Create a shipwreck using pvc, eggcrate, and oystercrete?

Cody Ray · 01/18/2006, 10:34 PM

I thought that this might look cool in a simple FOWLR setup. Using pvc and eggcrate, one could build a skeleton for part of a hull, then coat it with either oystercrete or aragocrete. After a period of time in the water, most shipwrecks become incrusted with sponges, algae, and corals, so only their overall shape matters. Obviously this would probably have to cure inside the aquarium itself, even be built into the aquarium. Any thoughts?

Cody Ray · 01/18/2006, 10:38 PM

Here is something close to what I was refering to. You can tell that it is the inside of a ship, however, it is heavly encrusted with barnicles, sponges, algae, and corals.

Julio · 01/19/2006, 12:28 PM

The only problem is that in a reef tank there is not enough organism floating in the current to populate such a structure unless you specifically place them them, but made of out PVC, dont' know how attractive that would look unless you spary it with foam deco and paint it.

Cody Ray · 01/19/2006, 01:47 PM

Well luckly the PVC would be coated with oystercrete, as mentioned above

algaecentral · 01/19/2006, 04:00 PM

Hi, ChinChek.

Your idea seems to be very inspired and and fascinatingly experimental, IMO.

We need people who are prepared to go out on a limb, if we are going to create something original in this hobby.

I am fed up of seeing piles of live rock (like my tank)

Go for it!

And please show us the results.

Holyreefer · 01/19/2006, 04:11 PM

I think its a great idea too!
Keep us posted on if it works out or not...
Another thing one could do is place it in an area like your sump and let it collect algae, sponges (you'd have to place some in there) and let it sit for a while...

Just like we do with unlive live rock that we want to turn into Liverock let it seed itself

Great idea

Paul B · 01/19/2006, 04:18 PM

This three foot "rock" that I built is really hollow and it's backbone is PVC.

Here is the construction

Here is another one

Much of my rock is built this way.

I think PVC is great looking, as long as you don't see it

Julio · 01/19/2006, 04:20 PM

That is great Paul, it really looks natural.

ferventforager · 01/19/2006, 04:34 PM

Did you heat the PVC with a torch to bend it? How did you get the aragocrete to stick? What are the holes drilled in the pipe for?

Paul B · 01/19/2006, 05:59 PM

I heat the PVC with a torch (outdoors) and I joined that other piece by melting them together. I drill holes in the PVC because I want anerobic bacteria to grow inside. I wrap the PVC with plactic window screen which I secure with a glue gun. It is covered with about 4 or 5 layers of regular "Sakrete Mortor Mix"
with a few days in between.
Here is a piece that was just put in the tank and has not had a chance to develop coraline algae which grows very fast on cement.

I use Sakrete for a lot of things.
This is Sakrete on this "Grand Marnier" bottle. First you drink the Liquor, then you wait a day. Then you sandpaper the bottle and break it. Silicone most of it back together and leave out a piece. Dremmel the sharp edges and blob some cement on it.
Wala, 100 year old bottle.

Cody Ray · 01/19/2006, 07:48 PM

All I have is portland cement on hand, do you think that this will work as well as what you used?

Cody Ray · 01/19/2006, 07:55 PM

Here is a basic diagram using a picture of a shipwreck. As you can see, the right-hand side is a piece of railing that has fallen off, and the left is part of the hull. The railing will be pieces of 3" PVC with 1" bars. As in the picture, the bottom of the railing will be detached from the rest of the frame. The hull wall will be eggcrate along with screen. It will have PVC supports to help hold it up. I would like to glue barnicles and pieces of pre-made rock rubble (currently working on) to add some texture and help the concrete stick better (along with holes that will create pegs and screen).

stevebydac · 01/19/2006, 08:41 PM

My suggestion is to keep it life-sized. Don't do the "100 ft. ship which is now 18" in my tank" look.

A crazy idea I had when consuming too much alcohol one night

was to recreate a reef that had an underwater landslide and happened to crush a poor unsuspecting diver. In a big enough tank, you could have parts of a skeleton peeking out from the rubble, complete with a broken mask, finger ring, coins (treasure?), etc. All of the above can be found on the web, made of plastic, and look very realistic if you hunt around. Might make a really cool predator tank once the coralline, etc. grows over everything.

Like I said, I had a few too many (hiccup!)

LobsterOfJustice · 01/19/2006, 09:19 PM

Not quite a shipwreck but it goes with the whole "different" theme. I have since downsized from a 55g to a 37g.

Cody Ray · 01/19/2006, 11:27 PM

Quote:

My suggestion is to keep it life-sized. Don't do the "100 ft. ship which is now 18" in my tank" look

This isn't the idea at all. In fact that picture only depicts a very small portion of the dive site. This is just the area that I thought would be the most interesting to recreate.

That is awsome setup, what are you using for filtration?

Cody Ray · 01/19/2006, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Might make a really cool predator tank once the coralline, etc. grows over everything.

That would be awsome, however I have several chromis and a clown that will be needing a home (this will be my only setup for the next couple years) so I was thinking about sticking with more community-friendly fish (I can't stand parting with my fish, so I don't see myself giving or selling them).

JimR · 01/20/2006, 12:20 AM

Paul...

Do you have to "cure" the sakrete so it doesnt leech anything into the water? Or do you just plop it right into the tank after a few days dry time?

Gabi480 · 01/20/2006, 01:33 AM

dumb question but what exactly is FOWLR?
Gabi

stevebydac · 01/20/2006, 02:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gabi480
dumb question but what exactly is FOWLR?
Gabi

FOWLR = Fish Only With Live Rock

FO = Fish Only

FAO Schwarz = Toy Store

Paul B · 01/20/2006, 04:09 AM

ChinChek, Mortor mix works better because it's stickier, if you can get regular cement to stick it will do the same thing.
You have to cure it underfresh water for maybe a month end even so, if you have any algae, it will grow on the cement before it grows anywhere else. Algae loves cement.
Paul

Cody Ray · 01/22/2006, 03:07 AM

Well cement isn't exactly sticking very well, even with the screen attached!

Paul B · 01/22/2006, 05:48 AM

ChinChek, the cement doesent stick very well to the screen. It takes a few coats of cement to start sticking. First I sandpaper the screen, I don't really know if that helps but I surmise that the roughened screec would help, then the first coat of mortor will be very thin because as you say, it doesen't stick too well. After a few coats, it will stick. In that second picture I posted there is already one coat of mortor on the PVC and you can hardly see it.
Paul

toonces · 01/22/2006, 09:13 AM

i think it's an idea worth exploring. it wouldn't cost a whole lot in supplies to try in case it doesn't work out.

i have an idea a little like yours (paul knows about it), but i'm not going to go into details until i work it through a bit more.

anyway, i really think that this hobby needs people to think a bit more out of the box with respect to aquascaping. i'm not poo-poo'ing a nice sps reef, but it seems like a lot of people put so much thought into engineering a reef and taking care of their specimens, but drop the ball on presentation in the form of an aquascape or theme.

Paul B · 01/22/2006, 09:26 AM

I have real very old rusted chains that I found underwater encased in clear fiberglass resin, I have many antique bottles that I collected while diving, some I enhance with cement.
Probably a quarter of my rock I built. It was over many years and I have no Idea which ones I built or collected. I even have a bunch of asphalt that was dumped in the sea to control corrosion fifty years ago.
It's a hobby and as long as you like it, it goes.
This "rock" with the coraline algae all over it is New York City asphalt and that is a Grand Marnier bottle next to it.

There are more bottles in here with local "codium" seaweed from Montauk NY

I will dump anything in my reef as long as I think it looks more natural to "ME"

Have a great day.
Paul

sunfishh · 01/25/2006, 10:14 PM

Hold on a second. Everyone knows a salt water tank must have a big pile of expensive live rock. Making your own rock or being creative is not allowed. Just kidding. This thread has some great ideas.

01/18/2006, 10:34 PM	#1
Cody Ray Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 5,101	Create a shipwreck using pvc, eggcrate, and oystercrete? I thought that this might look cool in a simple FOWLR setup. Using pvc and eggcrate, one could build a skeleton for part of a hull, then coat it with either oystercrete or aragocrete. After a period of time in the water, most shipwrecks become incrusted with sponges, algae, and corals, so only their overall shape matters. Obviously this would probably have to cure inside the aquarium itself, even be built into the aquarium. Any thoughts? __________________ Limit 1 stupid question per day Current Tank Info: Mr. Aqua 7.5g bowfront

01/18/2006, 10:38 PM	#2
Cody Ray Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 5,101	Here is something close to what I was refering to. You can tell that it is the inside of a ship, however, it is heavly encrusted with barnicles, sponges, algae, and corals. __________________ Limit 1 stupid question per day Current Tank Info: Mr. Aqua 7.5g bowfront

01/19/2006, 12:28 PM	#3
Julio Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: New york Posts: 7,978	The only problem is that in a reef tank there is not enough organism floating in the current to populate such a structure unless you specifically place them them, but made of out PVC, dont' know how attractive that would look unless you spary it with foam deco and paint it. __________________ Thanks, Have a nice day. Julio Current Tank Info: 90 gallon reef w/ 250 watt SE XM10Ks and AP1003, 12 gallon reef, 40 gallon reef

01/19/2006, 01:47 PM	#4
Cody Ray Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 5,101	Well luckly the PVC would be coated with oystercrete, as mentioned above __________________ Limit 1 stupid question per day Current Tank Info: Mr. Aqua 7.5g bowfront

01/19/2006, 04:11 PM	#6
Holyreefer Octopus Extreme 300 Skimr Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 2,242	I think its a great idea too! Keep us posted on if it works out or not... Another thing one could do is place it in an area like your sump and let it collect algae, sponges (you'd have to place some in there) and let it sit for a while... Just like we do with unlive live rock that we want to turn into Liverock let it seed itself Great idea __________________ Life is what you make it, so make something out of everything you do! Current Tank Info: GYRE 150,Seaswirl 1.5, Barcuda Pump, Custom LED system, Extreme Reef Octopus 300 Protein Skimmer, 80 watt Aqua UV, Korallin BioDenitrator Nitrate, Hydor Magnum 8 Powerheads

01/19/2006, 04:00 PM	#5
algaecentral Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: England Posts: 23	Hi, ChinChek. Your idea seems to be very inspired and and fascinatingly experimental, IMO. We need people who are prepared to go out on a limb, if we are going to create something original in this hobby. I am fed up of seeing piles of live rock (like my tank) Go for it! And please show us the results.

01/19/2006, 04:18 PM	#7
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	This three foot "rock" that I built is really hollow and it's backbone is PVC. Here is the construction Here is another one Much of my rock is built this way. I think PVC is great looking, as long as you don't see it

01/19/2006, 04:20 PM	#8
Julio Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: New york Posts: 7,978	That is great Paul, it really looks natural. __________________ Thanks, Have a nice day. Julio Current Tank Info: 90 gallon reef w/ 250 watt SE XM10Ks and AP1003, 12 gallon reef, 40 gallon reef

01/19/2006, 04:34 PM	#9
ferventforager Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 54	Did you heat the PVC with a torch to bend it? How did you get the aragocrete to stick? What are the holes drilled in the pipe for?

01/19/2006, 05:59 PM	#10
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	I heat the PVC with a torch (outdoors) and I joined that other piece by melting them together. I drill holes in the PVC because I want anerobic bacteria to grow inside. I wrap the PVC with plactic window screen which I secure with a glue gun. It is covered with about 4 or 5 layers of regular "Sakrete Mortor Mix" with a few days in between. Here is a piece that was just put in the tank and has not had a chance to develop coraline algae which grows very fast on cement. I use Sakrete for a lot of things. This is Sakrete on this "Grand Marnier" bottle. First you drink the Liquor, then you wait a day. Then you sandpaper the bottle and break it. Silicone most of it back together and leave out a piece. Dremmel the sharp edges and blob some cement on it. Wala, 100 year old bottle.

01/19/2006, 07:48 PM	#11
Cody Ray Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 5,101	All I have is portland cement on hand, do you think that this will work as well as what you used? __________________ Limit 1 stupid question per day Current Tank Info: Mr. Aqua 7.5g bowfront

01/19/2006, 07:55 PM	#12
Cody Ray Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 5,101	Here is a basic diagram using a picture of a shipwreck. As you can see, the right-hand side is a piece of railing that has fallen off, and the left is part of the hull. The railing will be pieces of 3" PVC with 1" bars. As in the picture, the bottom of the railing will be detached from the rest of the frame. The hull wall will be eggcrate along with screen. It will have PVC supports to help hold it up. I would like to glue barnicles and pieces of pre-made rock rubble (currently working on) to add some texture and help the concrete stick better (along with holes that will create pegs and screen). __________________ Limit 1 stupid question per day Current Tank Info: Mr. Aqua 7.5g bowfront

01/19/2006, 08:41 PM	#13
stevebydac Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Rhode Island, USA Posts: 410	My suggestion is to keep it life-sized. Don't do the "100 ft. ship which is now 18" in my tank" look. A crazy idea I had when consuming too much alcohol one night was to recreate a reef that had an underwater landslide and happened to crush a poor unsuspecting diver. In a big enough tank, you could have parts of a skeleton peeking out from the rubble, complete with a broken mask, finger ring, coins (treasure?), etc. All of the above can be found on the web, made of plastic, and look very realistic if you hunt around. Might make a really cool predator tank once the coralline, etc. grows over everything. Like I said, I had a few too many (hiccup!)

01/19/2006, 09:19 PM	#14
LobsterOfJustice Recovering Detritophobe Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Cary, NC Posts: 7,443	Not quite a shipwreck but it goes with the whole "different" theme. I have since downsized from a 55g to a 37g. __________________ If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. I remember when zoanthids were called things like "green" and "orange" and not "reverse gorilla nipple." Current Tank Info: 180g reef with all the bells and whistles

01/20/2006, 12:20 AM	#17
JimR Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Mid Michigan Posts: 247	Paul... Do you have to "cure" the sakrete so it doesnt leech anything into the water? Or do you just plop it right into the tank after a few days dry time?

01/20/2006, 01:33 AM	#18
Gabi480 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Gilbert, Arizona Posts: 360	dumb question but what exactly is FOWLR? Gabi __________________ I learned to swim in a reef, where did you? "Yea, well thats like your opinion" Anyone know who said this? Gabi Current Tank Info: reef duh!

01/20/2006, 04:09 AM	#20
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	ChinChek, Mortor mix works better because it's stickier, if you can get regular cement to stick it will do the same thing. You have to cure it underfresh water for maybe a month end even so, if you have any algae, it will grow on the cement before it grows anywhere else. Algae loves cement. Paul __________________ I used to get shocked when I put my hand in my tank. Then the electric eel went dead. Current Tank Info: 100 gal reef set up in 1971

01/22/2006, 03:07 AM	#21
Cody Ray Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 5,101	Well cement isn't exactly sticking very well, even with the screen attached! __________________ Limit 1 stupid question per day Current Tank Info: Mr. Aqua 7.5g bowfront

01/22/2006, 05:48 AM	#22
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	ChinChek, the cement doesent stick very well to the screen. It takes a few coats of cement to start sticking. First I sandpaper the screen, I don't really know if that helps but I surmise that the roughened screec would help, then the first coat of mortor will be very thin because as you say, it doesen't stick too well. After a few coats, it will stick. In that second picture I posted there is already one coat of mortor on the PVC and you can hardly see it. Paul __________________ I used to get shocked when I put my hand in my tank. Then the electric eel went dead. Current Tank Info: 100 gal reef set up in 1971

01/22/2006, 09:13 AM	#23
toonces Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Norfolk, Virginia, USA Posts: 1,131	i think it's an idea worth exploring. it wouldn't cost a whole lot in supplies to try in case it doesn't work out. i have an idea a little like yours (paul knows about it), but i'm not going to go into details until i work it through a bit more. anyway, i really think that this hobby needs people to think a bit more out of the box with respect to aquascaping. i'm not poo-poo'ing a nice sps reef, but it seems like a lot of people put so much thought into engineering a reef and taking care of their specimens, but drop the ball on presentation in the form of an aquascape or theme.

01/22/2006, 09:26 AM	#24
Paul B Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 15,549	I have real very old rusted chains that I found underwater encased in clear fiberglass resin, I have many antique bottles that I collected while diving, some I enhance with cement. Probably a quarter of my rock I built. It was over many years and I have no Idea which ones I built or collected. I even have a bunch of asphalt that was dumped in the sea to control corrosion fifty years ago. It's a hobby and as long as you like it, it goes. This "rock" with the coraline algae all over it is New York City asphalt and that is a Grand Marnier bottle next to it. There are more bottles in here with local "codium" seaweed from Montauk NY I will dump anything in my reef as long as I think it looks more natural to "ME" Have a great day. Paul

01/25/2006, 10:14 PM	#25
sunfishh Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Fullerton, Ca Posts: 1,875	Hold on a second. Everyone knows a salt water tank must have a big pile of expensive live rock. Making your own rock or being creative is not allowed. Just kidding. This thread has some great ideas. __________________ It's nice to be important, but important to be nice