600g FOWLR

[dzfish17]

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

Yeah, it does... thank you.

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

What paint did you use to paint your pvc with?

Thanks, I used valspar "plastic paint". I did a test on a scrap of pvc before using it on the frame. I sprayed it on and let it dry for a couple of days...I couldnt scratch it off with my fingernail and its still holding strong after being underwater for a year.

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

Thank you, My plan was to keep that side of the tank dimly lit so it looks deeper. I think it also makes the cave look a bit more realistic. I dont know if youve seen this thread but this member has done some amazing things with backlighting and shadow boxes. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1868825&highlight=shadow+boxes

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

I dont think I can help you with your situation... my acrylic didnt end up very "clear" at all. In fact, I think its "hazy" at best. The area that I sanded was very beat up from the router. I started with 50 grit paper and ended with something around 180 grit. I actually left it a little beat up on purpose because it looked more natural to me... if that makes any sense. I appreciate the nice comments.

 

[dzfish17]

Here's a couple of pics of the rock that I used for the aquascape. The rock came from Marco Rocks and was exactly what I was looking for. I needed 450 lbs. of rock that was flat on one side and Marc went out of his way to accommodate. The rock is called "prime cuts".

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN1205.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN1205.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN1202.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN1202.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[dzfish17]

I like it!

Thanks.

 

[j tavares]

So Far ,awesome !! keep it coming , Thank you for sharing.

 

[dzfish17]

Finally, the rock is going on. I used silicone to attach the rock... it only had to hold until I filled in the gaps with concrete.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0809.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0809.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0908.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0908.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

An upward shot of the cave. I used a product (mortar) from Marco Rocks called E-Marco-400 to permanently attach the rocks to the eggcrate.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN0911.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN0911.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[dzfish17]

So Far ,awesome !! keep it coming , Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for following along. I'll be putting up more pics tonight.

 

[dzfish17]

The rock is all on. I remember spending alot of time on this because it was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN1234.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN1234.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN1235.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN1235.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN1233.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN1233.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[humaguy]

It looks very, very cool...love the cave...how are you going to clean back there? what about dead spots? and what happens if a fish dies back there- how are you going to remove it?

 

[dzfish17]

It looks very, very cool...love the cave...how are you going to clean back there? what about dead spots? and what happens if a fish dies back there- how are you going to remove it?

I was going to get to these questions later in the thread but I'll do my best to answer them right now. The back part of the tank is BB... I use an Aquaclear 110 powerhead attached to a pole to blow any detritus into the water column where the skimmer can remove it. I only do this every couple of months... usually the same time that I clean the panel and corals.

Im not aware of any dead spots because I have powerheads in the back pointed in diffferent directions. I was very concerned about a fish dying and getting stuck in the back but it has already happened. I checked ammonia for 2 weeks and never saw any elevated levels... maybe because of the amount of LR/water volume. As I mentioned before the tank is lightly stocked which may also help. I appreciate the comments.

 

[dzfish17]

Here's a pic of the rock around one of the closed loop returns.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN1200.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN1200.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

I used pieces of the 3/8" cpvc pipe as a base for the corals to drop into. They are siliconed into place.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN1546.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN1546.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

I left one piece of eggcrate off so I could get some rock into the back of the tank. There's only a few pieces back there for the fish to hide in if they want.
You can also see the pipe for the corals is in place.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN1543.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN1543.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[dzfish17]

This is a view from the top of the cave overhang. The rocks are glued in place with the E-Marco-400. I decided to use the two FX5 canister filters that were on the tank when it was FW. The middle pipe is one of the returns.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN1554.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN1554.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

The other side. There are two returns for each FX5.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN1553.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN1553.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Ive started filling in the gaps with my own mix of portland cement, sand, water, and a binder (acryl 60) that strengthens concrete. The two 1/2" pipes are the returns of the FX5 (right side).

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN1552.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN1552.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

The left side. I put one of the returns in the middle, pointed at the front pane. The tank is tall and fairly narrow so gas exchange is very important. The returns are about 4" from the water line. There is also a powerhead (aquaclear 70) in the back that is pointed towards the surface.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN1551.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN1551.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
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[humaguy]

this is really an amazing tank...I really like the last pic in the post 71 above...gives great perspective on how wide that overhang is...awesome...

 

[dzfish17]

this is really an amazing tank...I really like the last pic in the post 71 above...gives great perspective on how wide that overhang is...awesome...

I just want to say "thank you" to you and everybody else who has taken the time to post in this thread. This was a long and tedious project and it really means alot to have people appreciate all my hard work.

 

[dzfish17]

The gaps in the rock have been filled in. Concrete raises the PH so the tank was filled up and drained four times (once a week) over the next month.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN1622.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN1622.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN1623.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN1623.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[THS]

You did a great job matching the texture of the rocks on the concrete! You can't even tell the difference between the two.

 

[notatus]

Amazing job!!!

 

[Reefir]

sweet ! amazing rockwork . GOOD JOB!!!

 

[dzfish17]

You did a great job matching the texture of the rocks on the concrete! You can't even tell the difference between the two.

I found that a phillips screwdriver worked the best. I just poked holes and pressed it sideways into the concrete. I mixed up small batches at a time because it would set pretty quick with the binder in it. Its taken a year but algae has covered almost all of the concrete. Thanks for noticing.

Amazing job!!!

Thanks a lot.

sweet ! amazing rockwork . GOOD JOB!!!

Thank you, you guys are too kind. Here's another shot of the tank. Guess who runs the show?

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN3690.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN3690.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[KafudaFish]

Really enjoying the pictures and the build process.



^I am guessing your wife. ?.

 

[dzfish17]

Really enjoying the pictures and the build process.



^I am guessing your wife. ?.

Im glad you're diggin it. I dont call her "la patrona" for nothing. Here's a pic of me and the family. Yeah, I know, good thing they look like their mother.

<a href="http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/?action=view&current=DSCN1663.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee461/dzfish17/DSCN1663.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>