gooch tell me more . . .
- Thread starter BigAl07
- Start date
rmlevasseur
Active Member
looks like tonga branch glued into the foam background. Very nice. I'm just fearful that that foam will break down over time.
AndtheBonus
Member
Hmmm I am interested as well!
That is very thick tonga branch rock. It was about 60-70 pounds I think. The biggest one was around 25 pounds. When I saw the rock it inspired me.
The back wall is actually three ceramic plates I made. They didn't turn out as good as I had hoped. But it works.
The tank is a 65 gallon and only been set up at the most six months. I have a small sump on it. I run a euroreef cs6-2. I think thats the model number. It is eight years old. It is lit by 4 t-5 bulbs with 3" reflectors. It is a set of sunlight supply retros. It has a deep sand bed.
Mostly lps corals. A few soft mixed in. I wouldn't even think of doing any acros for at least six months yet.
That's about it.
The back wall is actually three ceramic plates I made. They didn't turn out as good as I had hoped. But it works.
The tank is a 65 gallon and only been set up at the most six months. I have a small sump on it. I run a euroreef cs6-2. I think thats the model number. It is eight years old. It is lit by 4 t-5 bulbs with 3" reflectors. It is a set of sunlight supply retros. It has a deep sand bed.
Mostly lps corals. A few soft mixed in. I wouldn't even think of doing any acros for at least six months yet.
That's about it.
gooch ( I graduated with a "Gooch") that tank has REALLY inspired me! I want to do something like that!!!
Where does one get "Thick Tonga" like that? I've never seen any like it around here.
Didn't turn out as you hoped? They are freaking AWESOME!
Where does one get "Thick Tonga" like that? I've never seen any like it around here.
You made? For REALS? Care to elaborate? Like to "Contract" some work out?
Didn't turn out as you hoped? They are freaking AWESOME!
I got the rock from my lfs. It came in as tonga branch. It was just the thickest stuff I had seen. I couldn't even tell you where you could find it.
It was the first time I tried to make a wall plate like that. I wasn't sure about shrinkage and working around the overflow. One of the plates broke when I fired it and I pieced it back together. It also shrunk more than I had planned. Right now I will admit that I am to uncomfortable with making any more wall plates. Plus I am way to busy. Maybe years from now when things settle down. But don't count on it.
gooch
The rock wall is ceramic. No foam to break down over time. It is not going to flake or chip either. I know the pond foam works but I just am having a hard time trusting it. The ceramic over a couple months begins to look just like liverock. So much so that if you didn't know it you couldn't tell. Obviously you can tell the wall is fake but I have made pieces that are in other tanks that you can not tell they are fake.
Blitzburggirl
New Member
I would be way off track here, but I've always thought (for some reason!!) that the density of tonga branch made it very inefficient as a LR for an aquarium and shouldn't be used in great amounts, unless there is another method of filtration. Do you use something else, or am I confusing it with something else.
Otherwise---- - WHOA that looks awesome!!
Otherwise---- - WHOA that looks awesome!!
Yeah it is a little dense. But IMHO liverock doesn't do as much for filtration as we think. Liverock density varies from rock to rock. I also believe that most filtration(bacteria that does the filtration) is being done in the first 1/4". Again only my opinion. The thing is I honestly do not think we have enough water movement in our systems to adequately keep detritus from plugging up liverock making them nutrient sinks. It is why so many people end up cooking rock. And we can never have enough animals(worms, pods) that work the rock. By doing the dense rock yes I am losing some initial filtration but I think over time it will cancel out. Once the rock is completely corallined up or grown over with coral how efficient is it really? I love the look of the tonga branch. If it means an extra water change here or there it is worth it to me.
I also have about a 3" sand bed and that helps some. Also the ceramic wall I made is about as porous as most liverock. By making the rock walls about an inch thick I actually have more surface area for bacteria per pound than I do the liverock. And if my theory is correct my 1" ceramic wall will work as good if not better for filtration as any six inch piece of liverock. Again no proof just my belief and experience. Been doing this a long time and I have to say I have seen some great liverock and some real crappy stuff. I am sold on ceramics. Only downfall to ceramics is there is no bacteria to start with. But it does colonize pretty fast. You need more patience with ceramics. You can not rush it.
I also have a skimmer on the tank.
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Just be careful. Not all clays are the same. Some are loaded with metals and things that can be detrimental to your tank.
I would tell you what I use if I could but I can't. I run a business and the clay I use is a gaurded secret. There are companies out there that make ceramic walls for tanks. I am sure if you did a search you would find some. I just don't want to get into them yet. They are not cheap but they look cool.
rmlevasseur
Active Member
It is my understanding that tonga branch is no longer available as the island has shut down all harvesting.
Tonga is interesting stuff. I have always found that a few pieces in an otherwise "normal" LR aqaurium never looks good, but a tank dominated with the stuff looks awesome.
Tonga is interesting stuff. I have always found that a few pieces in an otherwise "normal" LR aqaurium never looks good, but a tank dominated with the stuff looks awesome.
There is space behind it and no dead spots with flow. If I ever make another one it would fit tight to the glass. The liverock holds it in place. Like I said it was my first one and there is plenty I would do different. I would possibly make it thinner and I would do a couple other things that may help. But I don't plan on doing anything for at least a year. And only if I do a bigger tank.
I don't think there is anything specail about this tank. I like the aquascaping but there are a ton of better looking tanks out there.
I had a 400 gallon custom tank at one time that I made all the rock for. Now that looked awesome. But I just got to busy and never even set it up. Took me six months just to build the rock. Every piece fit perfectly into each other. If I can find some pics off my old computer I will show them. I ended up selling the whole works to the LFS in town. They wee unable to piece the rock together so they filled it with liverock and put the ceramic in the fish tanks. The beauty of the big tank was the structure was completely hollow and i had planned an under rock surge to keep detritus from building up. I am still sad I never set that tank up. But I get to see it every couple of weeks when I go the the lfs.
I had a 400 gallon custom tank at one time that I made all the rock for. Now that looked awesome. But I just got to busy and never even set it up. Took me six months just to build the rock. Every piece fit perfectly into each other. If I can find some pics off my old computer I will show them. I ended up selling the whole works to the LFS in town. They wee unable to piece the rock together so they filled it with liverock and put the ceramic in the fish tanks. The beauty of the big tank was the structure was completely hollow and i had planned an under rock surge to keep detritus from building up. I am still sad I never set that tank up. But I get to see it every couple of weeks when I go the the lfs.
My LFS has the Thick Tonga rock. for about $6 lb. I will take a pic of what they have tomorrow and if you want it just paypal me the loot for however much you want and i can ship it tuesday...... i can prob get you hooked up with a sweet deal on shipping too.