# Substrate supports



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

To those who have seen or worked with 'commercial' (from companies like ADA or TGM) vertical substrate supports - what properties do these have? Are they completely stiff or do they have some flex?


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## MCSLABS (Apr 19, 2016)

Maybe not what you are looking for but I used PVC screen for the back to support a rock wall. Similar to that of actual brick laying. Siliconed the PVC screen directly to the glass then the rocks to the screen. For structure I used the plastic fluorescent light scatters you see on the big 4 bulb units on the ceilings. Cut to shape, make cubes by using zipties to hold together. I'm cheap and find the least expensive way to do things as I can.


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## someoldguy (Feb 26, 2014)

The stuff you see in the TGM videos is, or appears to be , ' Coroplast ' .Before I retired we had a big stack of the stuff that was bought for some unknown reason years back and I had a chance to work with it a bit . The best analogy I can give is to say that it's "plastic corrugated cardboard" . Like the cardboard it's somewhat flexible in one direction but very rigid in the other . You really can't get a nice smooth curve with it unless you cut the outside sheet on one side . Cuts with a really sharp utility knife/box cutter/X Acto , band saw or table saw with a fine tooth plywood 
or metal cutting blade . It'll glue pretty well with a hot glue gun , at least well enough to hold back substrate , not enough to withstand any great loading , though . Plastic cement , like IPS Weldon might be better , but I've never tried it . Stuff's real cheap on Ebay . Maybe a craft store like Michael's might have it , too


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## Xiaozhuang (Feb 15, 2012)

Flowcells/drainage cells work much better and can bear weight


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## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

Thanks for the post Dennis; beautiful pictures! I actually plan to use vertical supports along with the flow cells. The cells will build height while the vertical supports help prevent slippage. Do you put anything in the flow cells like substrate or crushed rock?


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## Xiaozhuang (Feb 15, 2012)

Axelrodi202 said:


> Thanks for the post Dennis; beautiful pictures! I actually plan to use vertical supports along with the flow cells. The cells will build height while the vertical supports help prevent slippage. Do you put anything in the flow cells like substrate or crushed rock?


Thanks, I fill them with substrate.. I use stones at the borders sometimes but the cells hold the substrate quite well. The troublesome part is probably cutting it into shape as the cells are tough. Good part is that heavy rocks are well supported


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## LotusBunny (Jun 9, 2016)

Xiaozhuang said:


> Flowcells/drainage cells work much better and can bear weight


Where do you get these?


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## number1sixerfan (Nov 10, 2006)

Xiaozhuang said:


> Flowcells/drainage cells work much better and can bear weight


So with something like this you still need to use enough substrate in each situation to get to the desired height? Or can you kind of use rocks around the base to hide? This is probably a dumb question lol


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## Xiaozhuang (Feb 15, 2012)

LotusBunny said:


> Where do you get these?


This can be found in the US i think
Atlantis 52mm Flo-Cell - Rainwater Collection and Stormwater Management



number1sixerfan said:


> So with something like this you still need to use enough substrate in each situation to get to the desired height? Or can you kind of use rocks around the base to hide? This is probably a dumb question lol




I use substrate


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## SwissCheeseHead (Dec 24, 2014)

Beautiful tanks @Xiaozhuang! Are these your tanks or tanks that you've done for others? This is great info and the pics are great inspiration.

So it looks like you cut, stack, and zip tie the layers together to add height, correct?


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## datboi16 (Jun 8, 2016)

A cut up election sign works fantastic

Sent from my LGLS675 using Tapatalk


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## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

@SwissCheeseHead,

I ended up using the linked product in my latest tank and describe the process in my journal. You could zip tie the layers if you want to but I don't think it's necessary unless you're stacking them very high.


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## Xiaozhuang (Feb 15, 2012)

SwissCheeseHead said:


> Beautiful tanks @*Xiaozhuang*! Are these your tanks or tanks that you've done for others? This is great info and the pics are great inspiration.
> 
> So it looks like you cut, stack, and zip tie the layers together to add height, correct?


All of these are mine own, though some have been taken down and the tanks rescaped. Yeah, you don't need to zip the layers unless you're stacking a taller portion for specific scaping purposes


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