600g FOWLR

[dzfish17]

The frame is painted.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0570.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0570.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

I had to drill holes in the top of the tank and use 50 lb. zip ties to hold the frame up... at almost 4' tall it wouldnt have held the weight of the rock. There are 4 zip ties total... one on each end and two in the middle.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0695.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0695.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

I also used silicone to anchor the frame to the tank.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0698.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0698.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[dzfish17]

Interesting......

Thanks for looking.

 

[liverock]

Amazing job!

Amazing job!

Very nice and innovative...I know some public aquariums that want to hire you!

Richard TBS:lolspin::lolspin::lolspin:
www.tbsaltwater.com

 

[THS]

This has been a great read so far! Can't wait for updates.

Thanks for sharing, dzfish.

 

[dzfish17]

Very nice and innovative...I know some public aquariums that want to hire you!

Richard TBS:lolspin::lolspin::lolspin:
www.tbsaltwater.com

Now that would be cool, doing what you love and getting paid for it too... sounds like what youre doing. Thanks for the comments.

 

[dzfish17]

This has been a great read so far! Can't wait for updates.

Thanks for sharing, dzfish.

Thank you for taking the time to follow along. Ive got this pic posting thing down now, so Im going to keep the thread moving.

 

[dzfish17]

I had some problems with the closed loop design. I tried using 1/2" pipe with the dart pump but I wasnt getting the flow that I wanted so I ordered some 3/8" cpvc pipe and adapters. By narrowing the pipe I got the desired flow. Here is a pic of the 1/2" and 3/8" together.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0588.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0588.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0584.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0584.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

A view from the top.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0601.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0601.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a
<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0594.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0594.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

The middle returns. I designed the tank so the fish could swim behind the rock... it was important to have water movement back there.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0596.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0596.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[dzfish17]

I had some problems with the backlit cave. I tried putting a blue translucent acrylic panel on the outside of the tank but it just didnt look right and I knew it was going to be a pain trying to keep the cut out area clean. I came up with a plan to fix both of these issues. I decided that the panel would have to go on the inside of the tank and be removable for cleaning. I thought that I would have more algae on the panel than the tank and for the most part I was right.

I take the panel out and clean it when I clean the corals. The back of the tank does get a little algae on it but I made a tool (pvc pipe and a brush) to reach it. It only takes a few minutes to clean it with the diy brush. The only problem with my plan was that the panel could not be removed because of the cave so I had to get creative. I designed a track that the panel would slide on. The panel goes in on the right side of the tank and slides down to the left side. I spent alot of time on this and it fits pretty snug when in place.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0557.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0557.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Here's the track. Its approximately 3"x 6'

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0575.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0575.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

The track is in place.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0576.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0576.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

The panel and track.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0579.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0579.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[Dragon moray ki]

Thats cool.

 

[Ms.Blue]

Sweet deal. Beautiful tank.

 

[jjk_reef00]

Wow this is an amazing build with so much detail!
Is the track a piece of acrylic as well?

 

[dzfish17]

Thats cool.

Thanks.

Sweet deal. Beautiful tank.

Thank you.

Wow this is an amazing build with so much detail!
Is the track a piece of acrylic as well?

Yes, the track is 1/4" black acrylic. Thanks again for the nice comments.

 

[rayn]

Reading through and you have some amazing ideas! May steAl the PVC idea for my build. Awesome looking by the way!

 

[dzfish17]

Reading through and you have some amazing ideas! May steAl the PVC idea for my build. Awesome looking by the way!

You can see what happens when someone like me has too much time on his hands... some crazy things can occur. :crazy1: Thanks for the kind words.

 

[dzfish17]

I attached the eggcrate with zip ties and made alot of holes so the fish could have easy access to the back of the tank. I made some of the holes big enough for a large angel/tang. I also used silicone to attach the eggcrate to the sides of the tank.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0708.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0708.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0707.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0707.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0711.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0711.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[bongarone]

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0711.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0711.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Looks like some sort of Star Wars space station tank. Very nice.

 

[sammy77]

The frame is painted.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0570.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0570.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

I had to drill holes in the top of the tank and use 50 lb. zip ties to hold the frame up... at almost 4' tall it wouldnt have held the weight of the rock. There are 4 zip ties total... one on each end and two in the middle.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0695.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0695.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

I also used silicone to anchor the frame to the tank.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0698.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0698.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Very nice, makes my 220 look like a fish bowl. lol

What paint did you use to paint your pvc with?

 

[gweston]

Really neat idea about the backlit cave, it gives a nice sense of there being a larger body of water behind everything.

 

[hrairguitar]

Thank you. Ive always wanted to have a real cave and with a tall tank I was able to create one. I looked at alot of pics of underwater caves before coming up with this design. It was one of the hardest things to build because the tank came with a 1/4" piece of black acrylic on the back and sides. I had to router out the area and then do alot of sanding to make it clear again.

Awesome tank. I have a 300 I'm setting up this summer and will use yours as inspiration

Question - how did you sand it and what kind of cream did you use? Mine has some light scratching and I used a hand buffer with some acrylic scratch remover. It helped but didn't give me the results I was looking for

 

[kissman]

Im finally going to start a build thread on my 600g tank even though it has been running for over a year now. I'll get things going by showing a pic of the tank as it is now and then go back and show how I built the aquascape (for those that are interested).

I like it!