Something Cool That Someone Else Should Do

[Opcn]

Alright, I have this Idea that I developed with a friend (well he stood there while I postulated) that I am not going to share with anyone till I get the resources to do it, However there are periferals that I am more that willing to share, especially if someone else can work out the nitty gritty and I can come back and incorperate them back into the main project, so here it goes.

To make the tank seem connected to the surrounding I think it would be cool to take a piece of baserock and keep it in the tank for a few months and let it get a good thick layer of coraline on it, then yank that sucker out and cut it in half. Which ever half is smaller or has more Aptasia or looks like it would be better for the job Goes straight into a pot of boiling water, then left in fresh water to rot off some of the growth and boiled occasionally, untill its clean , then dried, then you take the two pieces and silicone them across from each other going through Glass (or acrylic) then you could paint the outside rock with water colors to match the coraline growth on the wet half, posibly changing it occasionally, so it looks like the coraline covered rock streached right out of the tank. Thinking about it right now it seems that shallow depressions carved into the cut faces of each rock would help them lie flush to the glass, and it could even be done with magnets, Algea scraping might be a bit difficult but still doable (maybe have to resort to a credit card held by hand) and it would just look so cool, I hope someone can expound apon this Idea for me, or even better give it a try with a chunk of rock and an empty tank, thanks.

 

[Aquascaper]

You could just buy a chunk of fake live rock (made of fiberglass, etc.) and cut in half then use silicone to attach it to the tank.

The half in the tank will get more growth, the half outside will still look like it has coraline, etc. all over it

Bit pointless going through the hassle of cutting & boiling rock and having the weight on the tank glass when it can be done cheaper, lighter and easier.

JMO

 

[SkiFletch]

Agreed. The LR might get brittle over time as well if it's left outside of the salt water and dries fully (depending how porous it is)

 

[Opcn]

I'm aware that they make fake corals out of resin, but I have yet to see fake live rock, I've seen just plain fake rocks, but they don't seem to me like they fit anywere, fresh or salt water.

 

[crazyelece]

One of the local stores here carries a base rock that is painted with various colors representing corraline algea, but it is still real rock.

Only real problem I see is that the tank side is forever changing. It will never look the same all the time so what is the point. You paint the outside to match the inside but then the inside changes.

 

[Opcn]

The tank side doesn't change drasticly, the coraline might get scraped off a bit by hermits or urchins and a slightly different color of coraline might move in but if you take a look at what you have in your tank and paint the various colors onto your rock and have some areas with thicker coraline than others it seems like you could make an okay match.

 

[petey Z]

i think is sounds like a really cool idea, if i had the time i would def do it.

 

[andywg]

My problem is this:

If you have space on the side of the tank to stick a rock onto it, you have not completely filled the available space with the tank. Therefore the tank should ba made bigger!

 

[Mr Miagi]

If you have space on the side of the tank to stick a rock onto it, you have not completely filled the available space with the tank. Therefore the tank should ba made bigger!

 

[bunjiweb]

I would use TMC "Nature Form" rock which is basically fake live rock if I was evert o embark on a project such as this..


Ben