My 135 gallon project

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
R

ruggles531

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Sep 28, 2010
28
13
33
Canada
Joined the site about a month ago after picking up a 135 gallon tank off Kijiji. After spending a few weeks reading through various threads I thought I would start with an ambitious plan of building a 3D cement background while also building a new stand (tank didn't come with one).

I'm currently about two weeks into my project after chipping away at it here and there...thought I would post some pics of the status so far.

I started with some white polystyrene foam from HD for the background. I cut it down to size for the tank and drew some rock formations on it. I also attached some extra pieces of foam to make shelves and other rock formations. I used GE Silicone I to adhere the foam pieces together.

PA250138.jpg
 
Darn...hit Enter to quickly on that post.

To continue...

I used a dry wall knife to start cutting and a wire brush to rough the surface up a bit. After the first nights work I was left with this:

PA250140.jpg



I continued on carving the next night and finished the carving process. Once that was done I used a heat gun to carefully heat the foam up. This melted the surface a bit and left a nice finish, which was hard.

PA260144.jpg



I was quite happy with the outcome and took some time to cut it into four pieces, ensuring it would fit into my tank (didn't take pictures of that step).

The next step was applying the cement. I ended up getting Quikcrete Hydraulic Water Stop cement from a local hardware store. The first batch was mixed very runny (basically 1 to 1 ratio) and applied with a dollar store paint brush.

PA300147.jpg



It looks brown in the picture but dried up gray. I sprayed it with bottle of water about 5 times throughout the day to let it cure slowly and left it for 24 hours.

The next coat was mixed a lot thicker and applied by hand (wore some rubber gloves). I sprayed this coating also throughout the day and left it for 24 hours to dry.

Third coat was just applied, again a thicker coat. I just wanted to ensure that I have enough on there to protect the foam.

PB010148.jpg


I am leaving this coat to dry tonight and will see what it looks like tomorrow. If all looks good then I will start applying some of the colours to the cement to see how realistic I can get this to look.

More pics to come as the work progresses. Let me know your thoughts and whether you have any words of advice...

Cheers...
 
I figured an update was due...

The base cement looked good once it was finished. I then applied some tint to the cement to jazz things up a bit. The first coat was brown and I basically applied it by using a wadded up cloth and smooshing it onto the surface, sort of like sponge painting.

I don't have any pictures of the brown, but after it was applied I used some red tint. As you can see from the picture below I went a bit too heavy on the red and I wasn't overjoyed with the result.

PB040138.jpg


I applied some more brown after this and then used some black tint as a final step. I'm quite happy with the colouring now and will be leaving it as is.

PB070141.jpg


Here's a close up of one of the pieces...

PB070142.jpg


I currently have the pieces soaking in our spare bathroom's tub...much to my wife's delight! :eek:

I plan on changing the water every couple of days and testing the ph levels. From what I have been reading I am expecting it to take 3 - 4 weeks to level out.

While this is going on I will start building the stand...more pics of that experience to come...
 
Still (slowly) coming along with this project. The background has been soaking for a few weeks in the spare bathroom...my wife loves that! :)

While it has been soaking I started building a stand and canopy. I just realized tonight that I haven't taken many pictures during the construction phase, but I'll post what I got...

I started with plans similar to what someone else posted on this web site. I started with the top and bottom frames first...


PA060118.jpg


After the top and bottom frames were built I started on risers. The completed frame is shown here:

PA160120.jpg


I ended up getting some 1/2" poplar at Home Depot to skin the sides. Wasn't sure what to do for cabinet doors but a friend of mine ended up having some spare doors left over from a job he was working on. The doors are a nice deep brown and I have found some stain which seems to match fairly well. Here is a pic of the stand with the ply and trim bits attached.

PB290138.jpg


As for the canopy, I ended up framing something up with 1X2 and skinned it with the 1/2 poplar ply. I purchased some 5/8" plywood for the top of the canopy to give it a bit more rigidity. I decided to split the top so that the back 3/4 of it rests on the tank ledge and the front 1/4 will flip up via a piano hinge. I'm in the process of painting the inside of the canopy white to better reflect the light. A picture of its current status is here...

PB290139.jpg


I think I have one more coat of white to go and I'll then work towards staining the outside of the stand.

All for now...
 
I just realized it has been awhile since I posted anything. I managed to get the unit stained and put into place. It was filled up a couple of weeks ago...

PC150142.jpg


As you can see...I still don't have the doors on yet. Hopefully over the Christmas break I can finish that part off.

Here's another pic with the canopy on. Unfortunately my DSLR is on the fritz right now so it's back to the old point and shoot...

PC190143.jpg


Just a couple of community fish in it for now. I plan to give it another week or so and will then move some Africans over.

I shot a few close up shots of the background but they didn't turn out so well. Here is one of the stump which I recovered from a nearby river.

PC190144.jpg


Anyways, it's been a fun and informative experience so far. I'll take some better pictures once my camera is working again and everything is finished...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom