Its going to be slow. I am in and out of travel to Israel, but I am trying to move through this as fast as possible.
The tank before I started on the rock background and after I had been tinkering with it a little.
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The sand I will be using, all 160lbs of it. I think this will be nice and not fly all over the place like the sugar grain stuff I currently have in my 75.
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The sump that came with the tank. I have already cut out the one baffle that came with it, and all in all, its a nice sized sump. It is 48x18x14, and has more then enough space to accommodate what I plan to do. On the other hand, I have no room for anything else underneath the tank, so I will be building a cabinet to set next to the tank and hold an ATO container, etc...
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I took some of the foam board and cut it to the dimensions of the right back side of the tank. I had already squared away some of the rock to get it ready for gluing to the back wall. The rest of the foam board is a good catch all to keep from getting junk in your carpet while working... also great for a cat scratching post. BTW, these are marcorocks prime cuts. They come with a cut and finished back surface to make it easy.
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Now, some of the progress. I used a 2x4 as a ledger to space the rock from the bottom. I will have a 4+ inch sand bed, so it will cover it up, and I am not keen on paying more for rock that isnt going to be seen. I intend on filling in the larger gaps with rubble rock, and then using a reef safe epoxy that will have sand mixed in to fill in everything else (sort of like grouting tile). The overflow is going to be receiving a similar treatment, where I hope to also incorporate some shelf and branch.
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Like i said, I hope to keep the updates rolling, but no guarantees.
The tank before I started on the rock background and after I had been tinkering with it a little.
The sand I will be using, all 160lbs of it. I think this will be nice and not fly all over the place like the sugar grain stuff I currently have in my 75.
The sump that came with the tank. I have already cut out the one baffle that came with it, and all in all, its a nice sized sump. It is 48x18x14, and has more then enough space to accommodate what I plan to do. On the other hand, I have no room for anything else underneath the tank, so I will be building a cabinet to set next to the tank and hold an ATO container, etc...
I took some of the foam board and cut it to the dimensions of the right back side of the tank. I had already squared away some of the rock to get it ready for gluing to the back wall. The rest of the foam board is a good catch all to keep from getting junk in your carpet while working... also great for a cat scratching post. BTW, these are marcorocks prime cuts. They come with a cut and finished back surface to make it easy.
Now, some of the progress. I used a 2x4 as a ledger to space the rock from the bottom. I will have a 4+ inch sand bed, so it will cover it up, and I am not keen on paying more for rock that isnt going to be seen. I intend on filling in the larger gaps with rubble rock, and then using a reef safe epoxy that will have sand mixed in to fill in everything else (sort of like grouting tile). The overflow is going to be receiving a similar treatment, where I hope to also incorporate some shelf and branch.
Like i said, I hope to keep the updates rolling, but no guarantees.
