I'm sure it could have, but I just wanted to be safe. Charles (Wanareef) came to the rescue and rebuilt the stand using some of the existing parts. (clap) Thanks man, you did a great job! He broke the stand into two parts, the frame, and the skin, which would allow me to have better access if I ever needed to move around in there.

 

 

 

And here's a picture of Bambucha! It has a few scratches (acrylic DOH!) that I'm trying to remove with Novus. I tried removing some scratches last week and it was a PITA! There are still some noticeable scratches so I'll have to give it another go.

[Saltfinsax]

I kinda like the removable skin idea. More pics.

[vanz]

Next, figuring out how I want to aquascape my tank(scratch).

 

I scoured the web for as many reefscape/aquascape/rockscape images I could find, and finally settled on doing a complete scape using PVC/foam, and some rock. Originally, I was planning on just going with straight live rock, but decided that going that route will limit me on the arches I could have (tank is 18" wide). I also didn't want the rocks to touch glass so I can clean it easier.

 

I found a rockscape that completely had me mesmerized. It's not your typical reefscape that's for sure.

 

Here it is! Not sure who's tank it is, but it rocks!

 

 

 

This is my parts list of what I needed to build something similar.

 

 

 

This is what Charles recommended to use for foam rocks. I used two cans of the stuff. It's a one shot kinda deal with this stuff so get all the pieces you want foamed ready, you have like a 2 hour window before it's not good.

 

 

 

Here are my pvc structures to be foamed.

Left

 

Right

 

 

Foam being applied to pvc. Also threw some sand on there when it was wet.

 

 

Played around with some rocks to achieve the look I want. Then started epoxying sand on there to prevent UV from discoloring the foam.

 

 

Part of the end product. [language filter], didn't know the foam was extremely buoyant, hopefully attaching it to rock will keep it down, if not, back to the drawing board. I can't attach the rock to it now because the opening on top of the tank is only 9" x 20" DOH! ([language filter] acrylic tanks!)

 

 

Once I get the rockscape in my tank, I'll shoot a full tank shot. Might take a while since I still have to rebuff the tank.

[Michael7979]

Maybe you should cap the pvc off at both ends and add some water or sand to add weight to it.

[reef165]

and or a thin layer of portland cement over the whole thing. Looks good though! I like the look of arches!

[vanz]

I rubberbanned a semi large rock and it floated! I haven't tried multiple rocks though, I'll see if sand will help also. Maybe cement in the inside?

[vanz]

Okay other than the foam rock issue, I'm still trying to find the best configuration for my sump.

 

This is what I came up with, let me know if you see any flaws or what I could do better. Not sure if I will go internal pump or external. The tank came with an external (PCI pcx30), that I could use. If I got internal, I'll have to find a decent pump.

 

[snowpunk]

If you put something like a milk crate under your ATO you can make it gravity fed and have a space for towels and chemicals and other tank supplies.

[vanz]

So I reworked my sump idea around a bit. There's not enough room if I were to put a 29g, 20g, and an ATO system.

 

See anything that needs to be changed before it gets glued? The left side is where the drain is. It's incomplete, but it shows the basics.

 

 

 

Here's a bigger picture of what I have done at this point. Filling the tank is a PITA. I'm glad my foam rocks are working out. Took a lot of effort to get it to stay put though that's for sure.

 

 

[Rick]

How did you end up keeping the foam from floating up? I tried a backdrop (I was trying to hide my overflow) and all I managed to do was crack a rib trying to figure out a way to hold it down. (The bucket I was standing on flipped out from under me) At that point I heaved it into the dumpster and the next day I put the rocks back in. (Well over the next couple of days anyway)

[vanz]

How did you end up keeping the foam from floating up? I tried a backdrop (I was trying to hide my overflow) and all I managed to do was crack a rib trying to figure out a way to hold it down. (The bucket I was standing on flipped out from under me) At that point I heaved it into the dumpster and the next day I put the rocks back in. (Well over the next couple of days anyway)

 

Wow, sorry to hear about that. Yeah these things don't want to stay down. Did you try hollowing the backside?

 

For your overflow, I would think using eggcrate as a base, zip tying lots of small rocks everywhere, then fill the cracks with the spray foam.

 

For me, I hollowed out all the unnecessary parts out, zip tied and epoxed rocks to weigh the foam down. When I did the first water test, the left rockscape didn't want to stay submerged. The part sticking out just wanted to float and tip the rock over to the left. Took a bit thinking and sacrificing the look i want, but it worked and is doing great. I have a k4 and mj mod in there and it's not budging one bit, except when I aim the pump right at it and then it twitches a bit.

[Rick]

Wow, sorry to hear about that. Yeah these things don't want to stay down. Did you try hollowing the backside?

 

For your overflow, I would think using eggcrate as a base, zip tying lots of small rocks everywhere, then fill the cracks with the spray foam.

 

For me, I hollowed out all the unnecessary parts out, zip tied and epoxed rocks to weigh the foam down. When I did the first water test, the left rockscape didn't want to stay submerged. The part sticking out just wanted to float and tip the rock over to the left. Took a bit thinking and sacrificing the look i want, but it worked and is doing great. I have a k4 and mj mod in there and it's not budging one bit, except when I aim the pump right at it and then it twitches a bit.

 

I did the eggcrate to create the shape around the overflow and then hollowed it out. I then tried to tie rocks to it to hold it down but it wasn't enough. If I did it again I think I would use PCV pipes filled with sand underneath and then I would use cement mixed with oyster shells or aragonite on the outside. Alternatively I'll probably just do an eggcrate and rock rubble one with cement to fill the gaps. I would have done cement on this one but I didn't want to wait for a couple of months for it to cure.