105g custom stand and bookshelf sides

Hey guys, I'm a longtime lurker here, but I still only have "community" fish, and have yet to make the jump to monster fish.

Anyhow, I finished my setup yesterday, its an 84"X18"X18" custom acrylic tank that I got off craigslist for $100. I built a concrete/foam background and cut up some driftwood that I foraged from a lake. There's an arduino with a touchscreen interface that controls lights, feeders, filters, etc. I used to have a 50g that was up and running about 5 years. I sold it when I got this one, I don't want the hassle of upkeeping multiple tanks.

The tank/stand take up 12 feet, the entire wall of my dining room. It took me 8 months and way too much headache to build, but I am quite happy with the results. Just felt like sharing .

Here's a thread on another forum that explains more fully the entire setup:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=747346

Here's some closer shots before the tank had water:





I just got these guys recently, they're "Apollo Sharks", kind of a smaller version of a freshwater barracuda or African Pike. Hard to get pictures of them, they're very fast and active!

TexOscar1 said:

Gorgeous tank, I am thinking of building a background and was wondering what kind of paint you used?

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I used concrete dye. Home Depot sells 4 different colors, and I used all 4 in different layers to try to create some dynamic effects. The coloration is a little different after the concrete dries, and then looks different once its been submerged for a few months, so its pretty hard to really predict exactly how the colors will end up. Its not that hard to get a natural "rocky" look though.

Base coat on one of my pieces:


After some layers of colored concrete:

TexOscar1 said:

Awesome, thanks! Did you add any kind of sealent or clear coat? Or just the concrete and let it dry?

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I only used concrete. If I were to do it again, I would first use more concrete, like 10 coats (it dries really thin), and I would definitely use some sort of sealant like drylok or some fiberglass resin based stuff. I didn't use sealant because I didn't like the shininess and texture, but there are ways around that. I've heard mixing sand in with the sealant makes it look and feel better. It gets coated with algae and aquarium gunk after awhile anyway, so its probably pretty irrelevant.

DrawnToBeaches said:

Absolutely beautiful, if you want to start with mini monsters but love community tanks try geophagus altifrons or geophagus orange/red head tapas they grow to about 7 inches and are peaceful with a decent group

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I am putting more mini monsters in the tank! I currently have in the tank a school of clown loaches (they're still small), two 8" bichirs, and a school of tiger stripe silver dollars! Will post pictures later when I've cleaned the tank and re-arranged the plants somewhat.