# Whitney's 60g stump build! (Pic Heavy)



## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

This tank was ordered for someone at my old boss' fish store and it got dropped on the bulkheads. So I picked it up from them and reenforced the back with thick plexi glass and covered the cracks with silicone.
























There's no getting those bulkheads off without losing the back so I'm leaving the overflow on and sealing it off. I took the panel with the slits on it and put duct tape on the back and filled the slits with silicone. 








I still need to get some plastic to close off the top of the overflow. Next was to build the vents! I'm posting this using my phone so I will add the link to the thread I followed after posting this. I admit I was apprehensive about building the vents. I had never built anything like that before and wasn't sure if I could do it. But I found it to not be difficult at all! They certainly don't look perfect, it was a little more difficult to cut the metal frame straight with my dremel tool than if I had bought a hack saw. Having never made them before I think I did well! The vents are 1 inch wide & the length of the top, one will be on the front & one on the back.
















Now the stump! I plan on covering it with bromeliads. Not quite sure which way I want to set it in the tank. 

















That's all I've got so far! Waiting on tree fern panels to arrive in the mail for the back, picking up glass for the lid today. It's slowly coming together! And I'll post pictures as I go!


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## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

I used Pumilo's post as my walkthrough for the vents! It's incredibly helpful! 
Screen Vent Construction How To


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## Elphaba (Aug 26, 2007)

Daaaang Whitney, that is that coolest stump ever! Tons and tons of broms on that thing will be killer! =) And maybe some orchids, some creepers... you've got a great canvas there to work with.

You say it wasn't hard to make the vents. I've actually been nervous myself about making them for a long time, but I'd like to have the know-how. What tools did you need? I have a (kinda crappy) dremel, so no worries there, but beyond that I'm not sure if I'd need anything fancy.

Can't wait to see more pictures of the tank as you progress. =)

Best,
Ash


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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

Looking good! 

just curious... did you leave that duct tape on after the silicone dried? or did you pull it off?



Elphaba said:


> What tools did you need? I have a (kinda crappy) dremel, so no worries there, but beyond that I'm not sure if I'd need anything fancy.


Whitney kinda alluded to this... I would recommend not using a dremel, and getting a hack saw instead. You can get a much cleaner cut. A mitre box makes it even better.


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## Elphaba (Aug 26, 2007)

Duly noted. My dremel's a piece of #$(@ anyway... if I determine to build any vents, I'll invest in a hacksaw. Or I'll borrow my dad's. =)


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## KRich Frogger (Feb 15, 2013)

Awesome cypress stump, was that one of the ones being sold on here last week ?


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## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

Elphaba said:


> Daaaang Whitney, that is that coolest stump ever! Tons and tons of broms on that thing will be killer! =) And maybe some orchids, some creepers... you've got a great canvas there to work with.
> 
> You say it wasn't hard to make the vents. I've actually been nervous myself about making them for a long time, but I'd like to have the know-how. What tools did you need? I have a (kinda crappy) dremel, so no worries there, but beyond that I'm not sure if I'd need anything fancy.
> 
> ...


Thanks! I bought the stump from travisc on this thread Cypress Stumps
You can find the walkthrough for the vents on that link I posted just before your post! All I needed was the dremel tool, the screen spline roller tool, and a flat head screwdriver! All the supplies were cheap too! except the noseeum mesh. I first tried to go through seattle fabrics, because thats the link Pumilo has in that thread. But the shipping is a lot. It would have been $15 shipping for 2 rolled yards. I know Pumilo says you wont find a suitable mesh in lowes but his post is a few years old and I did find noseeum mesh at lowes yesterday. Unfortunately the smallest amount it came in was 25 feet and it was $25, but would you rather pay $20 for 2 yards or $25 for 25 feet? Soooooo I dont think I'll EVER run out of this stuff! In fact if anyone needs any, I'd be willing to sell some of it.


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## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

carola1155 said:


> Looking good!
> 
> just curious... did you leave that duct tape on after the silicone dried? or did you pull it off?
> 
> ...


I left the duct tape on until the silicone dried so that taking it off wouldn't pull the wet silicone through the hole & defeat the purpose. I was just kind of hoping the duct take would come off nicely when dried and was pleasantly surprised! It works like a charm!


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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

nice... that worked better than I would have thought it would. I figured you did remove it somehow, was just double checking... duct tape gets pretty nasty when wet.


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## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

carola1155 said:


> nice... that worked better than I would have thought it would. I figured you did remove it somehow, was just double checking... duct tape gets pretty nasty when wet.


I really had no idea how it was going to turn out! I got the idea from jacobi who posted a picture of a silicone hinge that he crated to hold 2 pieces of glass together using duct tape to hold the silicone in place. He posted it on my other thread Best way to contruct a glass lid??


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## ZookeeperDoug (Jun 5, 2011)

Whitney, I have a small concern about the plexi you used on the back of the tank. Generally silicone does not adhere well to plexi over time, and it may eventually peel away. Personally, I'd get a sheet of glass cut instead. This might never be a problem, but I've seen enough problems with silicone peeling off plexi to be concerned.

Looks like a great build. The stump is very nice, and I have a soft spot for the old 60 cube footprint, it was my first real reef tank.


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## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

ZookeeperDoug said:


> Whitney, I have a small concern about the plexi you used on the back of the tank. Generally silicone does not adhere well to plexi over time, and it may eventually peel away. Personally, I'd get a sheet of glass cut instead. This might never be a problem, but I've seen enough problems with silicone peeling off plexi to be concerned.
> 
> Looks like a great build. The stump is very nice, and I have a soft spot for the old 60 cube footprint, it was my first real reef tank.


Aw thanks!  
The guy I know that works at lowes has been working with glass for a number of years. He told me that glass breaks glass (I think he put it a better way than I can remember) basically since the cracked glass isn't an even surface, movement or pressure will just cause the glass adhered to it to break. So he suggested I use the thick plexi. I ran a bead of silicone all the way around the edges of it as well & smoothed it to help ensure the hold. If I have problems with it over time I'll just replace it. The tank is still sturdy, I'm not worried about it falling apart, just wanted to take every precaution since it will have to told an inch of water


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## Rx-Darts (Mar 15, 2013)

Great tank size imo, and this is going to be a great build! good luck!


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## rowdaddy (Apr 9, 2013)

Looking good! 

I am Rowdaddy. 
SC Aquaria

75 Community
20H Community
20L Convict "Bedroom" 
20L Growout
10gal RCS
1.5gal in progress
55 gal Paludarium/Vivarium coming soon


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## easternversant (Sep 4, 2012)

Whitneyd88 said:


> Thanks! I bought the stump from travisc on this thread Cypress Stumps
> You can find the walkthrough for the vents on that link I posted just before your post! All I needed was the dremel tool, the screen spline roller tool, and a flat head screwdriver! All the supplies were cheap too! except the noseeum mesh. I first tried to go through seattle fabrics, because thats the link Pumilo has in that thread. But the shipping is a lot. It would have been $15 shipping for 2 rolled yards. I know Pumilo says you wont find a suitable mesh in lowes but his post is a few years old and I did find noseeum mesh at lowes yesterday. Unfortunately the smallest amount it came in was 25 feet and it was $25, but would you rather pay $20 for 2 yards or $25 for 25 feet? Soooooo I dont think I'll EVER run out of this stuff! In fact if anyone needs any, I'd be willing to sell some of it.


For anyone monitoring (hopefully Ash is!) you can go to Walmart/a fabric store and look for a sheer fabric. That is what I got and it works great! Plus, it was a dollar. Although the lady selling it to me kept making pointed comments about how she did not want to know what I wanted it for. This wasn't helped when I only wanted one yard....

Edit: Nice stump!!


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## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

Mini update! I got the tree fern panels in yesterday! Can't wait to mount them this weekend! So glad today is my Friday


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## Elphaba (Aug 26, 2007)

easternversant said:


> For anyone monitoring (hopefully Ash is!) you can go to Walmart/a fabric store and look for a sheer fabric. That is what I got and it works great! Plus, it was a dollar. Although the lady selling it to me kept making pointed comments about how she did not want to know what I wanted it for. This wasn't helped when I only wanted one yard....
> 
> Edit: Nice stump!!


I laughed really hard at this.  I'd be worried about the sheer fabric eventually rotting -- what's it made of, do you know?

Can't wait to see the tank with the tree fern added!


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## kitcolebay (Apr 7, 2012)

Very nice Whitney! Great find/salvage of a good tank! As mentioned, nice canvas to work with and looking forward to watching it develop! Subscribed!

-Chris


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## easternversant (Sep 4, 2012)

Elphaba said:


> I laughed really hard at this.  I'd be worried about the sheer fabric eventually rotting -- what's it made of, do you know?
> 
> Can't wait to see the tank with the tree fern added!


No idea what it is made of. It is almost like thin gym shorts though. I'm not worried about it rotting...it will probably be around long after I'm gone.


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## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

easternversant said:


> No idea what it is made of. It is almost like thin gym shorts though. I'm not worried about it rotting...it will probably be around long after I'm gone.


Does it provide enough air flow? I would think in order to get proper air flow with it you'd have to have fans set up to pull the air through


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## easternversant (Sep 4, 2012)

Whitneyd88 said:


> Does it provide enough air flow? I would think in order to get proper air flow with it you'd have to have fans set up to pull the air through


I think it does a fairly good job. It has certainly reduced condensation in the tanks since I put them in. Here is a picture of the vent from above.


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## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

Made some progress today! 
Finished the false bottom








Added the hydroton & attached the tree fern panels!








And finished the lid except for drilling the holes for the misting nozzles 









Now I need to decide what to cover the overflow with... I was thinking maybe sheet moss with little sections of cork bark for attaching plants. But I'm not sure. Any ideas?


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## kinhawk (Nov 14, 2008)

Is Epiweb out of the question?


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

kinhawk said:


> Is Epiweb out of the question?


Ya epi web or hygrolon would be a good solution.
Folius

Another thing you could so is silicone broken pieces of cork around it and kinda make it look like a tree...or cut/carve and paint some foam and make it look like rock


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## scoy (Jan 22, 2013)

I thought peiple usually used either eggcrate or hydroball. Or are you adding then under your substrate so your plants roots get more air?


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## senditdonkey (Jan 19, 2013)

easternversant said:


> No idea what it is made of. It is almost like thin gym shorts.....


Panty hose?


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

You should install some holographic sound activated plasma lightning/thunder storm sound loop 

... And maybe a holo fairy cave 

(If you don't have any idea what I'm talking about check my recent threads)


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## easternversant (Sep 4, 2012)

senditdonkey said:


> Panty hose?


Hahahah no. I actually bought the fabric itself, which was thicker than pantyhose. I would never use pantyhose in my viv, mostly because as a dude I wouldn't like having to explain that I used pantyhose...


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## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

scoy said:


> I thought peiple usually used either eggcrate or hydroball. Or are you adding then under your substrate so your plants roots get more air?


I use both just for the extra drainage, and to keep the soil from clumping up on the mesh that I use ontop of the eggcrate. 

Thanks guys for the suggestion on the hygrolon! I'm looking into it! I think I may just go that route. I saw it before but didnt read too much about it, so I'm looking at it now. Thanks for the link!


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## rowdaddy (Apr 9, 2013)

Dendro Dave said:


> You should install some holographic sound activated plasma lightning/thunder storm sound loop
> 
> ... And maybe a holo fairy cave
> 
> (If you don't have any idea what I'm talking about check my recent threads)


You're all about done holographics. Lol

I am Rowdaddy. 
SC Aquaria


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

rowdaddy said:


> You're all about done holographics. Lol
> 
> I am Rowdaddy.
> SC Aquaria


LoL, ya...and other special vivarium FX. *I want my vivs to look pretty much natural during the day like most people *but I just don't see the point of having this dark gloomy glass box taking up space at night when at least for a short time without harm to the animals I can spice it up with a thunder/lightning storm, some fire fly lights...fiber optic stars, etc..etc... 

I'm really surprised that at least the firefly lights haven't caught on more...that is 15 bucks and an easy install that makes your viv magical at night...Unless everyone is doing it in secret 
*(Youtube link in sig if some of you have no idea what I'm talking about)*


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## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

Ok so I did some hunting through the board to try to find info on the best way to mount the hygrolon. 
I saw in this thread: Poly-Flo Filter Media for backgrounds
And frogparty says that Epi Web doesn't absorb water so I was thinking of taking his advise and getting that filter material he mentioned and mouting that to the back and putting the hygrolon on top of it. Is that how it works?
And then I just mount the plants to it? If I want moss to grow should I add moss mix underneath the hygrolon or on top of it? I'm thinking about orchids, but I haven't done much research on them yet either.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Whitneyd88 said:


> Ok so I did some hunting through the board to try to find info on the best way to mount the hygrolon.
> I saw in this thread: Poly-Flo Filter Media for backgrounds
> And frogparty says that Epi Web doesn't absorb water so I was thinking of taking his advise and getting that filter material he mentioned and mouting that to the back and putting the hygrolon on top of it. Is that how it works?
> And then I just mount the plants to it? If I want moss to grow should I add moss mix underneath the hygrolon or on top of it? I'm thinking about orchids, but I haven't done much research on them yet either.


If you need something like that you might try this...as I think it is either the same material or would work just as good. I use it for everything, making clean looking ventilation strips, fan filters, etc... It is a fine foam sponge that will absorb water about 1/8-1/4 inch thick (pretty thin) but coarse enough to allow air through easily and available at wal mart usually in a fairly good size sheet for like 2 bucks...online a bit more. I love this stuff though, so useful!!! Same material that some aquarium filters stuff is made out of.









Duck Brand 1285234 24-Inch by 15-Inch by 1/4-Inch Foam Air Conditioner Filter - Amazon.com

I have yet to use epi web, may try it in the upcoming fx viv but ya my understanding is it doesn't really absorb water like a sponge because the cell structure is to coarse...it mainly just allows water to run through and follow the cell/webbing structure to get a fairly equal distribution of water throughout the sheet. I'm sure it probably holds some water, and may even wick a little bit especially in a humid environment due to waters surface tension and "stickiness" but not like sponge.


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## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

with the hygrolon on top of something thin like that would it be thick enough for mounting?


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Whitneyd88 said:


> with the hygrolon on top of something thin like that would it be thick enough for mounting?


I haven't actually worked with it or hygrolon in that way, but what I'd Probably do is kinda sow with fishing line, or maybe just silicone the foam pad to the back of the hygrolon, with maybe some circles cut out of the foam in a few places where you can put silicone directly on the hygrolon and press it to the back glass as it will probably be better support structure and stick better...something like that


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## Whitneyd88 (Nov 12, 2011)

I know it's been forever but I just wanted to let you all know that I'm having to put a hold on this build for now for financial reasons. I'm trying to finish up school but hope to be able to resume this soon after the new year!


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Whitneyd88 said:


> I know it's been forever but I just wanted to let you all know that I'm having to put a hold on this build for now for financial reasons. I'm trying to finish up school but hope to be able to resume this soon after the new year!


Bummer...but I can relate


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## kitcolebay (Apr 7, 2012)

Whitneyd88 said:


> I know it's been forever but I just wanted to let you all know that I'm having to put a hold on this build for now for financial reasons. I'm trying to finish up school but hope to be able to resume this soon after the new year!


Good luck Whitney! I think most of us easily understand your situation. With my wife having surgery and being off work a couple months, then it definitely impacts any "hobby" money. I have my next viv in limbo in the garage as I type this.

Still subscribed and will be watching for progress to resume.

-Chris


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## DorisSlammington (Jan 12, 2014)

keep going when you can.


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## papa_mcknight (Feb 3, 2013)

Hope this build got back on track, had amazing potential. Would love to see an update


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## LarryLee (Jan 15, 2012)

Cool build

Sent from my LG-VS410PP using Tapatalk 2


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