Scaping advice.

[synthetix21]

Hello guys.
So recently i saw this photo of a reef tank. I think it looks beautiful. But ive not seen many people with this kind of setup. Thin sandbed and deep sand on the side.

What are the cons to this kind of setup?

Will the heavy sand leaning to the side put pressure on the glass panel?

Also, idk the science of this, but does adding more rocks in tank help reduce water pressure on glass panels (glass bowing) because the tank will have less water?

Thanks for any inputs.

 

[blaxsun]

The main con I see is that if you have fish that love to burrow and/or excavate - they probably will.

 

[synthetix21]

The main con I see is that if you have fish that love to burrow and/or excavate - they probably will.

What kind of fish do those? Other than gobies?

 

[blaxsun]

What kind of fish do those? Other than gobies?

Wrasses, gobies, jawfish (to a lesser extent). My damsels and dottybacks have also excavated several lairs under my rocks.

 

[viper5dn]

That's a big tank so not sure it *really* matters but you do lose more water volume.

 

[viper5dn]

Oh, and if you do go this route I don't think you can just pile sand on one side--there's probably some kind of scaffolding underneath to keep the sand in place.

 

[CoralB]

Even if you are able to duplicate this I would find a way to excavate the sand from the front glass to keep it from looking clean cuz the glass that’s buried by the sand will get ugly .

 

[exnisstech]

I'm not a fan. It's going to get nasty between the sand and glass and look like crap. I ran a deep sand bed for a while and it was always nasty looking against the glass. This person must be cleaning it or it's newer, the sand mound that is. Also the glass/acrylic is going to get scratched badly so if you change your mind....?
Maybe mounded against the back wall might not look so bad JMO

 

[Kmarshall168]

I would wonder how hard it would be to dial in flow as well. pretty tank though

 

[Daddio64]

I'd be concerned about it not getting stirred and what could leach out when it does. I occasionally get paranoid about the couple inches under my rock.

 

[synthetix21]

Thanks for the input guys. Yeah, thinking about all being said here, maybe ill just go with thin sand bed. Mine is at about 1 inch sand.

That's a big tank so not sure it *really* matters but you do lose more water volume.

Because earlier this year, one of my tank just burst. It was a freshwater tank and an old tank. No rocks or plants. Just fish.
I know more rockscape means lower water volume. But im just wondering if it will also reduce water pressure on the glass. Not gonna have the same thing happens again, especially a saltwater tank.

 

[viper5dn]

Thanks for the input guys. Yeah, thinking about all being said here, maybe ill just go with thin sand bed. Mine is at about 1 inch sand.


Because earlier this year, one of my tank just burst. It was a freshwater tank and an old tank. No rocks or plants. Just fish.
I know more rockscape means lower water volume. But im just wondering if it will also reduce water pressure on the glass. Not gonna have the same thing happens again, especially a saltwater tank.

Huge bummer on the freshwater! I think busting tanks is risk for any older aquarium, but the larger the aquarium the higher the chances of it busting (I think water volume increases pressure ^3). Best advice is to watch the seams, and be careful not to agitate the tank too much when it's filled. My wife sometimes leans on the glass when she's watching the tank from above--freaks me out every time .

 

[Sump Crab]

That tank is beautiful

 

[synthetix21]

Huge bummer on the freshwater! I think busting tanks is risk for any older aquarium, but the larger the aquarium the higher the chances of it busting (I think water volume increases pressure ^3). Best advice is to watch the seams, and be careful not to agitate the tank too much when it's filled. My wife sometimes leans on the glass when she's watching the tank from above--freaks me out every time .

yea. my tank was outside on the front porch. some of the fish already on the road. almost went into the drain. lol. luckily managed to save all of them in time though some of them were bruised. it happened at 3am.

im afraid to fill my tank to the top. i knew that deeper water also means higher pressure on the side. my water line is 3 inches below the glass level. i think it looks ugly being so low. hahah.
i would like to raise the water again just by adding more rocks/sand in the tank. so i dont need to add more water. thats why i asked this.

 

[viper5dn]

yea. my tank was outside on the front porch. some of the fish already on the road. almost went into the drain. lol. luckily managed to save all of them in time though some of them were bruised. it happened at 3am.

im afraid to fill my tank to the top. i knew that deeper water also means higher pressure on the side. my water line is 3 inches below the glass level. i think it looks ugly being so low. hahah.
i would like to raise the water again just by adding more rocks/sand in the tank. so i dont need to add more water. thats why i asked this.

Glad the original tank bust went about as well as it could. Tanks are generally designed to be filled to the top (obviously not to the tippy-top, but maybe 1-inch down). Would it be possible to have someone you trust from a local LFS, or someone else with experience looking at a tank's seams, come by to do a visual inspection (or alternatively take pictures)? May be a bit tougher since the tank sounds like it's filled, but you can always drain it down so there's just a bit of water left for the livestock--the few minutes where the water's drained shouldn't hurt any corals you might have. Visual inspections aren't a 100% guarantee, but might give ya some peace of mind.