Muttley000 Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Get That Sandbed LOOK Without Having an Actual Sandbed 4SHARES 4 We all love having the look of a bright white sand bed, and the way it reflects light to give our reef tanks that tropical look. But over the last decade it has definitely become clear that in many cases, that deep sand bed can have some drawbacks to keeping a healthy reef. Between trapping nutrients, scratching glass by getting caught in magnets, and generally blowing around in the flow rates that makes for a healthy reef, sand can be a a liability in a reef tank for a a multitude of reasons. But what can we do if we want that tropical beach look and want ripping flow to keep the tank clean and the corals happy? Jay Sperandio of Ecotech Marine tried his hand at one solution using epoxy resin to make a ‘sand sandwich’. In this technique a layer of sand is caught in between two layers of epoxy to look like a sand bed, but won’t trap nutrients or blow around in appropriate water flow. Making this type of faux sand bed is quite simple and Jay pulled it off rather well on his first try. If you wanted to try your hand at this we suggest trying out a small scale trial run before committing to making a full size version for your reef tank. READ Coral Bleaching On The Great Barrier Reef Is Just A Conspiracy (NSFW) https://reefbuilders.com/2018/02/20/get-that-sandbed-look-without-having-an-actual-sandbed/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Interesting idea. I have mixed feelings about it. But always enjoy a good diy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttley000 Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 6 hours ago, Joe said: Interesting idea. I have mixed feelings about it. But always enjoy a good diy. Me too. I've never done a bare bottom because I enjoy seeing worms and such in the sand. It seems like this would look better than a piece of starboard or plain glass before it got covered with coralline though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crimsonvice Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 I would have liked to see it with water in it. I wonder if you would get any reflection off of the epoxy with intense lighting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff70 Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 why not just paint the underside of the tank if you want the "look" without the real sand. I'm just saying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biecacka Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 Guy here has one in his 400. He was TOTM on reef central. His faux sandbed grew coraline algae and some zoas on it and you can hardly even tell it's not real. It looks great in my book. But I like my wrasses too much corey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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