Looking awesome!!! You know you can name the shop you got it all from if you like I'm sure they will like the advertisement ;) they have done a good job.
Are you painting the backs black? I have painted the last two tanks I had (6 and 4 footers) black using the cheap cans from bunnings and it turned out perfect both times. First coat do really thin like really thin so you can still see through it. Once your ready for the second make it a bit heavier and after you should still be able to just see through it in parts, then do two full coats and it will look a treat. The only reason that I may not do it with my new tank is if I have to put a tunze magnet on the back. The paint if done properly is harder to scratch than people will tell you BUT those damn magnets are strong and will probably scratch it. You can also get a product from work called esp I think which is a clear primer solution that wipes onto glass etc and then will allow paint to stick to difficult surfaces. I never tested it to see wether it left any kind of smudge or make on the glass but they claim it to be completely clear. It easy don't worry about it ;) try it on an old lid first.
Thank you for the kind words of wisdom!
I am not 110% positive who exactly made the tanks as the LFS I went to was the middle man / organizer however the LFS I went through is...
Nielsen's Marine Mates - Ian & Ben
Nielsen's Marine Mates are a very good aquarium store everything is very impressive in there shop when I first went into the shop it felt like stepping into a Holden/Ford car center what I mean by this is...everything was absolutely SPOTLESS so clean it was just really weird it was a comfortable place to be in, then there was the staff amazing people, I delt with Ian mostly with my tanks but also spoke to Ben a few times and I think it was Ben whom delivered the tanks, they wanted to make sure 110% that what I had in mind was going to work, they did all the hard work =) as I got frequent msgs/emails asking me questions about various parts of the systems and to make things just that much better =) they seem to be more excited about this build then I do you ever seen a 40-50yr old man act like a 10-15yr old kid (Sorry Ian no offence) well yeah they were just so excited to hear about such an interesting build it only boosted my confidence through the roof =). However my "Old LFS" try to actually sway me away from my design and not only the design but what I should keep within it they couldn't justify such a large aquarium for such a small and I quote "Insignificant creature".....it was at that point they lost me as a life long customer previously I spent between $5,000-$10,000 a year at this "Old LFS" now Nielsen's Marine Mates are my go to guys! Ian at Nielsen's Marine Mates is so interested in the build that he has requested to have detailed pics of everything that way he can put them on display in the shop for everyone to see because he himself understands how misunderstood the stomatopods are.
Now as far as painting the tanks go I am definitely doing this just because I love the uniform look and it should help to bring out the tanks inhabitants more that and make the mantis shrimp feel more comfortable (even the most hardy surface dwelling mantis shrimp prefer the dark when its achievable) as far as the magnets and paint goes, well first off there will be NO magnets/powerheads on these systems, there just aint enough room or real need for them BUT if I do have to use them I will do what I did with my current Tunze magnet powerhead, inside the box of the Tunze comes a "cut to size" piece of styrofoam that is separating the magnets in the box, I utilize it inbetween the magnet on the outside and the glass it would rest on its been like that for months with no signs of lack of strength + it prevents the magnet on the outside from damaging the glass/paint I would just do this again IF powerheads will be needed (but I seriously doubt I need them).
My biggest issue rite now has been painting but reading what you wrote has put my mind at ease quite a bit =) I have already purchased the paint to use for the tanks and its in cans which I will use a roller wheel to paint the tanks with, I also got some primer for the glass prior to applying the paint, the 2 main reasons I didn't want to use a spray can is because (A) I kept reading conflicting reports about how it just strips rite of (B) Kept reading about how difficult it was to get a really even layer and have no see through parts. So I thought a Thick paint used with a roller I thought would be the best bet to get an even finish look.
I also need to fashion 2 DIY spray bars for 2 of the FX5's as the flow from the factory nozzle will be too much for the 2foot and 3foot INITIAL tank (INITIAL a.k.a the tank where the actually FX5's output nozzle sits in) so to slow it down and even it out I'll make 2 spray bars as wide as the tanks there going in and run each from the back to the front on one side of the tank.
EDIT: I just hope I can get all the PVC parts I need for the DIY spraybars in Black so that it matches and kinda gets hidden with the painted black sides and rear of the tanks they will be in
Cheers
Much More to come - Stay Tuned!
