Epic Overhaul/Builds: 3D Backgrounds 300g-125g-120g

[JK47]

Been a great read.

I need to get cracking on my tank. Maybe next time I'm in your area i can come check out your stuff. Looks amazing.

Your welcome at my place any time. Lots of MFK'ers been over to my place.

great job jk47 it looks like your tanks are really coming along nicely.

Thanks! Welcome to MFK bro! I told you I had more pics on this side lol..

Fantastic thread.

I really thank you for all the great ideas, excellent pictures and advice

Wow, that means allot coming from you! Thanks for the compliment! How tall and wide would a background need to be to fit your "big" tank?

 

[DaveB]

2.5" from the back trim on the sides and 9" from the back of the trim at it's thickest point. Keep in mind the overflow towers were 10"x6" and there were two in the tank. Comperable footprint loss IMO.

Oh, wow, that's much better. I had it in my head that the material itself was 3ish inches, plus the gap behind it, plus whatever jut out as part of the natural look.

3 inches is nothing. Even 9, given that that's a stump and that counts as decoration...

Thanks... now I'm much more interested.

(On a side note - Muni, that photo of the krib in your avatar is amazing... one of yours?)

 

[arapaimag]

[QUOTE
How tall and wide would a background need to be to fit your "big" tank?[/QUOTE]

The long wall is 36 feet by 9 feet (of water - the wall actually extends a few feet above the water), The short wall is 27 feet by 9 feet of water.

I have quite a few other tanks and really like what you have done with yours. I'm re doing the 810 puffer tank because he appears to be getting very old and not functioning the way he did when he was younger. The background might look good in it. The back is 8' by 3'.

 

[Muni]

(On a side note - Muni, that photo of the krib in your avatar is amazing... one of yours?)

That one is not. Just a google image I found. I have 2 adult breeding pairs that have similar if not brighter coloring. Got one pair trying to lay eggs right now so they look super bright. Need to set up some proper lights and take some pics of my own.


JK47- May have to take you up on that offer. Not a lot of MFK's in my area that I'm aware of. I want to make a trip down to the wet spot in Portland and a few other LFS i used to frequent. My father used to build tank stands and we delivered all over the northwest.

 

[DaveB]

That one is not. Just a google image I found. I have 2 adult breeding pairs that have similar if not brighter coloring. Got one pair trying to lay eggs right now so they look super bright. Need to set up some proper lights and take some pics of my own.

I love Kribs. I used to have a pair that was that majestic... one thing I've always wondered was if the cool fiery circles in the tail come with age, or just with better specimens... cause I've never seen any in stores (not ever) that were anywhere near that pretty.

Anyway, that's a bit of a threadjack, sorry... back to Justin being ten times more productive than I ever am...

 

[JK47]

JK47- May have to take you up on that offer. Not a lot of MFK's in my area that I'm aware of. I want to make a trip down to the wet spot in Portland and a few other LFS i used to frequent. My father used to build tank stands and we delivered all over the northwest.

Anytime, I know a few spots too! Maybe I'll talk to a freind and get us into the cichlid exchange while your down Please bring kribs for me too I wanna play!!! (I'm a closet Chromidotilapia guntheri lover too, don't tell my SA buddies though they think I'm a purist lol)

I love Kribs. I used to have a pair that was that majestic... one thing I've always wondered was if the cool fiery circles in the tail come with age, or just with better specimens... cause I've never seen any in stores (not ever) that were anywhere near that pretty.

Anyway, that's a bit of a threadjack, sorry... back to Justin being ten times more productive than I ever am...

Truth be told I was going to PM Muni and ask the very same thing.. Great minds think alike lol.. Threadjack all you want Dave have you ever seen Peter and I? We go from Uaru sp. to Thomas Weidner, to wiener dogs in like 3 posts...!

The long wall is 36 feet by 9 feet (of water - the wall actually extends a few feet above the water), The short wall is 27 feet by 9 feet of water.

I have quite a few other tanks and really like what you have done with yours. I'm re doing the 810 puffer tank because he appears to be getting very old and not functioning the way he did when he was younger. The background might look good in it. The back is 8' by 3'.

holy... crap... that's 432"x108" in inches on one wall alone... Matt from DBN is either going to laugh or cry when he reads this... I would love to see a link to your 810g puffer tank? MBU, Fahaka?? Thanks in advance arapaimag, I would love to see!!

I am getting the faux overflow towers installed before tomorrow. I finally got them wet tonight and am heading back out in a bit for more test fitting/measuring. They are 11" wide so 22" total length in overflows and 79" of BG mean I am at 101" total length and only have 95" (linear) of inside the tank.. I need to cut 6" off of the BG. I am leaning towards not cutting a vertical line, but carving off the base of the BG and leaving a few inches of the raised areas on top of the overflows. I hope that makes sense? A smooth transition.



Adding about 6" of Gutterguard I am at 28" tall in height, there 29" vertical inside the tank.



I only have two left but will pick up some more to set the horizontal and vertical cross sections with black zip ties. Cheap, safe and reliable.



I am getting a consistent 28" in height all the way around the tower. I think I will pile on the layers and see if I like it or not and of course I'll post pics for ya'll..



The faux overflows are going to cover this, a heater, an FX5 intake and a durso intake for the sump on each side.



I am holding it by hand here for test fitting and also please note it is upsidedown in these pics. This area with the teeth will be pointed toward the substrate with the gutterguard as pictured above.







This is the view from the top, you can see the area the tower was, because the water from the inside of the tank is clear in this shot and in the shape of the tower itself.. I am kind of stumped on how to mount these though??? I would love to hear some ideas please?



This shot was for fun, my wife snapped it. I was holding the tower and 10 seconds in I have a juvie female heros sp. 'rotkeil' hiding under it. Exactly why the gutter guard is being used on the bottom. Oh, tile under sand?? I just got an idea!!



So, some more mounting ideas from you guys? Questions? I won't have any more updates until I sort this out.

 

[Natalie]

Do you need the overflows to seal flat against the back of the tank, or are they more for hiding the equipment? If they're there just to hide stuff, how about magnets? I know they're being used more and more often nowadays for things like powerheads and heaters. Surely an overflow is lightweight enough that it would hold. The trick would be finding aquarium-safe ones.

Edit: I just found this too... aquarium-safe underwater glue. http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=9822

 

[Muni]

Anytime, I know a few spots too! Maybe I'll talk to a freind and get us into the cichlid exchange while your down Please bring kribs for me too I wanna play!!! (I'm a closet Chromidotilapia guntheri lover too, don't tell my SA buddies though they think I'm a purist lol)

If you want them, I'll deliver. Sold a few to one of my LFS. But have about 75ish more 1"ers.

My parents got me hooked on Kribs (Pelvicachromis pulcher) years ago. My father used to raise fish in the basement, about 25 tanks, for years. Then we moved to Hawaii. When we moved back a few years later we got into wood working and started making stands. I miss traveling to all the LFS's. Been years since we got out of it.

 

[JK47]

Do you need the overflows to seal flat against the back of the tank, or are they more for hiding the equipment? If they're there just to hide stuff, how about magnets? I know they're being used more and more often nowadays for things like powerheads and heaters. Surely an overflow is lightweight enough that it would hold. The trick would be finding aquarium-safe ones.

Edit: I just found this too... aquarium-safe underwater glue. http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=9822

I would like them to sit somewhat flush. I do not want them sealed in permanently or I would just do it with the BG/silicone or foam. I would like to be able to remove them to adjust heater settings or whatever I can think of in the future. I don't often make a change to a tank without thinking how it will affect my liking the tank down the road.

Magnets were the first idea I had a few pages ago but have had a heck of a time finding strong ones locally. To be honest I haven't found any.. My newest thought is to silicone the gutterguard to the tower and put a tile or three underneath the guard and the substrate to weigh it down. I have done that with wood before and was/am happy with it. I can get at least x2 1/4" thick tiles under it with a safety window of another 1/2". You guys think that would work?

 

[DaveB]

Please bring kribs for me too I wanna play!!! (I'm a closet Chromidotilapia guntheri lover too, don't tell my SA buddies though they think I'm a purist lol)

Nothing wrong with a little variety... heck, I think kribs are the perfect inhabitant for a small planted tank... such as the one you just set up (though curviceps, which I insist are distant relatives of kribs from across the atlantic, are just as good... if you can keep them well. For some reason I am their kryptonite, which is depressing).

Truth be told I was going to PM Muni and ask the very same thing.. Great minds think alike lol.. Threadjack all you want Dave have you ever seen Peter and I? We go from Uaru sp. to Thomas Weidner, to wiener dogs in like 3 posts...!

Speaking of which, I've got a buyer for my Uaru Oranges coming tomorrow. I'm both excited and sad. He's taking 4 of my 6, leaving me with a pair plus my regular one. I hope the split doesn't cause behavioral issues...

I would love to see a link to your 810g puffer tank? MBU, Fahaka?? Thanks in advance arapaimag, I would love to see!!

He has an awesome narrated 8+ minute video linked in his sig. Until I saw that in this thread I never knew he also had that tank. No disrespect to the giant ones, but that 810 might be my favorite... just wait til you see the crowd in there. (Oh, and mbu. My wife wants one now for our African tank... which is only 75g. Ha.)

I am leaning towards not cutting a vertical line, but carving off the base of the BG and leaving a few inches of the raised areas on top of the overflows. I hope that makes sense? A smooth transition.

Good idea. Perhaps there's also a way to cut the overflows. On either the outside (depending on if an exposed corner would be visible) or inside (forcing you to somehow merge it in with the bg). I think your idea sounds better though.

So, some more mounting ideas from you guys? Questions? I won't have any more updates until I sort this out.

How thick is the overflow plastic?

I wonder if there's a grooved piece of plastic you could glue/mount to the glass that you could then slide the overflow into. Sort of like the sliding plastic pieces that allow you to fold glass tops on glass tanks... but only half of that, and the flat part affixed to the tank.

Or, glue something L shaped at 4-6 points inside the overflow, glue magnets to it, then put magnets on the outside?