Looking for some physical assistance

jhendu

jhendu

Premium Member
Alright gang, as some of you may know from postings, my new 110 tall from Glasscages should be arriving on the 17th. I really want to have it set-up by x-mas. My current plan is to dedicate Saturday the 22nd for this tasking. I have never plumbed a tank before as this will be my first one that is drilled. I am horrible at aquascaping as well. Is there anyone willing to come over and help me make this thing into something that can be truly admired? I will likely be using the handi-foam back option and will probably knock that out on the 18th so that the tank is ready on the 22nd. I plan to use the PVC rack idea and or super glue for my roughly 200lbs of LR. Seeing as how I'm military and will probably be moving in a bout a year I need something semi-permanent. Looking to use the rock to divide the tank into two halves with some curve to them. I can kinda picture it in my head but I can't draw for dookie. Thinking of building up the back and sides and then creating a pillar in the middle as the divider. Any ideas on how to drill through the rock for a PVC support and what size should that support be (1/2"?). Little Caesars (cause I'm cheap and need my money for the tank) will be provided to all helpers. Any takers????? I live on Davis Monthan so you can get a free tour of the base as well if that floats your boat.
 
I have some of the cement that I used on my tank (its the stuff they used on the public aquarium in Hawaii), so you could use it to get nice rock structures. I used it to secure rock that would have fallen otherwise and then left a couple of rocks on top loose so that I could move them if needed. Scott is wonderful at aquascaping and you maybe able to convince him to get out there if you stock up on Diet Coke. I would be happy to help you if I am still around (I have to go back to San Francisco). If I can't come I can give you the cement and explain how to use it and all that.
 
I'm feeling helpful. But I won't be of much help when it comes to physical work (you've met me...I'm weak...). I'd like to help out with other stuff though.
 
Scott came over tonight and it sounds like he won't be able to make the trip out to your place. But I think we have enough hands to handle the situation.
 
Sorry, that is a busy weekend for me and Katherine comes back on Friday evening.

The cement is a semi-permanet option. When you move you just pull the rocks apart and the cement will break at the glue joints.

It really sounds like you need a plan. I have never built a tank in three days. The plumbing with a plan should take nearly a full day.
Same goes for the aquascaping and adding water.

Here is the order I recommend for tank assembly:

1. Plumbing. Add freshwater to the tank and test 24 hours for leaks. (I have omitted this step before but paid the price on one occasion with massive issues).

2. Aquascaping in layers.

Place PVC rack in tank first. Then add several pieces of large LR directly on the glass to serve as a foundation. This is the place to use any base rock, dry rock, or very ugly pieces of LR, as most of it wil lbe burried by sand. Zip tie base rock to the PVC where necessary. Don't cement LR to the PVC it won't hold. Also, do not lean any rock on the glass.

3. Add rinsed and strained sand into tank. Try to push it under the base layer of rock. The sand should not be above the base layer of rock.

4. Add next layer of rock and use cement here to anchor it to the base layer. Try to avoid using zip ties as much as possible in this step. In the future, things in the tank will shift and the zipties will loosen and be pointless. This is the place for cement. Wedge it into joints of rocks touching one another. Matt know the technique.

When mixing, you will only use about one teaspoon of water to about 3/4 cup cement.

5. Keep adding layers until you are done. The cement will need to be squirted with salt water to allow curing. Semi cured when hard (30 minutes) and fully cured in about 24 hours.

6. When all the cement is hard to the touch, you may add the pre-mixed saltwater. You can not mix salt in the tank of freshwater in this technique. It will be messy.

Place a bowl in the tank and pour water into the bowl. This will keep the water from stirring the sandbed and spraying sand all over the tank. Even when teh tank is half full, keep pouring the water into the submerged bowl to prevent sand stirring and excessive cloudiness.

You can buy premixed saltwater to save time. Then at the end add your own mis of high-salt SW to increase the Sg to the level you desire. Most places selling SW will have lower than desirable SG.

After this is done, celebrate and run the system wothout lighting until the water runs clear. It could take a couple of days.

Have fun everyone.
Cheers
 
My current plan is to have the tank ready for aquascaping by the time everyone comes over. I just bought a 55 gallon tank and stand that I am going to set up this week as a temporary home for all the live stock. This will allow me to get the old tank moved out and the new one in place prior to Friday. Right now I intend to use vinyl tubing for the plumbing. I have already purchased the tubing and all the connecters that I think that I will need. I haven't anything really negative about using the vinyl and this will make it nice and portable for when I move. I was also thinking of lining the bottom of the tank with eggcrate so that there is no glass/rock contact. I have about 70lbs of lace rock in the garage right now so I was thinking of using a little bit of that for the base that will be buried in the sand.?.? Not sure exactly how to go about the PVC rack though. I want the rock to cover a major portion of the back of the tank with a protuberance in the middle that comes almost to the front glass (leaves just enough space for my mag-float). Ideas???? So I'll start the Foaming on Monday and hopefully finish that same day. I'm going to use the eggcrate squares idea to provide a more solid base for the foam. Tuesday I will get the 55 running with all the livestock and move the remaining rock and water to holding barrels. This will allow me to get the old tank into the garage and free up the stand for a little bit of work. I have a bunch of sound-proofing foam that I will line the inside of the stand with and I want to line the bottom of the stand with something to make it more waterproof. Wednesday I plan to get the new tank in place on the stand and get it plumbed. I feel that this will turn into a time consuming project as I will likely be making several Depot/ACE runs for things that I realize that I am missing. Hopefully by the time I head to be on Wednesday I will have the tank full of water to test for leaks. If all goes well with that I will focus Thursday on making the PVC rack for the LR and draining the fresh water from the system. So by Friday, if all goes well, we will need only to exercise creative license and come up with some nice aquascaping and a plan as where to put all the frags that I currently have. Saturday will find me making any tweaks as well as dismantling the 55 gallon and getting it ready to sell as it will have served its purpose. So hows that for a plan? I'm sure someone will blow a hole in it somewhere so I know to live by the unofficial Air Force motto: "Semper Gumby." Comments welcome and encouraged.
 
I guess we need to set a time for Friday as well. You guys let me know when you're available and we'll go from there.
 
Oh yeah, you're also all welcome to join me for any stage of this during the week. Just let me know. Thanks!
 
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