I am having to re-post this because in the initial thread it seems that several folks could not see or download two of the sections of photos that I posted and they were asking me if I could resend the thread. I sent a note to an administrator about being able to reopen the edit ability but have not heard back. Therefore I’m just going to open a new thread and start over. Hope that’s ok with everyone. That being the case I thought that I would expand a couple of areas and correct a couple of things.
Dave
Here is the initial thread.
Making Colored Foam / Tank Rear Access / Making Artificial Vines
Detailed Tank Journal / Making Colored Foam / Tank Rear Access / Making Artificial Vines / Stumps
I am in the process of re-building a Tank that I have had running for almost 20 years. This tank journal will incorporate many new element that I have been researching and designing over the past couple of years. I am experimenting with a number of new things in this tank.
First an introduction:
I’m Dave Calkins. I’ve been into Frogs all my life, I have BS in Biology, and have been a part of Frognet almost since it’s inception sometime back in the 1990s.
Tank Innovations to include:
1. Modify Regular Aquarium: Create a Rear Access Panel:a. Internal Plumbing accessed from Rear i. Internal Pump can be removed from rear for maintenance.
ii. Valves control water flow to:1. Drip Wall
2. Waterfall – Artesian: Water enters bottom of well with anti-siphon tube. Made from Big Box plumbing parts.
b. External Plumbing: All external
i. Put together a portable unit inexpensive, irrigation system with timer: fits into small living room garbage can. Overflow drains back into garbage can. System Powers Misting Heads / Rain Heads
ii. Fogging system: multiple fog points within tank, entry through back of tank.
c. Sealed Glass Rear Door / Magnetically Attached to tank.
d. Rear Chase to provide for to top of tank for future access / modifications without having to tear down tank.
e. Internal Tank Computer Fan / Hidden behind wall, accessible from rear. To Clear front glass. Possible 2nd fan to dry plants
This was my first attempt at making a Rock Wall Using Two Colors
2. Create Multi-colored Foam Rocks / Water Feature – similar to Great Stuff, but colored throughout. a. Very Realistic Texture Possible
b. Water proof
c. Light weight
d. Color through out foam
e. Created any color you want: Black, Dark Mud Brown, Tree brown, Multi-Color Granite Rock (Grey, Burgundy, Rose) I’ve made all of these.
f. Totally inert (safe for frogs)
g. Easy to Remove / Easy to Modify: (Carves like Great Stuff)
h. Easy to sterilize
i. Use as Glue to attach waterfalls to glass, bond items together, plumbing, etc.
3. Compare to Present systems to create Rock Walls / Artificial Stumps / Branchesa. Cheaper to install than: Silicone / Great Stuff / Styrofoam / Thinset / Grout / Concrete methods
b. Faster to install than present systems i. 2 – 4 minute expansion time.
ii. 12 –15 minute set time before next pour can be made.
iii. 24 hour total cure time.
c. Compare to Cutting / Shaping Styrofoam, Application time for grout concrete, thinset . Then 3 – 4 weeks cure time to lower pH.
This is a Three Color Rock That I Have Made. 100% foam, No Paint.
4. New Drip Wall Material – Permanent, will not rot.
5. Simple Refugia shelf: tied to Drip Wall for springtail habitat.
6. Tank Electrical:a. GFCI
b. 12 volt Computer fan, internal to tank / hidden
c. Misting System Power
d. Lights
7. Planting tubes w/ drain to keep roots from standing in water.
8. Tons of hide holes, hidden observation points / egg laying sites.
9. Small Tank Size. 12” deep x 24” wide x 16” height
10. Making Artificial Vines / Stumps
This sounds like a tall order, but the tank is over half done and I couldn’t be happier with how it is coming out. The following is my journal / tutorial. It has a ton of photos, which are saved as the smallest jpg format to save bandwidth and storage space on the DB.
Calcium Buildup
I decided to rebuild a tank that I had running continually for almost 20 years. As a result it had a lot of calcium buildup that I had to remove.
Vinegar
I attempted to use soak the glass with vinegar over night. The saran wrap keeps it from evaporating.
Vinegar Doesn't Cut It
I tried to blade off the calcium after letting it sit overnight. This didn't touch it. Forgot to try lemon juice.
Diamond Dust Buffing Compounds
Anyhow, after talking with some automotive guys, I went with the power method using a buffer these products.
Another option would be to use cerium oxide.
Buffing Glass to Remove Scratches
The green is a washable overhead marker marked on the front of the glass to give me an idea of what areas to buff. This method is slow, but it works. I then got the brilliant idea of experimenting with using my marble tile grinder and a buffing disk. It works great for shining up granite tile and so I figured I would try it. I did it in a spot on the back wall of the tank and couldn’t see any scratches so I tried it on the sides and front. What I didn't do was check the glass using the tank lights. Stupid. With the tank lights I can now see that I have a lot more small scratches in the glass than I had after I just did the buffing.
Oh-well. I can't afford a new tank right now, so I buffed it with the compounds again and will live with it.
As you can see, is vastly better than it was, but I should have quit while I was ahead.
As a precaution, I used the lacquer thinner to remove any residue that might have remained from the buffing compound.
Drilling the Glass for the bulkhead
Over the last couple years I have been thinking, why can't we build a tank with a removable back panel. We drill tanks all of the time, so I thought why not use my tile saw and cut open the back. I did it and it worked great. I now have access to the plumbing in back behind the rock wall, to the water in the false bottom, and to the power head if it ever needs maintenance.
Next I laid out the location of the bulkhead. Before I drilled, I made sure that the bulkhead’s location was high enough so that when the bulkhead’s 3/4 inch barbed fitting is installed; it won’t hit the tabletop.
Only then did I drill the drain. I made a ring of Plumber’s Putty, which is needed to hold the water and a $2.99 bit from harbor freight. Unlike what most people thing, there are only a couple of things that you can do to cause a tank to crack while you are drilling it. Understanding how drilling works will give you confidence that it really is an easy job.
If you know about drilling glass skip on ahead.
Excess Heat Causes Most Glass Breakage.
- Most people think that the primary purpose of water is to lubricate the drilling process. That is not exactly correct. If lubrication were the primary purpose of the fluid, then it would make sense to use oil to cut glass, because it is much slipperier than water, but no-one recommends the use of oil because it doesn’t transfer heat nearly as well as water does and it is actually slows the cutting process down because it is the grinding or friction between the glass and the little tiny bits diamond that actually causes the cutting. The primary purpose of water is to remove the presence of heat. Excess heat is one of the main causes of fracturing in glass. Diamond bits also don’t get dull the way that most folks think, diamonds aren’t ground off of the bit by the glass. The diamonds on the bits are so much harder than the glass itself, that the glass doesn’t stand much of a chance of grinding away the diamond. It is typically excess heat that causes the bit to get dull. The diamonds actually fall off the bit because excess heat generates micro-fractures in the binder that holds the diamond fragments onto the bit. The diamonds fracture off of the bit.
- A secondary purpose of water is to cause the ground off bits of glass to be floated away from the grinding surface into a slurry or suspension of water and glass. This does lower the friction and heat generated, but is not exactly lubrication.
- All of this is why a lot of guys that drill granite countertops, myself included, will often put ice in the water dam. This way they can speed though the drilling job faster with very little impact on their diamond bits. This is not an advantage to us.
Too Much Pressure
The second greatest cause of glass breakage is the application of too much pressure. When people drill holes, they are used to kind of leaning on it or pushing the bit into the wood or metal trying to get the biggest bite for their buck. Glass is brittle, and if you push too much on it, it will shatter, whether you are drilling it or not. When you lean on it, even a little, you are actually putting a great deal of pressure on a very small surface area. Initially that my be ok because the pressure is dissipated through the glass, but as you get towards the end of the cut, and there is very little glass left and it doesn’t take much pressure to pop the bottom out.
Trying to Drill Tempered Glass
Most small tanks are not tempered, and therefore can be easily drilled. If you attempt to drill a tempered piece of glass it will shatter into a thousand tiny pieces.
If you want to learn how to drill glass, there are a ton of U-Tube videos showing how to do it.
Sorry for the lecture about drilling glass, but it is interesting to me.
Cutting a Glass Tank Open in the Back
First Big Experiment.
I have a tile wet saw, but you could borrow one, rent one (go with the 4 hour rate, it only took 10 minutes to layout and make the cuts), or buy a cheap one, $39 -$79 harbor freight. It was like cutting through butter. I would not use tape to layout the cuts. I was thinking that the tape might help keep the glass from cracking at the end of the cut, but all it did was come off and I was making my cuts blind. Use a Sharpie permanent ink pen instead.
I did have to take the water guard off to make the cuts. Just tip the tank up, align the blade with your marks, turn on the saw. To make the cut, just slowly lower the tank onto the blade.
This was the square that I cut out. Wear leather gloves and safety glasses, because it does product a few sharp pieces of glass, but most is just glass water / dust.
