New sump and background for my 180

[Egon]

Some of you may have been following my other threads so this is just another background on one of my tanks. I've been "leap frogging" my fish to new tanks so I can re-do the plumbing and add backgrounds. I love the look of a fully aquascaped tank, eventually one of my tanks is going to get this look

My Aba-aba use to be in this 180. I bought an old used 120, backgrounded it, and moved the Aba into the 120. This 180 has been cleaned and buffed out a bit and now I'm going to background it and add a 55 gallon sump I just bought on Craigs list for 30 bucks. I love the filter sock concept so I will add that also.

This tank has one massive overflow on the left side. I wanted to background that also. The tricky part was the mitered 45 angle I would need to cut on the overflow. It seems to look okay, I got a pretty good cut but that piece is right next to the front viewing panel, we will see what it looks like when filled. I went with Designs by Nature backgrounds for both the 120 and this tank. I love them!

The 55 gallon sump needed two holes drilled. One for the return and one for the trickle system.

On to the pics......

 

[mike_sema]

looking good Egon

 

[JK47]

Haha that's the resin cast BG from DBN isn't it? I have four of those in the garage right now I was planning for the next build. You beat me to it bro! Can you post details on how you cut it? I am very curious, subscribed. Looks good so far Egon!

 

[Egon]

Cutting it was super easy. I have a small table saw and I just ran it through the saw.
The trick is to start at one end of the back of the fish tank with the straight thinner side.
(The side that would go behind the next panel in line. If you have these panels you would understand,lol, if you dont, the panels overlap each other. The overlap portion is thicker to accept/cover the thiner side.)

I started on the left side. I got the height set up on the saw and cut all the panels the same. I cut it so it would fit tight and I only glued the bottom with Silicon 1. The top I just squeezed into position, there's no way it's going to move. As I worked my way from left to right I just set the panels over the one before it. The last panel I cut to fit.

I wanted the sides covered too and each side took a little over one full panel. I started with the straight side of the panel again right up to the front corner. Then I cut a small 3" strip to finish off that side so it butts up against the back panel.

I just took a couple quick shots, one is the back corner, the overflow area, and the front/side corner of the tank. Pics are difficult, its hard to tell what your looking at lol. Hopefully this will show up better with water and a proper light over the tank.....

 

[Egon]

I drilled three holes in the top and put some weather stripping for glass covers over the large openings. I did the same thing on my 450 and 360. The glass covers almost never move. The 2" hole is a feeding hole right in the center of the tank and the two smaller holes are on the back left and right. One, the farthest from the over flow, will be for the trickle and the other hole is for the heater controller prob and an air line if I set one up. The lines will be hidden by the background and the actual heater will be it the sump for a for a plumbing and electrical wire free fish tank.

FYI: I love acrylic for the ease of drilling holes!

 

[Angler]

That's a great looking setup.

 

[JK47]

Cutting it was super easy. I have a small table saw and I just ran it through the saw.
The trick is to start at one end of the back of the fish tank with the straight thinner side.
(The side that would go behind the next panel in line. If you have these panels you would understand,lol, if you dont, the panels overlap each other. The overlap portion is thicker to accept/cover the thiner side.)

I started on the left side. I got the height set up on the saw and cut all the panels the same. I cut it so it would fit tight and I only glued the bottom with Silicon 1. The top I just squeezed into position, there's no way it's going to move. As I worked my way from left to right I just set the panels over the one before it. The last panel I cut to fit.

I wanted the sides covered too and each side took a little over one full panel. I started with the straight side of the panel again right up to the front corner. Then I cut a small 3" strip to finish off that side so it butts up against the back panel.

I just took a couple quick shots, one is the back corner, the overflow area, and the front/side corner of the tank. Pics are difficult, its hard to tell what your looking at lol. Hopefully this will show up better with water and a proper light over the tank.....

Thanks for the pics bro, I know exactly what you mean about them overlaying one another. I was doing them sideways to achieve the 30" in height I need for the next tank. How many panels did it take? I only have 4 and need about 2 more. I think I am going to try to heat mine to get them to bend to a permanent angle. Did you bend or cut yours to go around the overflow tower?

 

[Egon]

Thanks for the pics bro, I know exactly what you mean about them overlaying one another. I was doing them sideways to achieve the 30" in height I need for the next tank. How many panels did it take? I only have 4 and need about 2 more. I think I am going to try to heat mine to get them to bend to a permanent angle. Did you bend or cut yours to go around the overflow tower?

3 along the back and one on each side but each side was about 3" short lol so I needed an extra one for the two 3" strips. Total 6 panels.

I cut mine to make the bend around the overflow.

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

Nice work...

 

[aclockworkorange]

Looking good. How many 3D backgrounds have you installed now? I've got five under my belt but I think you might have me beat.