Using travertine for substrate instead of none or sand.
 

Hi all, I did a search for this question but there is such a huge amount of threads to go through. My question also differs slightly rather then just using or not using, I was wondering if I could use an alternative.

We have decided to do the background on our 260 gallon with 4"x4" travertine marble, since one of the LFS said it is nice and porous much like live rock. They also sell it for a small fortune and this stuff was free for us. It is untreated, and we are to treat it with an inpregnator after installing it for our clients. It closely resembles the colours of the live rock, and so far looks pretty darned awesome. It is laid on a brick pattern and looks very natural since the marble has natural distress cracks, holes and chips along the edges. I was concerned it would look too man made, but there will be a huge amount of live rock stacked up against it anyways. It looks like a wall from a sunken ruin under the ocean.

I have a bunch of 1"x1" travertine left over from a job, and was wondering if we could glue it down to the bottom of the tank with aquarium safe silicone, just like we have done for the back ground. There would be no gaps for grout joints, and they would be butted up together tightly. I had planned to cover it with substrate, but read about all the difficulties and pains of keeping it clean. I know this personally due to caring for my 55 gallon, and cannot imagine syphoning a 260g that is 30" tall not including the stand.

I am not a fan of no substrate, but can appreciate and love the fact of not having to syphon it, since it is my job and I hate it. It takes time and effort for a little 55g, so a 260g scares me to think about.

If I do not like the look of the travertine on the bottom, at least I do have the option of covering it with substate. It is the same colour anyways, so it would not have to be super thick to cover any hard to reach spots.

Any opinions or insights on this at all? Again this untreated marble and must be sealed after installing it for clients to keep moisture out. Of course I would not be sealing it, and would be leaving it in it's natural state. The tank will not have anything but water cycling for at least eight weeks or more if needed. The water would be tested regularily to make sure things are good.

Thank you in advance for any help or insights that you may have.

I siliconed live rock to the back of my tank without any problems, and I have read that marble tiles are reef safe. Some people use them as frag plugs.

I use 1"x1" tiles for frags with no ill results. I don't see why you couldn't use it in larger quantities.

Thanks!!!
 

I appreciate the answers. I did read it was okay to do so, but it is always better to ask real people. I am glad that so far it seems great. My husband is still putting the marble on the background and using his tilesaw to cut liverock into the wall. This is the most fun I have seen him have using his skills. No mortar or grout, just silicone and and a saw. This whole project has been a long time in the making between me being hospitalized after I bought this thing, and many false starts or just no time...

Thanks again.

Some pics would be nice
 

I would love to see some pics as to how it turned out if you have the time.

Great idea.

+1

Here are a couple of pics from my camera phone. This is just the start of the project for now. We are still on the fence with the bottom of the tank. I put a pic of the 1"x1" and then the 12"x12". On the back there are some live rocks that have been cut on the tile saw for shelves and such. It is not complete yet. So far we have used three tubes of silicone, and have the overflows to clad in travertine as well as the bottom (if we do so). My husband is no where near completed so he will be mad that I posted pics so soon...

I can't get all the pictures on here since it is exceeding my quota. They are all the same size so I have to take a look at it. I am not computer savvy. I just opened a flickr account let me see if this link works.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30861436@N08/?saved=1

The Alcan box just cracks me up! Looks really cool so far!

It was just the right size to hold stuff up, or I would have had to stand there for a couple of hours:mrgreen: