30 Gal/extended Construction Journal *UPDATED PICS 7/27*

[Studdlygoof]

THE SKELETON

I had a 30gal tank that was currently housing two aquatic turtles that I had rescued from some horrible conditions...decided they needed some more swimming room and being inspired by the "turtle pool" down at the baltimore aquarium I decided to build a vivarium around the tank...welding a stand to custom fit the tank i extend the heigth of the tank by another 36". I then took 3/8" Lexan and attached it to the extended part of the tank and welded its seams together...I also cut a strip and angled it on a jointer to go around the entire rim of the actual tank so that water would not slip down behind it off the Lexan...





THE PLUMBING

Having kept turtles since I was a kid, i know they aren't the cleanest of pets so I wanted to go overboard with filtration...I know through several fish forum's that I am apart of that there is a big controversy over the use of Under Gravel Filters (UGF) but being a fan of them I decided to install one in my tank to help combat the extra waste that will accumilate at the bottom of the tank so I wont have to syphon every other day. I modified the vents on the UGF so that I could attach 1/2" PVC fittings onto them and then plumbed them into a pump that would pump the water up and out of the tank and into a sump that will be located underneath the viv...I also installed another PVC fitting in the left hand corner of the tank for return of water over a waterfall...





I havent made this setup permenant yet because I am yet unsure if this is the route I want to take...i'm thinking about installing the pump outside of the tank to make pump maintenance easier...i'm also going to install flow meters on the pvc going to the sump and out of the sump so I can easily keep an eye on any blockages that may happen...I know a lot of people say not to use 2 seperate pumps on a sump but for this setup to work with the UGF I need 2 and am going to take my chances...might even install some float switch's to help combat the case of a serious problem (one pump shutting off while the other is still running)...lets keep our fingers crossed!!

THE LAND AREA

I found this piece of driftwood down by the bay and instantly knew it belongs in my tank...cutting it to size and sanding a flat to it, i screwed a long piece of Lexan to the back of it...then clamping it to the back of the extended tank i welded into the corner...








THE WATERFALL

I needed a waterfall feature that was going to be pretty rigid and stand up to some abuse because of the turtles so i came up with the idea of vacuum forming a base for one of a material called Kydex. This is the same material that is used to make Samsonite luggage so i knew it could take the abuse...my first step was in creating a mold out of wood...taking varying thickness sizes of plywood i constuctued a mold for a stream that would end in a waterfall...





Then taking these molds I pulled two parts using two different colors...one of tan...and one of black. The tan one looked more natural so i decided to use it...here is the finished tan part



Making a miniture bulkhead out of some PVC fittings from the local Depot, i attached it to the part and mounted it to the back of another piece of driftwood so that it would look as if the stream was coming out from underneath the log...This being my base, i filled in underneath the plastic with GS and then began building up the surrounding areas with more GS, rocks and driftwood to complete the natural look of the stream and fall...







In the second picture you can see the other land area i created for the turtles around the first piece of driftwood...the idea is to make these land areas jut out over the top of the tank to make them look like an area of a washed out stream bank...

Finally got all the slate siliconed down to the stream...I had to break out the round file and actually file a couple pieces of the slate to get them exatcly in the area that i wanted them but I think it turned out pretty well...then i cut and sanded the GS into a more natural looking scene...



Then I added the Sahara Tan grout that I got from HD...i left it a little thicker then the directions called for so it would clump better on the vertical area's of the GS that I had



I only get to work on this a little bit every day so it has taken a while but i will keep updates coming as soon as i can...Comments/Feedback appreciated...

[Fishinfl321]

Neat Idea. Keep us updated.

Troy

[Frank H]

Congrats on an original idea. Looking good.

Keep us updated.

[trusty]

great design so far...keep it comin

[Studdlygoof]

Got quite a lot done today...I attached a irrigation system hose diverter to the top of the plexiglass...a pump from the sump will pump water up to this and it will divert that water to 9 1/8" hoses...these hoses will be attached to various pieces of driftwood that will be attached to the background...I added another piece of driftwood and more GS to finish up the gap between the two land areas...this last piece of driftwood had some nice "valley's" in it so i took the dremel and connected some of them...i added a hole at the top of it and am going to insert one of my dripper hoses into so i can get a small stream running through it...i then think im going to shave down some of the foam below it to create a mini creek that will also flow into the tank...no a fast stream but something moist that i could get some cool moss to grow on...Note also in the second picture the piece of driftwood i added underneath the stream...this will hide part of the AHS 2x36w ballast i have coming...these lights will be hidden from view but will give me the required light to have a successful planted aquatic tank as well







the GS was finished drying so i was able to finish shaping the smaller stream with my larger rocks...I love the ability to be able to shape and sand the GS to get the rocks in just the right look and am looking forward to experimenting more with it in the future...I was then able to apply the Sahara Tan grout to the remaining unfinished foam...in stream #2, i added a bit of sand from an outside sandbag after the grout had dried a bit...i then tamped it down a little with my finger and i think that it gave it a great look...





I know it doesnt look like much now but the pictures really dont do it justice...(i'm not great with a camera)...I still need to clean up some of the rocks and wood and then once the plants are in i think it will look very realistic...there are also a couple spots that i couldn't get the grout to stick to because of that little thing call gravity...I'm going to touch these spots up when I lay the setup on its back to apply the GS and coco fiber to the background...

...A couple things/tips i found out while working with the grout that i will change differently...1) I'm thinking I may and try to protect the rocks that I want exposed next time with some type of petroleum (sp?) jelly; not so much to protect it from the big chunks of grout but the tan residue that it leaves behind...its almost impossible to remove after it dries...I'm hoping that after the grout dries i can just wipe away the Pet. Jelly and the rocks will be clean...(2)...leaving the grout a little dry is great for getting it to stick to most vertical surfaces; however, I found that when applying in around rocks and objects it looks more natural to add a bit of water to it because it allows the grout to flow around the object...this technique was quite helpful when creating stream #2 because the grout sort of slid down the ravine I had carved out....

Comments good or bad would be much appreciated...
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[Fish_lover0591]

Nice Work Post Up some Updates

[Studdlygoof]

THE CANOPY

I wanted for the top of one side of the viv to have a couple branches jutting out so that I can attach various air plants and orchids to mimic a tree in nature...

I did not however want this tree to look like a ghost tree and wanted to add some depth to the canopy...I got the idea of adding some Schleffera plants to it while browseing through HomeDepot one day...these Schleffera would be added to the top of the branches in strategic places to mimic the look of real leaves in a tree's canopy...

I first arranged and attached a few pieces of driftwood in one corner of the viv so that they looked like branches...



I then needed some fairly large sized pots to add to the background to give the Schleffera's able growing room...this posed a problem, however, seeing how it is techinically not the growing season in my area and I could not find 4" pots anywhere...the net only sold them in bulk and singles were outrageous so i came up with this idea from some extra plexiglass tubing laying around...





I took 4" plexiglass tubing and cut an angle on one side...attached a base plate and drainage hole...inserted airline tubing...and *PRESTO*....custom pots

I like these a lot better because i was able to vary the angle cut on the pipe and get the pots in various locations where i dont think the regular plant pots would have looked as well...

Here are some pictures of the pots attached and the first layers of GS applied...





I left the tubing extra long and will cut it shorter after the background is 100% finished...I then inserted a few of the Schleffera's in their pots into my pots just to get a quick visial of what it would look like...





I am going to attach 9 dripper hoses throughout the whole background once all the GS has been applied...wanted to see the different contours the GS took on so i could isolate various plants from wet spots...I have heard that Schleffera likes soggy soil so i think that i am going to add a dripper above each pot...the Schleffera will then be trimmed overtime until a dense canopy is formed...I also went to the dollar store and bought some cheap curlers...i am inserting these into the GS as well to give me extra planting pockets...they have plenty of slots for draniage and are easy to insert into tight spaces...we'll see if it works...

[Studdlygoof]

PLANTED TANK BACKGROUND

I wanted a semi permenant background for the planted tank that sits underneath the viv, this way if I have any problems with the hard plumbing *knock on wood* it wont be as difficult to take it out.

I started off by making a plexiglass base that fit around the back of the aquarium and the plumbing.



Then taking stainless steel screws I attached the various pieces of driftwood I had selected to the background. I also inserted some into the foam planters that I had carved to ensure that they stayed in place



Taking more GS, I foamed in the space around the driftwood, sloping down near the bottom to mimic a side of an erroded stream bank



After all the GS has dried i'm going to grout it all with the same Sahara Tan grout that I had used for my land features...i also believe i am going to sprinkle some sand over it and use some concrete dyes to paint on shadows to give it a more realistic and 3D look...

Here's a look at it with the top on...

[Studdlygoof]

Here's another update...got most of the grout on...just need a little more to cover up some spots i couldnt reach and its all done and ready to soak...

[VanillaGorilla]

Any updates?

this should be pretty cool...