Well, here we go...100 gallons. Walk me through it?!

[BCollie]

Oops, sorry. Autocorrect fail MISTING!! Lol


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

Ahh that makes more sense!

Question...that foam insulation stuff that I'll be using as a background isn't going to affect the water in the drainage layer, is it?

[BCollie]

Alright, here's where I'm at. The sand is out, the tank is 100% scraped clean of algae and hard water, and it's drained and dry.
Do I really need to bleach it? If so, how many gallons of bleach should I dump in the full tank?

[BCollie]

Oh hey!! Hopefully someone will see this before I head to the store...what do I need to buy to carve the "rocks" into the foam background??

[BCollie]

Measure twice, cut once.


Fits perfectly once I cut it down to size! It's nice and snug, I don't think I'll even need to stick it to the glass with anything.


Progress!


Finished with the first panel.


Put it in to see how it looked


Now...I need you guys to be very honest with me! How does it look? If you think it looks bad please be honest(I can handle it ) and I'll flip it over and try again.

[LisaGarcia]

That looks great!! (IMO) I personally, would glue it down to the back of the glass just to make sure there is no way for it to fall over or for anything to get behind it. I know with the hydroballs, screen, dirt, etc it would probably be a non-issue but..

[BCollie]

That looks great!! (IMO) I personally, would glue it down to the back of the glass just to make sure there is no way for it to fall over or for anything to get behind it. I know with the hydroballs, screen, dirt, etc it would probably be a non-issue but..

Yay, I'm glad you like it!! Thanks!!
Is there a way that I can stick it to the glass that's not permanent? So it can be taken off without there being any trace of it ever having been there....So that if I ever want to sell the tank, people aren't going, "what is that on the back wall?"

[deranged chipmunk]

That looks great! I like it!!

Silicone will work to affix it to the glass. Silicone will scrape off with a razor blade after you remove it.


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[flybyferns]

Things to pick up today:
Quilt Batting(cotton or polyester??)
1 roll of fiberglass screen
3 bags of river pebbles

Okay, and I'm having trouble finding the insulation/foam for the background of my vviv that we were talking about on Home Depot's website. You wouldn't happen to know what it's called and where it's located, would you? Here's what my search turned up:
Search Results forÂ*2x2 insulationÂ*at The Home Depot
Would it be this?
Project Panels 2 ft. x 2 ft. Project Panel-PP1 at The Home Depot

Poly !

[BCollie]

Finished!!!
My floor...


All put into the tank, but NOT glued together yet.


Now, I need to paint it.
Non-toxic acrylic paint...mixed with what? Someone said to mix non-toxic acrylic paint with something but I don't remember what I need to mix it with and can't find the page we talked about it on.

[Lija]

Wooooowwww! You know what! I'm so doing the same now... That looks amazing! And if you paint it and shade it and stick moss in places and you can glue in some coco..... Wow! Amazing!

[LisaGarcia]

AMAZING!! Way to go!! Now, come out here and do mine please

[BCollie]

**marks new expenses

EXPENSES as of Oct 4th, 2014
**Fiberglass window screen $5
**1.5cf river pebbles $15
**Three 2x2 foam panels $16
**Low Temp Hot glue gun&glue: $8
**Quilt Batting: $8
Walmart razor blades for scraping glass clean: $5
Soil mixture(Orchid Bark, Sphagnum Moss, Peat Moss, Charcoal, Fir Bark): $74
Plants: $13
Total spent so far: $144
Remaining: $50

EXPENSES as of Oct 3rd, 2014:
Starting budget: $167
Walmart razor blades for scraping glass clean: $5
Soil mixture(Orchid Bark, Sphagnum Moss, Peat Moss, Charcoal, Fir Bark): $74
Plants: $13
Total spent so far: $92
Remaining: $75

[BCollie]

Thanks you guys!! I had fun doing it, but unfortunately I have tendonitis in my wrist and this really aggravated it. Good thing it was a pretty short job. Finished in about 1.5-2 hours.

Now I need to paint it. I'm going to use a medium grey paint and for the cracks I'll use a dark grey. Now that I'm home I was able to get on my computer and look back in the thread, and I see that I need to mix the paint with Titebond 3? How much glue do I use for how much paint? And why am I mixing the two together?
I want to add moss to the background. How do I attach it? I assume I do it after painting.

EDIT: OH! Also, how do I know if paint is non-toxic or not? I plan on going to Walmart and asking them to mix up the colors for me, is there a certain brand that is non-toxic?

[canadian frog]

should say on the packaging if its toxic or not, by the way the background looks great, the tite bond is waterproof and wont come off the background when misting, or you can use a clearcoat after painting the foam, cant remember which one at the moment.

[BCollie]

What is the point of mixing the Titebond with the paint?

[canadian frog]

haven't tried this method yet, but im thinking instead of the clear coat spray, because the glue is waterproof by mixing it with the paint, the paint therefore becomes waterproof

[deranged chipmunk]

Looks most excellent Adri!! Some people mix titebond glue with the acrylic paint to waterproof it because the paint is water soluble, but you can just as easily cover the background in krylon fusion clear spray paint, after it is painted. A few decent coats will do the trick.


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[Strider18]

Wow, I don't think I have seen so many posts on a single thread in as little as 3 days. I read the whole thing and I look forward to putting in my input when I can! Good luck!

[BCollie]

Looks most excellent Adri!! Some people mix titebond glue with the acrylic paint to waterproof it because the paint is water soluble, but you can just as easily cover the background in krylon fusion clear spray paint, after it is painted. A few decent coats will do the trick.


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

Thank you!! I think I will do the Krylon Fusion Clear Matte Finish(looked it up and they have it at Walmart) if they carry it at my Walmart. If not, then I will do the Titebond glue. Seems much easier to just use the Krylon. Will I need to spray the back, bottom, and sides of the foam to make that waterproof too, or is the foam already waterproof?

Wow, I don't think I have seen so many posts on a single thread in as little as 3 days. I read the whole thing and I look forward to putting in my input when I can! Good luck!

Hehe, yeah I was just saying to my mom yesterday how we're over 130 posts already!! Insane!! Everyone here is so helpful though, I love it

[BCollie]

Any tips for hiding the cracks between the three foam boards? They're pretty easy to see.