Dry Aquascape Build
26 Feb 2015
So the tank is empty and still not drilled yet. I'm using the time to get the new aquascape built. I want to use my existing LR which is still in the seahorse tank (ponies haven't been sold yet) to seed the new dry rock.
Ideally I'd like all the new aquascape to be in cured LR but I'm concerned about hitchhikers and I also want to drill the rock to go over bommies and that would mean keeping the LR out of water for too long. Additionally I want to style the aquascape which again means keeping the LR out of water for too long.
So I'll be using dry rock to build the bommies and once they're in the tank and it's filled, I'll then use the existing LR to seed it all.
One of the advantages of having the mommies is that I can keep the LR off the sandbed so that I reduce the risk of detritus building up under the rock. At least that's the theory...
So this is the first bommie I made. Simple PVC pipe and elbows and T joints all fitted together. I figure if I do three or so of these at different heights, it should give me a good platform for the LR.
I want bridges and shelves too so the idea will be to drill holes in the dry rock and slide them over the pipe.
Here's the first one in the tank to judge it for height.
The next step was to build the other bommies and start drilling the dry rock to slide over the pipework. Easier said than done.
Darling hubby was a great help here and we chose the heaviest, flattest pieces of dry rock for the bottom pieces but drilling them was near impossible without breaking them. So it ended up being pretty messy. I tried putty to keep the rock pieces together and that was about as useful as a soup spoon with holes in. I didn't want to use silicone because I don't want the structures too permanent incase they need to be altered once they're in the tank.
In the end, we found the easiest way to stack the rock over the pipes was to drill the largest bottom piece and slide that over and then arrange the dry rock on top of that around the upright pipe and secure each piece with cable ties.
Then we arranged them to see how the bridges and overhangs might work together.
17 March 2015
So the tank has now been drilled. Two holes on the back wall (one at each end) for the returns and two in the tank floor, centre back for a central weir.
Here we can see the amazing Milton and Alex carefully drilling my precious baby. At a cost of less than $200 for them to come to my house and expertly drill the tank, thats a massive saving over what it would have cost me to have a new tank built.
21st March 2015
Drilled tank with the back wall cleaned ready for the weir to be glued in place. New light stands on top of the tank too.
23 April 2015.
Woohoo!!! The weir is in!!!
The weir had to be especially measured and cut because the back floor of the tank has a glass bracing shelf so a straight bottom weir wouldn't work. Now to let the silicone dry.
With the weir in, I can now paint the back wall of the tank. Four coats, each one finely rolled on. It's starting to look the part!
Given the tank is almost ready, its time to let the seahorses go to their new home so I can tear that tank down and make room for the 6ft to be moved across. Its a sad day today saying goodbye to these little treasures :(
However with the four seahorse girls gone,it meant I could take all the LR out and the CUC and put them into the sump underneath to keep them all happy. Then I had to empty the seahorse tank, undo all the plumbing from the seahorse tank to the sump, and move it off the cupboard.
So the tearing down is done and finally I can get to the filling and building back up again. Woohoo!!!!
So the tank is empty and still not drilled yet. I'm using the time to get the new aquascape built. I want to use my existing LR which is still in the seahorse tank (ponies haven't been sold yet) to seed the new dry rock.
Ideally I'd like all the new aquascape to be in cured LR but I'm concerned about hitchhikers and I also want to drill the rock to go over bommies and that would mean keeping the LR out of water for too long. Additionally I want to style the aquascape which again means keeping the LR out of water for too long.
So I'll be using dry rock to build the bommies and once they're in the tank and it's filled, I'll then use the existing LR to seed it all.
One of the advantages of having the mommies is that I can keep the LR off the sandbed so that I reduce the risk of detritus building up under the rock. At least that's the theory...
So this is the first bommie I made. Simple PVC pipe and elbows and T joints all fitted together. I figure if I do three or so of these at different heights, it should give me a good platform for the LR.
I want bridges and shelves too so the idea will be to drill holes in the dry rock and slide them over the pipe.
Here's the first one in the tank to judge it for height.
The next step was to build the other bommies and start drilling the dry rock to slide over the pipework. Easier said than done.
Darling hubby was a great help here and we chose the heaviest, flattest pieces of dry rock for the bottom pieces but drilling them was near impossible without breaking them. So it ended up being pretty messy. I tried putty to keep the rock pieces together and that was about as useful as a soup spoon with holes in. I didn't want to use silicone because I don't want the structures too permanent incase they need to be altered once they're in the tank.
In the end, we found the easiest way to stack the rock over the pipes was to drill the largest bottom piece and slide that over and then arrange the dry rock on top of that around the upright pipe and secure each piece with cable ties.
Then we arranged them to see how the bridges and overhangs might work together.
17 March 2015
So the tank has now been drilled. Two holes on the back wall (one at each end) for the returns and two in the tank floor, centre back for a central weir.
Here we can see the amazing Milton and Alex carefully drilling my precious baby. At a cost of less than $200 for them to come to my house and expertly drill the tank, thats a massive saving over what it would have cost me to have a new tank built.
21st March 2015
Drilled tank with the back wall cleaned ready for the weir to be glued in place. New light stands on top of the tank too.
23 April 2015.
Woohoo!!! The weir is in!!!
The weir had to be especially measured and cut because the back floor of the tank has a glass bracing shelf so a straight bottom weir wouldn't work. Now to let the silicone dry.
With the weir in, I can now paint the back wall of the tank. Four coats, each one finely rolled on. It's starting to look the part!
Given the tank is almost ready, its time to let the seahorses go to their new home so I can tear that tank down and make room for the 6ft to be moved across. Its a sad day today saying goodbye to these little treasures :(
However with the four seahorse girls gone,it meant I could take all the LR out and the CUC and put them into the sump underneath to keep them all happy. Then I had to empty the seahorse tank, undo all the plumbing from the seahorse tank to the sump, and move it off the cupboard.
So the tearing down is done and finally I can get to the filling and building back up again. Woohoo!!!!
