Alasse Posted February 6, 2011 Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 I've decided to take this tank back to a planted tank....so for starters i wanted a way to separate the plant substrate from the sand i want to use at the front (for my cories) So i decided to build a wall, quite pleased how it turned out actually So the wall is done. All that was used was foam, silicone and black quartz sand. It is now siliconed into the tank, just have to wait until silicone cures before i can procedd further. Rough foam draft Full wall 'rock' Close up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yanagi Posted February 6, 2011 Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 Looks great, can't wait to see it in action. Can you elaborate on how you've stuck the quartz sand onto the foam and yet managed to get natural looking rocks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alasse Posted February 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 (edited) Thanx I carved rock shapes into the foam with a knife and melted areas with a lighter to make it more realistic. To coat in sand - Work in snall sections, spread silicone onto foam fairly thinly (like icing a cake), sprinkle sand onto it and gently press into silicone. Continue until you have coated all areas that will be visible. Gently shake off excess, fix areas you may have missed with a small dab of silicone of your fingers, put sand on and gently squash down to match in with surrounds.... Then completely let silicone cure Edited February 6, 2011 by Alasse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yanagi Posted February 6, 2011 Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 Sounds easy enough, however time consuming.. I may just have to try this if I ever get around to setting up a new tank.. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted February 6, 2011 Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 Wow. That's fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alasse Posted February 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 (edited) Actually it doesnt take long at all, the time is in waiting for the silcone to cure..all up it took 2 hours, but around 1 hour of that was waiting for silicone to partly cure ( the wall is 4 sections siliconed together, then sand on top surfaces, then sand on side surfaces) 1st pic taken at 8:31pm, last pic (full sanded wall in tank) taken at 10.25pm Edited February 6, 2011 by Alasse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted February 6, 2011 Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 It looks great Alasse! Can't wait to see it when the tank is set-up. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenGirl13 Posted February 6, 2011 Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 :cheer: Alasse, that is brilliant! I have been looking at my own tank and trying to work out how to keep things seperated when I remove the UGF. Problem solvered!! I have heaps of polystyrene sitting in my studio just waiting for me to do something with it but I wasn't sure what or how until now thank you, just the inspiration I needed, Jo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alasse Posted February 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 Update: I did a test fill on the tank and wall. Wall stayed siliconed to the base, phew *L* Actually looks really good under water too. Ive started putting the substrate into the plant section, miscalculated how much i would need though, grrrrrrrrrr, i'll need to drop into the lfs and pick up more gravel! Stay tuned, i'll try to grab pics as i'm 'scaping Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alasse Posted February 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 Finally picked up the bag of gravel i needed (behind the wall is approx 20kg of gravel). So substrate is now in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 That looks great. Sent it to me please. Lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 It looks fabulous. Well done Alasse, it is so creative. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alasse Posted February 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 (edited) Soooooo its done, well pretty much, needs a few more plants, but this is all i have at the moment. A pic of wood and some plants being placed Now filled, lights running. Still gotta fix up the canister, then plug it all in I must say i'm rather proud of how it turned out Edited February 7, 2011 by Alasse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 And you should be proud! :drool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daniel031 Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 Wow, that looks amazing. lol when I saw you used a lighter it reminded me of my pyro days X D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yanagi Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 Wow That's my sorta tank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenGirl13 Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 Looks great Alasse, my motivation is slowly getting its **** together!! Please allow me to have a turn at being Sarah ....MORE PICCIES PLEASE Jo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alasse Posted February 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 Cleared, a few more java ferns added. Neons and cories in residence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neffy Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 WOW i love it so much !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadoh Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 Very impressive!!! :drool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenGirl13 Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 Thanks for pic, looks wonderful. Motivation has finally got its **** together and I've made a start on my own rock wall. Mine is going to be curved outward from one corner of the tank to the back wall. Just have to find some quartz sand, local nursery was less than helpful so have come to a grinding halt for now Jo/Nanna B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadoh Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 Jo, have you got a landscape supply place near you, they usually carry different types of sand (including quartz)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenGirl13 Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 :blush: Nanna moment there, thanks Jarrod xxx :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chasing Sanity Posted February 12, 2011 Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 This is awesome! A must try for my next tank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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