Decisions made.

[FINWIN]

An alternate plan is to silicone the stems to the slate. I have rocks I can silicone and stabilize everything together on the planks. Here I've wrapped groups of stems with the weighted metal strips and bent the stems into a stand shape. This will be attached to the slate. Due to their size these silk plants are pretty heavy.

 

[FINWIN]

This is NOT a layout. I've just propped these plants up and chose this group because they work best with the background colors. The driftwood piece you see at the bottom is 22 inches. I have another tall free standing piece on the way that will reach near the top. The blue plant is the one I painted and the spider plant I pulled from the 225. I have a couple more silk plants to add. Got a lot of floorspace with this boxy shape.

 

[FINWIN]

Soaking the pink mums. This color is way too loud for the new tank but is perfect for the 125. I soaked these while doing a water change.

 

[FINWIN]

The pink mums in the 125. They are blended in with the "peppermint" mums and reptile silk vines. It's an unconventional approach to tank decor (not to mention cheap) especially with with large tanks) but it works for suppressing aggression. The fish not only have sight breaks but areas they can claim, relax and explore in. By layering deco this way even bottom fish like hrps will use the entire tank all the way to the top. They love resting, exploring and nestling in the vines and behind the mums. The two beta males (Shade and Mote) can get away comfortably and not get chased or stressed. This format has reduced aggression to nearly nothing. There's still sparring and posturing, but nobody can get a clean shot to fight and everyone can get away. The flowers swell in the water and move, extremely lifelike looking.

This is a custom 125. It's 22 inches deep not the standard 18. This is actual gallons not model gallons (standard 125 is really 116-117 gallons).

The mums have been added to the center along the back wall. Some of the hrps immediately went under them like a tree. First shot is the 3pm full daylight setting. Second shot is the real time evening setting of 9pm.

 

[FINWIN]

Update!

Today was a real treat as I got to meet fellow MFKer, Backfromthedead ! He brought the stand..rambled right on up in his Darth Vader truck! Got to see some of my fishies too.

Here are some pics, both with and without the top plank. Don't know for sure how much it weighs but I'm guessing around 80-100lbs. With the extra leftover maple pieces I have to add that should bring the stand height to ~27 inches. With the tank being 33, that makes total height 60 inches. BOOYA!

The silicone is arriving today. I'll be gluing the tall plant stems to the slate planks then anchoring them with more rock. I might start painting the stand this weekend. Its Glidden Premium Semi Gloss, kind of a fall pumpkin orange color. Should blend well with the background and substrate.

Here we go with the stand. First, the frame





With the table top






By the way jjohnwm , there might be blocks stuffed in the stand. Then around the stand. Then on top of the stand. Then UNDER the stand. Just to MAKE SURE it's strong enough!!

More to come!

 

[esoxlucius]

Nice rug FINWIN . Have you not thought of cutting a piece out and using it as a background for your new tank?

Don't forget though...stripes vertical, not horizontal! Lol.

Great looking stand by the way.

 

[cockroach]

Update!

Today was a real treat as I got to meet fellow MFKer, Backfromthedead ! He brought the stand..rambled right on up in his Darth Vader truck! Got to see some of my fishies too.

Here are some pics, both with and without the top plank. Don't know for sure how much it weighs but I'm guessing around 80-100lbs. With the extra leftover maple pieces I have to add that should bring the stand height to ~27 inches. With the tank being 33, that makes total height 60 inches. BOOYA!

The silicone is arriving today. I'll be gluing the tall plant stems to the slate planks then anchoring them with more rock. I might start painting the stand this weekend. Its Glidden Premium Semi Gloss, kind of a fall pumpkin orange color. Should blend well with the background and substrate.

Here we go with the stand. First, the frame

With the table top

By the way jjohnwm , there might be blocks stuffed in the stand. Then around the stand. Then on top of the stand. Then UNDER the stand. Just to MAKE SURE it's strong enough!!

More to come!

What safety factors to you take into consideration?!!!
The sky collapsing on in on it?
A tank turning into a solid cube of lead?

Solid build

 

[beau1990]

The rug really ties the room together man

 

[AR1]

Today was a real treat as I got to meet fellow MFKer, .avatar--xss { width: 21px; height: 21px; line-height: 21px !important; margin-right: 2px; } Backfromthedead @Backfromthedead !

Congrats! You’re one of the first people to have met a living zombie, lol!

 

[Backfromthedead]

Lol, it was awesome meeting FINWIN and her fishy family. Lots of personable cichlids everywhere including a multi-generational harem of convicts and a parrot that would only open up to me if i took my hat off. Looking forward to the new tank when it arrives