29 Gallon Long PDF Build <My Sons Tank>

[DigitalPunk]

Ok Brief update. The first round of background and supplies arrived this weekend. So we were able to do a bit of work.

We got the egg crate cut and decided to do a box type bottom instead of the using PVC supports. This picture was taken before we straightened the cross beams


We wrapped the egg crate in a membrane to prevent the substrate from falling through into the void


Here it is with the final fitting into the tank. It is very very snug.


My son then spent several hours over a few days laying out the cork bark and wood until he settled on a layout. The 2 pieces of wood at the edge are temporary. Not sure what we will use, but the general idea is to create a wall to keep the substrate from falling off the edge into the water feature. Will most likely break up chunks of slate to create the wall. What ever we do will be covered in moss.




He then covered the back in spray foam. We talked about getting more cork bark but ended up deciding to order some Moss and Hygrolon from Bill's friend for the background.



Now we wait. We will let the foam cure for a couple days then carve it some while we wait for the Hygrolon and Moss to arrive. We also ordered the Foam Coat for the waterfall, so we will have some forward progress on the waterfall in the near future.

[deranged chipmunk]

Very cool!!

[DigitalPunk]

Thanks Bill . It is coming together nicely I think. The 2nd coat makes it look a lot better. We will go through and break off any sharp edges before we paint and seal it.

The Hygrolon and Moss mix from Folius arrived Friday as well. I will get some pictures up of that process once we get there. I am holding off on doing that until the waterfall is done and siliconed into the tank.

[DigitalPunk]

2nd coat was nearly dry so I mixd up the last of the Foam Coat into a clay type consistency and pressed it into any cracks that still needed filled and shaped the back of the slot the water will run down. The idea was to keep as much water as possible flowing forward and not down the back of the object.

Below are the to pieces in there final pre paint condition





Here I test fit the filter one last time. TO ensure everything still lined up as intended. It is important to note that the formation has increased in size a bit due to the Foam coat. We did plan ahead for that.



And here it is with the filter in place and the top on.



We will do a test fit in the tank tomorrow to ensure it still fits good. Then we paint! We did a test fit after the first coat had dried to see how it was looking. Should be good on the final test fit tomorrow.

Can't wait to paint it and see if we can't make it look more realistic....

[DigitalPunk]

Base coat of paint has been applied.

First we mixed a small bit of paint on a paper plate to find the color my son wanted. Then we mixed the paint and some water in our "Poor mans Paint sprayer" and mixed thoroughly.




Here is the finished product with the first layer of paint applied.






Once this dries we will start putting detail onto the rocks. Should be able to paint some detail on tonight.

[deranged chipmunk]

Very cool! Nice job Paul! That's looking excellent!!

[DigitalPunk]

Thanks I am by no means an artist so I will be moving very slowly on the detail portion of the painting lol.

[DigitalPunk]

Detail work is done and drying. We will start applying the Water replant layer in a hour or so. Then one last test fit and water test. Once the water test passes we will apply a layer of clear aquarium safe silicon to the areas that will be submerged in water or have water running over it to help protect it and allow it to last longer. The silicone will be allowed to dry for 2 days and then the whole thing will be siliconed into the tank and given a couple days to cure before we move on to the Moss Background.

[deranged chipmunk]

Looks incredible Paul. Very realistic a suggestion, instead of using silicone on the water track, consider using 2 part epoxy. It dries clear, albeit glossy, but with water running over it, it would be glossy anyway. Silicone will dry with a dull haze which will get worse the longer water runs over it. Just a thought.

[DigitalPunk]

I wish we could do Epoxy. That is what I would prefer to use. However my son is out of funds and we have plenty of clear silicon laying around the house. I am planning to do a really thin layer of silicon. Wish you all could see it in person. Pictures really don't do it justice.

here is a very bad video i took of the water test a few minutes ago.


http://s79.photobucket.com/user/Dirg...48MOV.mp4.html

[DigitalPunk]

Waterfall is siliconed into the tank. After it dried overnight it was in good enough to lay the tank down and start on the Hygrolon.

We used Titebond III to glue it to the background. I would not recommend this. I would use gorilla glue, but this stuff worked pretty good.




My Son painted it on with a small brush.



Once it was covered we let it cure for 20 mins or so. (till it became tacky). Then we slowly laid the Hygrolon onto the back ground starting at an edge and working across.







and now we wait.

[Riptide]

The tank is looking great! Great job on the waterfall!!
Just wondering, why would you not recommend using the TB3 to attach the hygrolon?


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[DigitalPunk]

TB3 dries really slowly. The glue kept running off the peaks of the spray foam and into the cracks and pooling up. You want the glue to get near dry and tacky before putting the Hygrolon down so it doesn't absorb to much of it. Unfortunately the TB3 we had to apply a thin coat in some places to get the Hygrolon to stick.

[Riptide]

That makes sense. That's great info for me to hear since I'll be using hygrolon on the XL Exo-Terra build and I was planning on just using the TB3.


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[DigitalPunk]

I am excited to see how the Hygrolon works . The only other thing I can think of is if I carved the Spray foam more to make it flatter.... Oh well live and learn. It is drying now and tomorrow or the next day we will pain on the Moss mix we got from Folius.net at Bills recommendation

[deranged chipmunk]

Yeah, I heard using tb with hygrolon is not really easy. Dev has the best moss mix. Here's how it grows when given the proper conditions. This is one of dev's tanks and the back is almost all hygrolon/moss mix

[DigitalPunk]

Moss has been added. The downside is that a through check showed all the glue was dry. However once the moss was added and the tank was stood up a few spots started showing wet glue. I really regret using TB3 for this. That mistake will never happen again. We will keep the tank on its back for the next 2 days while we lightly mist the moss and hopefully the glue will finish drying and not get to wet.

As a point of reference we used about 1/2 the Moss mix bag or a little more than 1/2 to cover the back ground as much as we did. Just to give you an idea how much you can cover with a bag. we think it is covered enough as is and will allow the moss to grow in and cover the background.

[DigitalPunk]

While my Son was gone tonight I went to Home Depot and bought the poor mans tank stand and moved his tank up to his room.




Here is one where you can see the cheap stand. 6 Cinder blocks and some MDF cut to size. I had the scrap pieces of MDF cut to fit under the Cinder blocks so they didn't chew up the floor.



When he got home he put in the substrate and leaf litter. We boiled some river rocks and he put them in the water.



Here is the finished product. He is out of money so now he is saving to buy a couple plants to put in there and then we will get him a couple of frogs. We also adjusted the light after this picture so it was more centered on the tank.



Now we wait and watch the moss grow. Hopefully the waterfall/cliff thing will hold up in the long run, only time will tell.

[Laserwolf52]

That looks awesome! Totally cool to see you helping your son along with a project like this! My dad and I just finished a vivarium today for some red eyed tree frogs and its definitely a good bonding experience!

[DigitalPunk]

Thanks Nikko! We had a blast working on it together. I am kinda sad it is finished lol. We spent about an hour plant shopping online last night so he could start figuring out what plants he wants to buy. He will most likely stick with a couple Brooms and a vine plant... Maybe a small fern.