Two Cats and Two tanks build up Meow!

[Mudbeaver]

I got a phone call telling me that its being sent monday arriving wednesday between 3pm and 7pm in the mean time i've started my sculptures and making videos about it. I have to edit the videos before showing, but here are some of the first pics of the work in progress.

German ceramic panels for my backwall, they'll be foamed to prevent water & detritus trapping behind them, and serve as grazing ground for my fish

Making a foundation root system for my Tonga branch so they stay rightside up like a tree, this will be covered by 2" sand.

Diamond coated drill bit

This is a diamond coated Hole saw for a 1" pvc tubing for heavier rocks

Those drill bits make a 3/4" holes for those 3/4" nylon rods for smaller rocks

I rather use a saw than cutters for my pvc its more precise and easyer for me.

They say its the best putty on the market, i'll find out...

Very useful to cut off excess foam from rock and sculptures

Put that on your foam and then your sand to make it look good and natural, buy the longer curing by the way i bought the 5 min one by mistake

 

[Mudbeaver]

Pond foam is the only one good for UV and its black, its made for ponds and fish and amphibians

My primer and PVC cement

I use the egg crates to make more resistance with the sand and create more stability with the sculptures, it will also be under the sand.The two pvc rods are where the tonga branches will be braced with Zip Ties and cemented with Marco's mortar. Foam will also be used to hide the ties and hiden with sand. In the end the branch will look as if they were coming out of the sand and standing on their own, while having an artificial "root" system.

This is a stand for the second sculpture. This one will be 1" on top of the sand, so 2" of the feet will be under the sand the remaining inch will permit waterflow underneath and allow better circulation and less detritus gathering. Also a cave will be form as some coral will be put near the legs who will be foamed and sand as well to camouflage them better.

This first rock will serve as a platform for all the other rocks to follow it to form an elaborate sculpture going outward. Therefore the bigger rocks will be near the center and the smaller will go on the outerrim.

Plenty of those are needed for any project

 

[Mudbeaver]

Yes it actually one of the most productive time for me and the most expressive time where its not the fish, the machinery but me who's on display and that will be for everyone to see when they look at the tank. People seem to forget that. They build their tank but the one element that completely is them is the rock work and they don't take any time to think about it or very little time and then 8 months later want to rescape, something that should of been done prior to put water in it. Too impatient .... I'm impatient to get my tank but after that its the process of sculpting. Its easyer to sculpt when you have your tank, because you can relate better with the look and the overall feeling of scale. I'm starting without the tank because i know i wont be finished and i can fix it before i put it in. still, i'm doing it with tape on the floor and only a general idea of the look it will have specially in the corners.

 

[Mudbeaver]

On with the show

On with the show

Ok so i've started my videos on how i do my sculptures, i still have to edit them before uploading them, so in the mean time here's some of the pictures i took of the buildup of the Marco's rock sculpture with PVC and Nylon rods.

This my drill with a 7/16 diamond coated bit; worth every penny less than 10 second to go through that rock.

I use a saw for the nylons because the cutters squeezed the nylons and the nuts i used are harder to fit in after so the saw leave the shape of the nylon intack.

I use a wooden board in a tub with water; i place my rock on the board, and the water cools my bit and also prevent pieces of rock from flying into my eyes and also splashing mud all over the place. When you reach the board, 10 sec later you feel it right away.

I've align the holes and put the rods and cut them almost flush. I left just enough to twist those two nuts in place. This is all done prior to put the ciment mortar and to make sure your structure looks good . After all this is your only personal touch in the whole system all the rest is bought or will be done by the corals. And you'll be looking at it for a very long time. So you might as well take the time to view and review your designs all day or for a few days because this baby will be there for years to come, and playing with it when you have critters and fish in there isn't doing any good to the stress level of your inhabitants.

 

[Mudbeaver]

The Bat cave!!

With nylons and mortar its nice to be able to extend plates and edges, i'm however careful not to take too much room to overshadow the sandbed too much, i do it within reason and the structure will be at its lowest point 1" above the sand to give it waterfow clearance.

The cave

The central piece will be the highest so it can carry the stalactite in the end.

Without the mortar the rock look unstable and are only holding in place because of the nylon; in the end the nylon will be cut to fit under the rock being the ceiling of the cave and the top rock with a nut. At each step mortar will be added and i'll wait that each level is dry and stable to make sure the rocks don't wable under the stress.

Other kinds of rocks gives you options for other things. it didn't work in this case but i still have a 75 Gallon fuge to do. So always have more to have options to work with.

 

[Mudbeaver]

My videos

My videos

Well here are my first videos , they're on my sculptures ; don't mind the fat guy, lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZavioityVQ&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFdfdxt3LnuihwIJUGqREF5K&index=19

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwE7byazB7E&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFdfdxt3LnuihwIJUGqREF5K

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPlp0XVroUM&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFdfdxt3LnuihwIJUGqREF5K&index=22

 

[DrewBrees713]

I dig the old 'scape but it looks like your new design looks great. The tabbies are sure spoiled and you seem like a good human parent ;0) Keep up the great work my friend.

 

[Mudbeaver]

I dig the old 'scape but it looks like your new design looks great. The tabbies are sure spoiled and you seem like a good human parent ;0) Keep up the great work my friend.

Thanks just put a new vid on yes they're spoiled , but they give so much lol.:beer:

 

[Mudbeaver]

Another video

Another video

This video is about the progress after drilling holes and placing nylon rods and placing your rocks on the sculpture, not always a good idea to go too fast as you'll discover. Another issue creepedup the weight of the structure became a problem, what to do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLeAqLPwhOw

 

[Mudbeaver]

Sorry for the abrupt end of part 4 but i'm not a professional video maker,lol continuing in this one i've constructed a bigger support base to spread the load of the structure, and i'm starting to put the rocks in place with mortar. i also have little side projects on the go that will benefit the tank; a copepods farm using corrugated plastic sheet, found at any hardware store for a few bucks.I also mend a Tonga branch rock that will be used in the second sculpture project later on.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M6b0np_rtM&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFdfdxt3LnuihwIJUGqREF5K&index=23

 

[Mudbeaver]

Videos again

Videos again

The Tonga project;

Tonga branches are a real problem for most people. No one seem to know what to do with them.So on this video i'm giving you a way to make a great sculpture that's not really hard to do cost very little and look amazing, well i think it does. The difficulty with the tonga branches is that they have no way to support themselves, so i give them an artificial root system with pvc and egg crates, coupled with zip ties for temporary holding and foam for support, its quickly becomes a self standing sculpture that can be part of your aquascape, for a few buck.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io9E6rmhdx8&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFdfdxt3LnuihwIJUGqREF5K&index=24


To use mortar you have to be quick and know where your going or mistake can happen i found that out last night. They say you have 15-20 minutes to of work with the cement but sometimes the material bond much more quickly so be aware of that. So have a plan and a back up plan. you'll see what i mean.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-_peMIS-ow&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFdfdxt3LnuihwIJUGqREF5K

I'm not a professional video maker so if it cuts abruptly follow in the next on, i rather not waste time editing lol

 

[Mudbeaver]

Photos shoot

Photos shoot

Using nylon rods to secure the next level of rocks, mortar will be put in between; do not over screw the nut, you'll squeeze out the mortar, allow a few milimeters of the stuff for better bonding. In addition this mortar is hydrofuge it can be used underwater so it better to wet your rocks( if your doing this dry) to help the mortar to bond better with both rocks.

To repair a rock like this Tonga Branch rock soak the branch 30 min in water the apply the mortar . If its a prefect fit tilt it or twist it to make a gap so the mortar can have room and a chance to bond between the two pieces.

Wrapping it gives it time to really bond better by controlling the humidity, drying to quickly is not good. the next day unwrap it and let dry naturally.

Only mix what you need this stuff bond fast; they say 15 to 20 min but in less than 5 i couldn't pull my nylon rod , it had already bond and i had to leav it like that. So progress one rock at a time.

Dont scrape ciment its looks bad and sloppy, instead sprinkle it with crushed coral it looks much more natural and blends in very easy.

Sometimes contrast can be an eye soar or a point of discussion in any case, it'll start a conversation; and thats the point, you don't want people to indifferent to your creation do you....lol. Notice the crush coral , now what could that mean...

Starting this sculpture i realised that the weight was going to be superior to what i was expecting in my original plans. So to accomodate that and disperse this weight i've extended the feet into an elaborated tubing structure to diffuse that weight in a larger area of the tank, otherwise the whole weight of the sculpture would of been focused on those four small point and potentially ruptured the tank floor. So be aware of that if you make a support for a solid rock structure.

 

[Mudbeaver]

More photos

More photos

Changing one rock to a different , darker rock, both for mechanical and esthetic reason brought me to a change of direction in the design, so completing your sculpture too quickly is not always a good thing.

The second sculpture is about an often misused rock; the Tonga branch rock.
Here i'm doing a artificial root system with pvc, egg crates, wrapping the branches with Zip ties and foaming the feet. The structure will of course be under the sand you'll only see the branch as a tree as it should be.

Remember the mended branch? The reason for this sculpture is that it will be covered with Green star polyp, which with a wavebox movement will be awsome to watch. When ever you make a sculpture ; Have a purpose for it, nothing worse than a useless piece that takes space in your tank for no particular reason.

Each foot of each branch goes through the egg crates , for two reasons. Stability of the branches, and so i can apply a first layer of foam and make a sort of perimeter where the cement will be poured in .

Using foam to glue my branches on to the pvc is easyer than cement in this particular instance, but the feet will get cement to lock them together.After the foam has harden the zip ties will be cut and the foam will receive a coat of resin and sand to better hide and blend it in.

The sand will cover all the egg crate and cement only the the branches will be visible

 

[Mudbeaver]

The twins

The twins

The finishing is to come. The zip ties will come off cement will be poured on the feet of each branch, resin and sand on the foam, some of the foam will be reshaped with a knife and after everything is under the sand you'll only see the tonga branches coming out and standing like trees. My tanks should be here on the 17 th in place and running at the end of october if their's no other delays....

 

[Mudbeaver]

Photos shoot

Photos shoot

A bit of directional phots shoot to see where this is going with a bit of intrusion from the directors....

Director # 1 taking a leasurely approach to the job and in charge of plumbing

Director # 2 opening every boxes, opening everything in sight to make sure it ok on set

 

[Mudbeaver]

Photos shoot

Photos shoot

So my sculpture is finished, just have to rebuild the support with 1" pvc which i got as you can see i just need elbows ,lol. Then just got to hide those nuts and put it in the tank with a plexi glass in the bottom. The sculpture is 36" longX20"wideX 20" hight. My tank is 21" hight, but the structure was suppose to be built with 1/2" pvc now its with 1" so my last rock will be floating, i'll put a mini palm tree and a lodge for the snails.

At the end of the ramp a stalactite will come down.

 

[Mudbeaver]

Its Christmass time!!

Its Christmass time!!

Its Christmass time!



You like my Tunze family?

The mud is only used for medicinal purposes, i still do my weekly water changes. The bacterial count of the mud and its composition is the only thing that interest me for my refugium; i do my own miracles, lol.

I have 2 Razors at 16K 27" and 2 at 10K one 27" and 20" for the refugium

The octopus is rated for a 300 g tank i have a 150+75+65=265 total.

Its christmass time the tanks are arriving tomorrow and i'm ready for them; The whole thing cost.....$ 450 + 0

 

[Mudbeaver]

Sculpture set up

Sculpture set up

Here's the room where the sculptures go; not quite done yet but in their real positions with the backwalls. The green tape is the tank edges the middle green tape is the wavebox trajectory and mid tank mark 12"

The cat wall will be behind the refugium tank stand which is almost 7 feet tall.Those are the panels going in the refugium.Only 3 are necessary.

Eye level

Left to right perspective

Right to left perspective

This is what i was explaining in the videos about having your tank as a refference for scale. You can see now my feet are too big and large, one of the sculpture could be too wide and i may have to break some feature of my ceramic wall to place one of those sculptures. The green tapes are just a refference, it could all ok but only when the tanks are here will i truely know, dangerous game to play without all the pieces. The middle green tape indicate the wavebox trajectory.

$ 1 700 worth of German ceramic on this wall i got it for $ 333., it was a good catch that day.

How can i forget, the inspector clawless....

 

[Mudbeaver]

The arrival

The arrival

The arrival of the tanks, the stand didn't make the connection.....are we pleased???Nooooo....

Open crate???

I keep the wraped up untill ready to be used. They seem fine and the way they where protected no worries. Those babies were heavy!!!!! The 75 g refugium and the 65 g sump here

And the monster 150 G in perfect condition , i'm goin to work on the overflow and its easier like that and monday she'll be put on right side up on her stand. All the guys were looking at her overflow and the wavebox , pretty neat design. They loved the glued press resin wood panel on the bottom idea.

How can we forget Lulu and Theo, making their inspections

I'll have more and better pics later time for bed cheers!

 

[Mudbeaver]

The catwalk

The catwalk

The tanks will be sharing these guy's room along with my PC room so for those who missed the beginning here are Lulu and theo's catwalk



Lulu playing in the tanks, in the sump now, the return section; the next time it will be a little wet my friend!!!

Completely baffled

Lulu the computer expert

I had to cover my tank they were leaving all sort of foot print on it! Now their battling it out who's going to be on top, lol often as brothers do.All the way to the floor