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29 gallon rebuild

1065 Views 3 Replies 1 Participant Last post by  Jonas35, 
Jonas35
Well, it's that time again. I got bored with my previous 30 gallon set up and decided I wanted to make some improvements and try some of the new and inspiring methods being thrown around the board these days. I'll include a pic of my old set up and show the two ideas I had thrown around for the new setup.

I originally wanted to do an aztec ruins/pirates of the carribean and actually carved and painted an entire background using the drylock method and it turned out great. Sadly I just decided I wanted to make an escarpment sort of thing and will probably use the aztec background for a revamped crestie cage.

The new setup was done with the blue Lowes insulation foam sheets combined with great stuff window and door. I then did two coats of sanded grout over the rock portions and silicone and coco fiber over the non-rock portions of the background. Then I covered both with a coat of drylock and allowed it to dry. I then added some color and accents with non-toxic acrylic paints and then did two more coats of drylock to seal the entire background and avoid any curing and vinegar baths.

So far I'm very pleased despite the fact that the drylock left the rocks looking a little shiny and despite my best efforts the painting and coloring didnt go the way I had imagined in my head. O well, you win some and you lose some. Enjoy the build log thusfar and I will be posting updates frequently over the next few days as I'm nearing completion.

First pic is the old build, then the remianing are pics of the progress and the tools I deemed important. I also threw in a few pics of the Aztec build just so people can see what I did.
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Jonas35
Ok unfortunately there is a problem with uploading my photos tonight... tried 4 times and no good. I will try to upload again tomorrow after running some errands. I apologize to those who look and were expecting pics and didnt get to see any
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Jonas35
Ok so here goes my next go at uploading the pictures. The first few pics as mentioned before are the aztec background, followed by a picture of the old 29 setup. After that there are pics of my most trusted tools and then an abbreviated construction journal. Somehow I lost a lot of pictures of the entire process but this is now where the tank stands. The rocks in the foreground are carved foam with 3 coats of drylock and some non-toxic acrylic paint. The background itself is great stuff over blue insulation foam. The rock portion has two coats of cement then covered by drylock and acrylic paint. The rest of the background is covered with silicone and coco fiber then sealed over with a few layers of drylock in hopes to prevent it breaking down as fast as the GS backgrounds seem to do.

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Jonas35
I am in the process of trying to make the land barrier water tight. Once that process is done (I admit I should have planned ahead a little better since the background itself prevents my getting into many of the nooks and crannies with silicone to seal it) I'll be installing my pump for the waterfall and then creating the land area and planting the tank. Finally I'll construct a top with ventilation and holes for my misting system. The plan for lighting is to use some of my old 24" single flourescent bulb lights I have lying around. This tank will then hopefully be home to my breeding pair of azureus.
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