melev

You probably could mount the rock to acrylic but Marco Rocks suggested using silicone to attach it and acrylic does not really work to well with silicone, and I don't want to use a metal screw to try and hold it. I also want to be able to reposition a piece, maybe raise it up an inch or two or lower it down depending on what is on it and how well it has grown or is lacking growth. I also don't want to risk tearing the seals up with a piece of acrylic or eggcrate resting on them.

Ok first how do they mount the over flow to the side of the tank never seen one like that.

Also for the rock discussion. If we are talking about a wall that wont be seen behind you could use something like http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=D701

Maybe embed them in a piece of acrylic, attach the flat rock to the acrylic then use other magnets on the outside of the glass to hold the rock into place..... just a thought. Its only 1/32" thick may have to use a few for bigger pieces of rock...

As for the silicon not bonding to acrylic, attach acrylic rods to your sheet of acylic then drill a hole in the rock.... just brain storming... I was thinking of doing some kind of rock wall in my 55 g tank.

Even better, found http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=MMR-A-X8 which you could screw right into the rock then use another magnet or metal surface on the other side of the tank,,,

This thing is going to look empty without that giant leather in it. The world of reefing its opened right back up for you. You might as well just give your wallet to the fish store.

Even with that giant leather it would still look empty. Now there's even more real estate to add new beautiful SPS.

The magnet idea is kinda what I am thinking but magnets generally have a ferrous material that they are made from and I wouldn't want it to leach into the tank. That is why I was thinking about just using a base like http://aquaticpumpparts.com/product....6&categoryId=7

You would just have to router out a circle for the inner half to fit into and then silicone it into place. It would be a little bit of an added cost but would allow the constant adjustment we all love to have. . . don't like the rock in one place or another, Just move it.



I agree that without the leather it will look weird but I am sure that another one can be found. Would have been great if Marc had gotten a few frags off of it at one point and bee able to repopulate his tank with a frag that had grown from the original. But I am sure that even with the leather it would look a little sparse with this new tank but everything will grow into it soon enough.

Congrats.
Looks great.

you can get epoxy coated magnets and just use some 2 part epoxy and glue them to the rocks. you can use standard drill bits or chip out a small area to put them. it would work great for the corners and do some rock islands. especially with the 2 sided display. (possibly see through)

but, rock structures are a different blog!! (when do we get to open that one!!!)

I'm very impressed Marc. What are the dimensions of that MONSTER???!!!!

Silicone adheres to acrylic just fine for uses like that. It's just when it has pressure on it. The rock will only have its own weight to be held up. I have used silicone against acrylic in nonpressurized applications MANY times.

Mitch - it is 84" long by 36" wide by 30" tall. Plus the external overflow that adds another 6" to the length, but that is invisible except from the fishroom side.

so..... you have to wait how long before the silicone is cured and can be filled? 2-3 weeks? that means that we will have a working tank by Halloween? deff before Thanksgiving right??

dahenley,
I like the way you're thinking.

I can't answer that quite yet. I do believe my tank will be water tested at Marineland this Friday (over the weekend, I'd think), and I'll be sure to ask them when they think I can fill it up with water.

Melev, I saw a thread somewhere along the line where the guy sliced the rock in half and used vinyl coated magnets off of Ebay to put it onto the glass. A couple of things he did. 1. When he got the magnets he coated them in something (don't remember what) even though ther were already coated. 2. embedded them in epoxy to attach to the rock. 3. installed them very carefully so as to not have the magnet hit the glass. You put the two magnets on the glass and then slide them together allowing them to make contact on a plane versus straight at each other.
He did all this for a frag rack and it looked sharp. I see no reason it wouldn't work for a rock wall. some of those magnets are very powerful. He actually ruined two cause he let them come together and couldn't get them apart cause he had no leverage.
Anyway, just a thought.