# Show the pictures of your aesthetic creations...We (me) wants to see!



## lailastar (Aug 28, 2006)

Hi guys! I am interested in whatever you have built caves, towers, diy driftwood, anything? Everything? Show, Show, SHOW!
Tell what materials you used, and what you would do differently if you did it again...Post as many decent or better pictures as you have or can take...
:humble: Let's see your creativity, ingenuity, ability:humble:


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## onemyndseye (May 12, 2006)

Well... not that its all that aesthetic. But....

This is a project I WAS working on when I kept dwarf cichlids. But I lost interest in the fish and the project before it was finished... I would just about give it away now to see someone finish/use it.

Its base on this project: DIY Lava Grotto and its probably about 90% complete... needs alot of little finishing touches here and there like covering afew white patches and filling in gaps the rocks.










Take Care,
-Justin
One Mynds Eye


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## lailastar (Aug 28, 2006)

HOw big is this project?? Dimensions? Yours seems nicely done, why did you stop working on it? Loss of interest? Or another project? That happens to me sometimes. THe attack of the tangent projects...*sigh*. Also- what is the surrounding material the roack are set into? That is the same gutter material?

Kami


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## tfmcder (Feb 22, 2006)

I recently have done 2 small DIY projects.

1st is a small caveish dwelling just for decoration. I more or less did it just to see how well it would look and hold up in the tank. I will be making a larger rock structure over the winter for my 90G. I used some generic petco purchased rocks and siliconed the suckers together. Next time I plan on doing some searching for some nicer rocks.









2nd is my diy stand for my 20g. I have a picture of the first step but then my camera took a dump on me and i didn't get it going again until i was almost done. The frame is 2x4's wrapped in luan and soft pine was used for the trim. 5/8 plywood was used for the top and doors and a peice of foam was cut to fit under the tank to give it a softer base to "settle" on.
Step one: 








awaiting doors and trim:








Almost done, just need a couple more coats of paint:








And here is what it looks like in it's home, my little office escape.


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Wow, love the tank stand! =)


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## onemyndseye (May 12, 2006)

> ..HOw big is this project?? Dimensions? Yours seems nicely done, why did you stop working on it? Loss of interest? Or another project? That happens to me sometimes. THe attack of the tangent projects...*sigh*. Also- what is the surrounding material the roack are set into? That is the same gutter material


 Yeah - I lost interest in cichlids and started keeping plants 

Here is a thread that tells abit more about it. I offered it for trade on the FS/FT section of the forum with any hits. Was hoping someone would get some use outa it 

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...27702-for-trade-diy-rock-wall-background.html

The material that the rocks are set into is black "construction grade" aquarium sillicon.

Take Care,
-Justin
One Mynd Eye


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## lailastar (Aug 28, 2006)

The tank stand is beautiful, its amazing how the right hardware can make a project look really costly. Those handles definetly give it a shine +1. Generic petco rocks or not- the striation on those rocks makes them look exotic. My petco does not have those. Were they expensive?

The rock wall is beautiful, did anyone trade you for it yet?


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## Ibn (Oct 20, 2004)

Third CO2 reactor build. This is different from the two previous builds due to the embedded diffuser.









This is the diffuser used.


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## onemyndseye (May 12, 2006)

".....The rock wall is beautiful, did anyone trade you for it yet? ...."

Nope... no takers as of yet. Have been planning on listing on a cichlid forum but Havnt got around to it 

-Justin
One Mynds Eye


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## tfmcder (Feb 22, 2006)

lailastar said:


> The tank stand is beautiful, its amazing how the right hardware can make a project look really costly. Those handles definetly give it a shine +1. Generic petco rocks or not- the striation on those rocks makes them look exotic. My petco does not have those. Were they expensive?


Thank you. I originally did not plan on putting the doors on but my woman told me it would look like sh*t without them...she was right ...so I threw them on and got some "nicer" cabinet hardware for them. I'm glad someone noticed that...thank you again!!!

I like the rocks but they just aren't the look I was going for. They are a little too big to create anything with detail to it. They were pretty cheap, they cost ~$18 for a 25lb bag.


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## lailastar (Aug 28, 2006)

*How does it work?*

That is a huge reactor! Or at least it looks like it is, how does it work? It diffuses externally? What did you change from the first time you did it- I assume you changed it? Why did you change it?


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## Ibn (Oct 20, 2004)

Yeah, it's a big reactor. It stands about 24" tall and was constructed of 3" polycarbonate tubing. Works amazingly well, until you have to clean the diffuser. Simply got tired of cleaning it on a monthly basis so eventually swapped it out altogether.

Went to a more simplified reactor afterwards.


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## Chris S (Feb 27, 2006)

Here is a Do-It-Yourself rock wall background I made from styrofoam and covered in concrete with acrylic fortifier and color mixed in the concrete. They are not real rocks.










This was for a cichlid breeding tank .It is a 20 gallon tall tank and the fish really love it. The thing I would change if I did it again in another tank is that I would make it one peice as the background pictured above consists of 3 peices. One peice would be prettier. Another thing I would change is that i would not make space available to fish to get behind that rock wall as they are almost impossible to net in this tank.
Here are steps taken to make this rock set-up.
Step 1 : carve a bunch of individual rocks with a steak knife or whatever you have. You can sand them smooth if you want to.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/christophs/Do It Yourself Projects/3three.jpg
Step 2: Once you have glued the rocks together to make a wall using aquarium safe silicone cover them in a concrete /fortifier/color mix for the 1st coat
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/christophs/Do It Yourself Projects/Picture.jpg
Step 3: After the concrete mix is dry (usually overnight is good), add one or more coats of concrete/fortifier /color mix to the wall until you get the desired look of rocks you like
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/christophs/Do It Yourself Projects/Picture_003.jpg
Step 4: Glue them in place with aquarium safe silicone wherever you like. After 24 hours of curing, you are ready to add water to the tank.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/christophs/Do It Yourself Projects/smaller_pic_1.jpg
NOTE! tank water will leach alot of minerals and such from the concrete for at least a couple weeks. What I did was changed 100% of the water in the tank every day for 2 weeks to be sure that all leaching undesireables where thoroughly removed.I did this with a hang on the back filter running as to create water movement all the time. Ater this amount of time the tank water will remain clear and testing ph for stability would be a good idea before adding any fish or plants..
p.s. I'm not sure what CO2 would do to this wall haha! I have it in a hardwater cichlid tank with a ph of 8.2 or so and i have no troubles at all.
Next one will be in a 100 gallon tank.One real bonus of such a styrofoam/concrete wall is that is is virtually weightless and a permanent fixture in the tank. No more giant boulders smashing and scratching the glass for me!


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Chris, that is a good looking wall. Thank you for the step by step instructions. A very interesting project and it certainly makes a striking tank decoration.


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## Chris S (Feb 27, 2006)

Thank you. That was a trial run. I wanted to use a small tank. Next time I will use a larger tank and take more time on the rocks to make them look more realistic


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## SnakeIce (May 9, 2005)

I built my 75 gallon stand


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## tfmcder (Feb 22, 2006)

Wow...love the wall, maybe i'll try something like that instead of real rocks.

Love the stand too...damn that looks sturdy!!! what kind of wood did you use?


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## SnakeIce (May 9, 2005)

It is regular dimensional lumber covered in oak.

4x4 legs on 2x4 sills supporting double 2x4s on edge for the tank to sit on.


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