My wood tank build
- Thread starter dsandfort
- Start date
dsandfort
Premium Member
Ahhh...FTS. No, I do not. The rest of the tank is empty so nothing of interest. I 'scape as the mood strikes me, usually after a glass of Bourbon.
Jonathan-You've stacked enough rocks to know that there are logical fits. I just exploit that. First, I find a rock from my holding tank that I want on the bottom, see how it looks from all possible orientations and then take a Dremmel with a flex-drive and a ceramic tile bit. I use that to start 3 pilot holes in a tripod arrangement. Next I use a 1/4" masonry bit in a regular old cordless drill to get good pilot holes. Finally, a 1/2" masonry bit to enlarge the holes. I "spot weld" the rods in the holes with West System 5-minute epoxy. Then I stand the rock on the rods and cut them to final length using the Dremmel. This way, the bottom of the base rock just touches the sand bed.
I do the stack rock basically the same way but they only get 1 long rod that goes through the lower rock clear the the bottom. I've only gone 3 rocks high and the 3rd rock only gets pinned to the second rock.
I use the Dremmel to carve out enough rock so they really "lock in" when the rods slide through.
Next time I do one, I'll try and get some detailed pictures.
Jonathan-You've stacked enough rocks to know that there are logical fits. I just exploit that. First, I find a rock from my holding tank that I want on the bottom, see how it looks from all possible orientations and then take a Dremmel with a flex-drive and a ceramic tile bit. I use that to start 3 pilot holes in a tripod arrangement. Next I use a 1/4" masonry bit in a regular old cordless drill to get good pilot holes. Finally, a 1/2" masonry bit to enlarge the holes. I "spot weld" the rods in the holes with West System 5-minute epoxy. Then I stand the rock on the rods and cut them to final length using the Dremmel. This way, the bottom of the base rock just touches the sand bed.
I do the stack rock basically the same way but they only get 1 long rod that goes through the lower rock clear the the bottom. I've only gone 3 rocks high and the 3rd rock only gets pinned to the second rock.
I use the Dremmel to carve out enough rock so they really "lock in" when the rods slide through.
Next time I do one, I'll try and get some detailed pictures.
jnarowe
New member
good enough description though. I appreciate that. I am very impressed with what you have done. I am in the planning stages of redoing my aquascape, and I am checking out various options including making some rocks with PVC legs to bring my rock up off the bottom, as well as setting rocks on slices of PVC pipe. But my main issue with this is that probability that animals will get inside the PVC and/or detritus will collect in it.
dsandfort
Premium Member
I am absolutely, positively certain that no animals will get in my rods. The rocks, on the other hand, are another story.
Sanjay built some towers similar to these. He started with acrylic rod which he found too flexible. He went to fiberglass rod and used paver bricks for the base. He also use Thorite to cement the rocks together. I can't find Thorite so I came up with another method.
The thing I like about my method over Sanjay's is that I can move my entire tower where his would be difficult to move.
Sanjay built some towers similar to these. He started with acrylic rod which he found too flexible. He went to fiberglass rod and used paver bricks for the base. He also use Thorite to cement the rocks together. I can't find Thorite so I came up with another method.
The thing I like about my method over Sanjay's is that I can move my entire tower where his would be difficult to move.
jnarowe
New member
Just between you and me and a few lurkers, yours look much better than his IMO. I think you spent a lot of time actually working on your shapes whereas most of us just drill and mount. For me, since all my rock is already in the tank and has corals on it, I will have a tough time doing what you did, but I do want to experiment with it and see if it can be done with little die off.
I'll have to hunt down a supplier. Maybe the company I buy acrylic from has them too.
I'll have to hunt down a supplier. Maybe the company I buy acrylic from has them too.
dsandfort
Premium Member
There are many ways to skin a cat. I practice only one. I formulated my method from the successes of several others. Funny, if I could have found Thorite, we would'nt be discussing another method.
If you can't find the rods, let me know. I bet we can ship from Colorado.....when the stage comes through.
If you can't find the rods, let me know. I bet we can ship from Colorado.....when the stage comes through.
Now i am stick with acrylic rods... Impressive Thread, you have for sure lots of skills!
dsandfort
Premium Member
Well, now that I know what FTS means....Here is a PTS. I finished about 6 structures and moved all the fish over. They did remarkabley well in storage for 1.75 years. The wrasses are doing great and flashing like crazy. The assassin wrasse is in "storage" for now, he is huge. Wierd thing...I had a trio of flame wrasses in a 20 for 6 months. As soon as they went in the big tank, one female killed the other female in 24 hours.
I am not even close to being fineshed so please excuse the above sand plumbing...it is very temporary. Next up is another OM 4-way and 2, Tunze 6201's.
I am not even close to being fineshed so please excuse the above sand plumbing...it is very temporary. Next up is another OM 4-way and 2, Tunze 6201's.
Misfit6669
In Memoriam
Looking good Del, that is one hell of a project.
My first comment was going to be about the little plastic things you put between the glass and the wood frame... glad you pulled them out. Until I read that all I could think about was the fact that all of the pressure from your water was pushing the glass onto a few small points.
Other than that, looks awsome! Any updates?
-Scott
Other than that, looks awsome! Any updates?
-Scott
dsandfort
Premium Member
As I populate the tank, even though the rock and plumbing are not done, I've learned some lessons. The Flame wrasse trio lived in a 20 for about 4 months. The Rose Scale has been with me for 3-4 years. He has killed 3 new wrasse additions in the holding tank so I decided to put the Flames in first. Within 24 hours, one female flame had killed the other. I moved the Rose Scale over tonight in a holding tube. The male Flame is not real happy, but what a display he is making.
The rest of my plumbing stuff should be here with 2 weeks so I can finish that up. Working on the rest of the room and a water change system now.
The rest of my plumbing stuff should be here with 2 weeks so I can finish that up. Working on the rest of the room and a water change system now.
OMG !!!!!!! I have built this tank one hundred thirty eight thousand,four hundred and sixty two times in my head.I was to scared to try it...I read all of this last night and I didn't get a ounce of sleep...See what you guys did,,,Now I'm going to start pricing the material again..
This was one helluva read..
This was one helluva read..
This build is something to brag about. Very well done and I like how you took your time on this. There is nothing worse then a rushed build. I would think that a properly built wood tank could last just as long as a pure glass tank. After all they are very popular with large setups such as these.
Can you post some pictures of your light setup thus far. Whats your thoughts on the amount of room above the tank? With the lights and light rack(combined with the ballasts) will there be enough room, as in dont you think it will be a bit crowded. Maybe the photos make the space above the tank look smaller then it really is...and if so you can ignore this haha.
Keep us posted.
Can you post some pictures of your light setup thus far. Whats your thoughts on the amount of room above the tank? With the lights and light rack(combined with the ballasts) will there be enough room, as in dont you think it will be a bit crowded. Maybe the photos make the space above the tank look smaller then it really is...and if so you can ignore this haha.
Keep us posted.
dsandfort
Premium Member
Thanks folks.
I'll get some photos of the light rack. There is about 18" above the tank and the luminarcs fit in nicely. It's just not done yet. I'm fitting some T5 actinics and they need to clear the plumbing when I slide the rack out. When it's all finished, it will be a bit crowded but it will all slide out of the way. Besides, it's the space I had to work with due to HVAC overhead which wasted about a foot of ceiling height.
Regarding the slate. My wife found it when we built our new house. We actually used it as the backsplash in the kitchen as well. It comes in roughly foot squares. Each piece is glued to a mesh and the sides interlock with the next sheet to make the joints blend in (can't even find them after the grout).
And Butch---let's get started. There are a bunch of us here to help you along. It's not hard. I will say it got a bit tedious during the fiberglass process.
I'll get some photos of the light rack. There is about 18" above the tank and the luminarcs fit in nicely. It's just not done yet. I'm fitting some T5 actinics and they need to clear the plumbing when I slide the rack out. When it's all finished, it will be a bit crowded but it will all slide out of the way. Besides, it's the space I had to work with due to HVAC overhead which wasted about a foot of ceiling height.
Regarding the slate. My wife found it when we built our new house. We actually used it as the backsplash in the kitchen as well. It comes in roughly foot squares. Each piece is glued to a mesh and the sides interlock with the next sheet to make the joints blend in (can't even find them after the grout).
And Butch---let's get started. There are a bunch of us here to help you along. It's not hard. I will say it got a bit tedious during the fiberglass process.
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