huskerduck Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 I really never liked looking at overflows and flat glass that never seems to coraline up fast enough ( well the overflows do almost instantly) and I never really could get my frags up close to the top so I decided to kill 2 birds with 7 cans of Becketts Pond foam and 2 sheets of egg crate I found letting the foam ALMOST set completely up and then squeezing /pulling/pushing you can make any shape you want. Hopefully it gets coraline on it quickly to protect from UV, the color is a really weird Purplish/bluish/silvery black in real life so as it coralines up it may take on an interesting look, zillions of places for frags now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowpunk Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 does that stuff float when it goes in? Noticed any change in water parameters either? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 X2, did you have any problem with it floating? I tried making one from the spray foam insulation awhile back and cracked a rib trying to get it to stay down. Gave up at that point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huskerduck Posted December 23, 2009 Author Share Posted December 23, 2009 It floats like Pamela Anderson When I designed it I made it so it would float up under the rim which keeps it from lifting, theres vents on the bottom of the overflows and I pushed a ziptie threw the hole and it came back out two holes over, I just poked it through the eggcrate and that keeps it from floating forward. Then the big heavy rocks also help but not needed. If I tied it all together it would float a person Im guessing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 That looks great!!!! I love it. I might just have to do something like that for my 90g. I am glad you did this. It gives me some motivation to get it done myself. Good stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowpunk Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 hmmm, do you think if you used rocks in it when it was wet it could anchor it enough to keep it down? Like maybe a big base rock some of that then some rubble pieces coming out in odd places as cliffs? I'm getting ideas. Oh it looks good btw, thats why I'm asking all the questions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huskerduck Posted December 23, 2009 Author Share Posted December 23, 2009 Over yesterday afternoon ( started installing in morning) my ph dropped from 8.3 to 8.1 and alk dropped from 9 to 8 before lights off. This morning it raised slighlty 1 hour after lights on. No nitrates or phosphates, but Ive always had zero on any tank. Skimmer no different from what I see, comes and goes throughout the day Torch coral got seriously big this morning, biggest I have ever seen, maybe he thought he was being attacked by a giant purplish coral and was trying to "puff up" 30 hours later everything appears normal even after the major thrashing the tank took. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 husker, thats a neat build, i may have to look into it for my tank, whered you get the stuff you used? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huskerduck Posted December 23, 2009 Author Share Posted December 23, 2009 hmmm' date=' do you think if you used rocks in it when it was wet it could anchor it enough to keep it down? Like maybe a big base rock some of that then some rubble pieces coming out in odd places as cliffs? I'm getting ideas. Oh it looks good btw, thats why I'm asking all the questions?[/quote']naw, really had to force it down in there, I doubt a 50lb rock would hold it down. If you have a rim it will shove tightly up into it, as long as you can keep the bottom front from flipping out youre golden. The pictures do it no justice, the 3-D look of it is just amazing. Squeezing it flat like Montipora, letting it bubble like oysters, pushing it in like other strange looking things, breaking pieces before dry and jamming them in other spots, digging out caverns by breaking the outer seal and squeezing in on the edges..........you can really come up with some weird stuff. I also did it in different stages and trying to make " branches" of smaller foam beads and then squeezing them differently in different directions. WARNING, wear gloves if you dont want to be chewing off foam for a solid day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huskerduck Posted December 23, 2009 Author Share Posted December 23, 2009 husker' date=' thats a neat build, i may have to look into it for my tank, whered you get the stuff you used?[/quote'] Home depot in the "Pond" ( Garden ) section Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huskerduck Posted December 23, 2009 Author Share Posted December 23, 2009 That looks great!!!! I love it. I might just have to do something like that for my 90g. I am glad you did this. It gives me some motivation to get it done myself. Good stuff!Yeah I need more frags!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 thanks husker, im thinking, on the whole keeping it down in the tank thing, to actually make a base out egg crate, with the wall attached to it, foam the wall, wedge it in the tank so that the base will keep it from riding up, so that the base effectively covers your entire tank floor, then you put your sand and rock on it, and bam, i think that might work, not sure though, seems sound in theory at least Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huskerduck Posted December 23, 2009 Author Share Posted December 23, 2009 thanks husker' date=' im thinking, on the whole keeping it down in the tank thing, to actually make a base out egg crate, with the wall attached to it, foam the wall, wedge it in the tank so that the base will keep it from riding up, so that the base effectively covers your entire tank floor, then you put your sand and rock on it, and bam, i think that might work, not sure though, seems sound in theory at least[/quote']I dont know, I had to make 4 individual pieces because of the 2 support straps on Bowfronts. the pieces were basically 18 x 22 and I dont think a 200lb man could hold them under water.....saltwater at that. Your idea of a bottom might work as far as a compression against the back and not allowing the bottom to float forward, but it would tak alot of weight to keep it down if you dont have a lip/rim for it to stop against. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 oh, this will be goin in a 30 breeder, only 12" tall, 18" deep and only 36" long, and no center pieces LOL i could do it all in one piece easily, just a matter of cutting out for my drain and return Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siskiou Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 It looks fantastic! If I ever start a new tank, I'll give this a try! At least for the part between the 2 overflows! What I wonder about is the water behind the wall. Does it get moved around at all? And do the overflows work okay with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilmca Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 Looks great, i've seen it done before on RC and I don't think I ever saw one that looked that good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkBirkett Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 rock wall This must be your off season. You have too much time to devote to your tank. Looks cool though, plus somebody has to go first. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huskerduck Posted December 24, 2009 Author Share Posted December 24, 2009 It looks fantastic! If I ever start a new tank, I'll give this a try! At least for the part between the 2 overflows! What I wonder about is the water behind the wall. Does it get moved around at all? And do the overflows work okay with it? Overflows work great because I dropped it dow 1" as it goes across the fronts of them, and with the multiple vents in the overflows towards middle and bottom Im betting good flow behind there since they themselves are curved and my eggcrate is not. Behind the back, I doubt the flow is good. I was originally going to snake some 1/4" tubing behind there and drill 1/16" holes every foot and tap that into return line. Unfortunately I completely spaced this off but it isnt a snug fit tight against the back so Im guessing some water exchange has to be occuring with all the holes that go completely through and the amount of current in the tank. After daily vodka and MB7 its alittle clearer picture you cansee the brighter " holes from the light leaking through room behind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huskerduck Posted December 24, 2009 Author Share Posted December 24, 2009 The wife said it looked like an alien abortion when I was making the first panel, after looking at it and agreeing it looked like the stuff in the movie " Aliens" in the "Mothers birthing room" all over the walls, it made me try to get crazier and crazier trying to form it and mess it up, you can tell what panels were first, second, third and forth by the amount of detail they have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huskerduck Posted December 24, 2009 Author Share Posted December 24, 2009 This must be your off season. You have too much time to devote to your tank. Looks cool though' date=' plus somebody has to go first. Good luck.[/quote']true, it only took a day to make, and a day to put it in ( that was the nasty part) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 ive read where some guys have actually siliconed there walls in place, so there is no water movement behind the wall period, the walls are actually flush, but, those are done before the tank is set up, unlike yours lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowpunk Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 I was thinking of making a pillar of sorts but maybe that won't work too well after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanz Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 Great work! I created my rock work out of foam too. You are right about the camera not picking up the 3D effect, but yours still look awesome. My scape is in my sig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huskerduck Posted December 24, 2009 Author Share Posted December 24, 2009 I was thinking of making a pillar of sorts but maybe that won't work too well after all.After figuring out how to make it not look like foam, I wanted to go crazy and do the same but......... When I was in Army scuba school in the Sinai we did all our diving in the Red Sea and my favorite place to go was called "the Columns", it was hundreds of columns of reef that were hundreds of feet tall. Id like to duplicte this to an extent but it would probably rip the top frame right off the aquarium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huskerduck Posted December 24, 2009 Author Share Posted December 24, 2009 Great work! I created my rock work out of foam too. You are right about the camera not picking up the 3D effect' date=' but yours still look awesome. My scape is in my sig.[/quote']I cant see it, its a red x. Got any links? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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