terracing and gravel depth?

My suggestion would be to build the wall around some sort of solid object. Make the wall just slightly higher than the solid object and then top off with gravel. I will now attempt to illustrate with ASCII art (at which I am not proficient):

\ /
\ / <= plant on terrace
||
||
** gravel ** | | <= slate wall (slightly higher than top of solid object)
|solid object | |
|__________ | |***** more gravel *****

I'm not sure what would be a good material for the solid object, but that is my basic suggestion.
 
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you could add slate into that area, as you build the wall..... add gravel to top it off. The only thing i see wrong with that is you are going to spend a fortune on slate.
 
Oooh,ooh you could try to silicone some acylic or something to make a rectangle and use that as your solid object. Never tried this but it might work. It would not be advisable to silicone acrylic if you were making a tank but it might work for something like this. Oh, you could also try one of those plastic containers for holding drywall mud, a tupperware-type container, a well-washed jar or pop bottle. Keep in mind, I'm not saying this *will* work, these are just my suggestions.
 
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hmmm... good suggestions :)

but here are my concerns:

in regards to using slate under the gravel: wouldn't there still be spaces or pockets going deep down, as the slate would not be "airtight", or fitted tightly against the glass/wall? (i don't know if this makes sense, but i don't know how else to phrase it....)

in regards to a container or siliconed rectangle: this would solve the problem that I tried to describe above, but might leave me with an unnaturally shaped terrace?

i'm probably WAY overthinking this... i tend to do that :)
 
based on my experience building this type of walls Out side of tanks; I would have to agree with the person who built the terrace in your link, that the gravel behind the wall is an integral part of holding the whole thing up.
That's the main reason I am not liking the solid object idea.
I think the additional slate might work. you'd basically have a pile, or a stack, of slate with only the front showing so that it looks like a terrace. I think you'd need the top one or two layers of slate to Not go all the way back but be a very sort of 'real' wall on top. if u see what i mean.
The stack would have lots of relatively large 'airy' spaces throughout it. then you could put a thin layer of floss, or batting ( the safe kind) before you added the gravel.
you think?
alternatively....
i wonder of perforated air tubing or digid tubing running trhough the deep gravel would solve the problem of anaerobic pockets....
I like my first idea better *s
Have fun! let us see what you come up with.
 
What about using the silicon to glue the the slate together? You build it in the tank let it set and then fill it with something maybe more silicon then add gravel over that. It'd hold the "wall" together and limit the gravel depth. I'd imagine you could use any 90 degree corner as a template I'd think or a flat surface depending on where in the tank you want it. Then you wouldn't even have to worry about displacing any current fish for very long. If you get what I mean?
-Neo Sithlord
 
I'm liking the silicon idea, as I then might be able to fill in crevices of the inner part of the "wall" with the silicon, to eliminate places where bacteria could fester. This way too, would make for a lot less maintainance. If I do a teardown/big cleaning, it will all come out as one piece (as opposed to dealing with removing/replacing floss or batting)

Final question: unless i put a thick layer of silicon at the bottom, the wall structure would need to rest on a thin layer of gravel to avoid direct contact/scratching or cracking of the bottom glass. Would this cause any problems? (ie: bacteria forming under the structure)
 
The bad news is that silicone does not bind to slate well. Dry-laid is better. Then the gravel behind the wall and the wall work together as already stated. Epoxy putties will work, but the assembly will be really heavy and awkward if you want it out or rearranged.

The gravel behind the wall will require full-depth vacuuming unless you want the depths to go anoxic. Or it could be planted with strongly-rooted rosette plants whose roots will grow full depth.
 
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