125 West African build

[Shane]

I recently got my hands on a used 125 gallon (473 liter) tank and finally got started getting it set up as a West African themed tank.

Day one: background built, stand painted, tank cleaned up, light bar built and installed, stones colected and washed, lamps painted and installed.

Thanks to Gert Blank for his inspiration and suggestions.

This was what things looked like this morning. I had the styro all cut for the background and just sitting in the tank. The stand is a not so good do-it-yourself job by the previous owner. I thought long and hard about just building a new stand but eventually decided to use the current stand as a base (no pun intended) and add the things I want like shelves.
-Shane

[Shane]

Background build.

[Shane]

The lights were only available in white, so I painted them along with the boards the would form the overhead light bar (after the boards were cut to length)

[Shane]

Gathered a wide variety of stones from the creek behind my house and washed them up. The brick tiles are 12" X 12" (30.5 cm X 30.5cm) so there are some good sized stones in there.

[Shane]

State of the tank at the end of day one.
-Shane

[2wheelsx2, posts: 924]

Wow! You got a lot done in one day! Looking good.

[N0body Of The Goat, posts: 150]

Looking forward to seeing how this developes!

Shane, you say West African setup, but are you ready to commit to stating a Congo-esque riverine or more of a backwater setup?

If you are going down the high current riverine route, I'd love to read about the construction of an under gravel jet system, to give single direction flow in the tank at all depths.

[Gertbl, posts: 137]

Wow background looks great. Nice way how you installed your light above the tank, haven't thought of that way on my two open tanks. Really going to follow this tank and love to see the tank when it's running. Which kind of fishes are you going to keep in this tank?

[bigbird, posts: 225]

very nice indeed. cant wait for the finished product. cheers jk

[Shane]

I am a bit gutted. The adhesive on the background holding the sand (for texture) did not hold up when I added some water. Back to the drawing board... I'll either have to strip and refinish the background with a different product or just go with a standard black background. Part of me says go with simple black and get the tank running... part of me says strip the background and get it right.

Shane, you say West African setup, but are you ready to commit to starting a Congo-esque riverine or more of a backwater setup?

I have done the undergravel jet riverine thing for Chaetostoma in the past. That is not what I am after here. This will be more of a dark mysterious backwater focused on schools of West African tetras and barbs, a few pairs of nice cichlids guarding their clouds of fry and lurking West African cats among the driftwood and plants. The kind of tank you have to watch quietly for 15 minutes to get an idea of all that is going on inside.
-Shane

[Gertbl, posts: 137]

What I did was, I primed the background and when the prime is still wet add the sand over it. On my background I added a very thick prime layer. If I look at your background, then it looks like you have a very small layer of prime on it. Maybe try it with a thicker layer of prime.

[Shane]

Gert,
You exactly desribed my mistake. I should have used the original primer coat as the adhesive for the sand. Instead I primed it, let it dry, and then added a spray adhesive by 3M. I then added my finishing coat over the top of the adhesive. When I added some water the "layer" between the primer and the adhesive broke free causing the sand and finishing coat to start detaching from the background.
I have looked long and hard for a product similar to the one you used without luck. I have one more store to check today. If I do not find it there I may just use silicone as the primer/adhesive with the sand and then cover it with several finishing coats of non-toxic paint.
-Shane

[jp11biod, posts: 130]

Shane-- What kind of lights have you chosen? I think your setup and a few others that have been featured here are very attractive. Do you need low light plants or do they provide the spectrum needed by most plants?

JS

[Shane]

A long day's work striping and remaking the entire background, but I am much more confident in the final product. I used epoxy from Michael's (craft store) as the base coat, added two types of sand, and then sealed the entire thing with two coats of clear water-proof paint. I really did not want to build this thing twice... but practice makes perfect I guess. I'll get pics up soon.

Shane-- What kind of lights have you chosen? I think your setup and a few others that have been featured here are very attractive. Do you need low light plants or do they provide the spectrum needed by most plants?

These are 50 watt halogens. The entire set up is around $40 at Home Depot and comes ready to plug in. I have several of them in my fishroom. I tend to keep low light plants (I am a catfish guy!) and can tell you that Anubias, Bolbitis, Java fern, Java moss, and several others do well under them. I have a tank with Vallisneria using these lights and it is also doing well. It would be very easy to use them in conjunction with other lights. The only drawback is that they run very hot, so you need to devise a system to mount them 6" or more above the water.

-Shane

[Shane]

Background after refinishing.

A step by step guide:

Step 1) Cut styrofoam sheets to size. A tight fit side to side is important, but do not sweat the height too much as substrate will hide the bottom.

Optional steps if making a layered background.

Step 1a) Optional. Using two sheets like I did really adds some interesting depth. My original design called for three sheets of depth, but I felt it was too thick at that point and threw out the third panel I had made. Important! Getting two sheets of styrofoam to stick together is really, really hard. I tried several products without luck. In the end (and after three attempts) I used an entire large tube of aquarium sealant. Cover as much of the surface area of the back of the smaller piece as possible before affixing it to the larger background piece. Place a lot of weight on it and allow to cure at least 24 hours. If you do not do this the bouyancy of styrofoam will cause the smaller piece to seperate and float to the surface (again and again and again...).

Step 1b) Melt the edges of the second layer so it appears more natural. I was too timid here. The parts that turned out best were the parts that I accidently caught on fire. I was too cheap to buy a gas torch. I just rolled up sections of newspaper, set them on fire, and held the styrofoam over them. It worked fine. (Do this outside!)

Note: I do not believe it is necessary to use multiple layers to get a nice background. A single layer background is far easier to construct and will look almost as nice.

Step 2) Add some texture to the styrofoam. I walked across mine several times on my kness to put lots of rounded dents in it.

Step 3) Add the primer layer. I used Espresso color Krylon Fusion spray paint. A darker color will give a darker background and a lighter primer layer a lighter colored background. Be sure to prime all the edges around the strofoam.

Step 4) Add the epoxy layer. I found two part epoxy at a craft store (Michaels). As Gert pointed out above, apply the epoxy in a thick layer. Do not try to paint it on. You want to basically pour it on and spread it around with a flat stick.

Step 5) Add the sand. I highly recommend the sand sold at home improvement stores as "Paver's Sand." This stuff is useless as a substrate as it contains many fine particles and requires lots of washing or it will really cloud an aquarium. However, because it contains everything from dust-like sand to small gravel, it makes great texture for a background.

Optional Step 5a) If using multiple layers try using a different sand type on each. I used Paver's sand on the outside layer and Play Sand on the background layer. I really like the contrast. It also shows how uniform Play Sand is versus Paver's Sand.

Step 6) Let the epoxy set up for 24 hours. Tilt the background up and let the excess sand pour off. Lightly rinse with the hose and let it dry.

Step 7) Sealant layer. I used Krylon Fusion clear spray paint. Add as many coats as you wish. Every coat will help ensure the background's durability. Let dry/cure for 24 hours.

Step Gently rinse the entire background carefully for with a hose several minutes just to ensure there is no chemical residue.

Step 9) Cover the back of the background in aquarium silicone (go heavy on the silicone) and affix to the aquarium. In a smaller tank I suggest laying the tank on its back and then placing heavy weight on the background. Let it dry for 24 hours. In a larger tank you will need to construct a bracing system like I did.

Step 10) Fill the tank and enjoy your unique background.

A few tips:
- This project is not a lot of physical work, but because of the various curing stages will take a minimum of 3-4 days to complete.
- A small background might require as little as $30 in materials. A larger background $80 or more. The primary expenses are the epoxy and paints. The styrofoam and sand are cheap to free.
- Choose a substrate and stones (if you use them) that will match your background. A clashing background and substrate/stones looks unnatural and will undo all you strived to achieve.

-Shane

[racoll, posts: 4473]

Great guide Shane. I think the result was definitely worth the hard work.

These are 50 watt halogens. The entire set up is around $40 at Home Depot and comes ready to plug in.

Question about the lighting. 6x 50W is 300W, which is as much as a single halide lamp and seems like rather a lot to me. Are lower wattage LED bulbs that can be used in standard fittings available from the DIY stores now (e.g. http://www.energybulbs.co.uk/products/LED+Light+Bulbs)?

[Gertbl, posts: 137]

Good work Shane!
You've done a beautiful work here, and the background looks great.
I like the way you used two kinds of sand.

The spots that you are using, are getting really hot indeed. You can replace them with LED versions, but use the Powerled spots. I changed my lights from spots to 4x 5W LED Floodlights. The only different between these lights is, that plants will grow slower under the LED lights.

[Shane]

Ah I did not mention the best feature of these lights. They have built in dimmers so I can set light levels of my choosing.
-Shane

[bigbird, posts: 225]

looking good. thanks for the info. cheers jk

[Shane]

Things are coming together. It should clear up by tomorrow.
-Shane