# 29 gal construction journal.



## Guest (Apr 3, 2006)

Jeez, what a mess :shock: . This isnt even all of the stuff! This seems like its gonna be a big project.










Here I outlined where the false bottome will be and where the stream/pond will be.









Its way too frustrating making the false bottom without PVC supports because you dont know how tall to cut the sides. Looks like i'll go get a PVC cutter tomorrow and see if I can build the false bottom. Might be a bit of a stretch to get it completly done. :?


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## Guest (Apr 3, 2006)

they make a pvc cutter? I have been using a hack saw for the past year  lol


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## Guest (Apr 3, 2006)

yeah they make a "ratcheting PVC cutter" which is very similar to a pair of scissors. Im actually using it right now. If you go to home depot you can find them in the pumbing section near the PVC. I'll post a pic for you later tonight along with the viv progress


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## Guest (Apr 4, 2006)

Heres the aforementioned PVC cutter in case any one is interested








This thing really slices nice clean cuts through PVC rather quickly








Here I pushed down every spot of the false bottom to see if I should rearrange or add more PVC supports.








Heres the egg crate false bottom. The "retaining walls" will probably be replaced by great stuff walls due to the suggestion of "RGB". I just dont want substrate falling into my pond









You can also start to visualize how a waterfall on the right will turn into a stream and then into a pond










While planning ahead I had some questions about covering the egg crate with mesh. Should I attach #7 craft mesh to the eggcrate w/ zip ties and then attach fiberglass screen w/ zipties over it? Do you cover individual sides of eggcrate with screen and then glue them together, or glue the eggcrate sheets together and cover the whole mess with screen? Is a hot glue gun safe to use to attach teh eggcrate?

Basically I just need someone to hold my hand through the rest of the false bottome process


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Hot glue is safe. 

Everyone has a different method of doing the mesh. I just lay fiberglass screen over the egg crate then add dirt. My logic is there's no point in attaching it to the egg crate, it's not going anywhere. This is for the flat parts.

For the walls, I'd take the window screen and hot glue it one first, then attach the #7 mesh on top of that. The reason for that order, and though it's probably not at all important, is that if you think of the screen and the mesh as filters, the mesh will filter big stuff and the screen will filter small stuff. So mesh touches the dirt, screen touches the egg crate. If you reverse the order, there's really no point in having the mesh at all because what can go through the screen can certianly go through the mesh. I hope that made sence. 

Do you plan to silicone the front where your egg crate touches the glass? 

How much were thouse PVC cutters? I really really need to get some. I hate using a saw to cut PVC, it's so messy and leaves a crappy cut.


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## Guest (Apr 4, 2006)

defaced said:


> Do you plan to silicone the front where your egg crate touches the glass?
> 
> How much were thouse PVC cutters? I really really need to get some. I hate using a saw to cut PVC, it's so messy and leaves a crappy cut.


Is there any particular reason that I would want to silicone the egg crate to the glass? I was just planning on putting silicone on the front glass to hide the false bottom.

The PVC cutter was ten dollars. Not too expensive and it works surprisingly well.

Anyone else have a different method for doing the mesh? ( I hope that no one is offended by my asking for more suggestions. It sounds like you really know your stuff, but I just like to get multiple opinions and then use whatever option seems best to me)

Oh and Im still a little bit confused about the mesh thing. Do I attatch mesh to the top and walls separately, and then glue them together? Do most people use zip ties or glue to attach the walls of the eggcrate to the top of the eggcrate?


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## Guest (Apr 4, 2006)

NOOOOO, my week was just ruined  . I recieved an email confirmation that my minijet pump will arrive on 4/10. The problem is that I am leaving 4/9 to go visit colleges over my spring break. I do not know what thickness tubing I need either, so I can't even start my GS background until 4/16 when I get back and know what thickness tubing to run through the GS. I can guarantee that over my trip my mind will be completely focused on my viv and not concentrating on possible future colleges :evil: 

GRRRR.... I guess I'll just have to keep my self busy perfecting the false bottom during this week.


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## Guest (Apr 4, 2006)

alexk3954 said:


> Is there any particular reason that I would want to silicone the egg crate to the glass? I was just planning on putting silicone on the front glass to hide the false bottom.


You will want to silicone the bottom of the walls to the bottom of the tank, keep the wall from being pushed under the false bottom. It's also not a bad Idea to hit a few spots wherever it makes contact with the glass, just to keep things from shifting.




alexk3954 said:


> Oh and Im still a little bit confused about the mesh thing. Do I attatch mesh to the top and walls separately, and then glue them together? Do most people use zip ties or glue to attach the walls of the eggcrate to the top of the eggcrate?


Here's a construction journal I did that might help clear things up. I hope you have a high speed connection :wink: It always helps me to see how things are done. I use a combination of zip ties, great stuff, and silicone.

http://dartden.com/viewtopic.php?t=910



alexk3954 said:


> I do not know what thickness tubing I need either, so I can't even start my GS background until 4/16 when I get back and know what thickness tubing to run through the GS.



All the pumps I use (one being a mini jet 404) use 1/2 I/D tubbing. So no more excuses now, Get Busy!!! :lol:


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## Guest (Apr 5, 2006)

I finished covering the eggcrate w/ fiberglass screen and #7 craft mesh yesterday, but it was too late to post any pictures. I am planning on attaching all of the pieces witht eh silicone today but was not sure if I bought hte right stuff. Where would it say if the silicone has the bioseal or not?


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## Guest (Apr 5, 2006)

There's a blue, green, and white logo on the front that says Bio-Seal. It's pretty obvious. If you didn't see it when you bought it, then it's the regular kind....unless you need vision correction. :roll: 

Here's a pic of the kind w/o bioseal from Darks!de's gallery...









Good luck w/everything


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## Guest (Apr 5, 2006)

I basically just wrapped the eggcrate with mesh and secured it with zip ties. I then attached the #7 craft mesh with zip ties as well.

















This is the egg crate covered with mesh (obviously!)








Am I correct in assuming that this is the silicone without the bioseal?


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## Guest (Apr 5, 2006)

Well, I cant make any progress on my background w/o some wood, and I am now in debt due to the stupidity of petsmart(my manager). Listen to this story:

About 2 months ago, the paychecks came in (friday) and I went to pick mine up on saturday. For some unknown reason, my practically retarted manager decides to mail mine out to my house, and mine is the ONLY check not there. I tell my manager that my check is not there and he sends out a form for another paycheck ( guess he forgot in 1 day that he sent mine to my house). I get home that day and find the paycheck at my house. I tell petsmart and they tell me to wait until the replacement check comes in. It was two months with no paycheck coming in so I went in to complain and they told me to go ahead and deposit the check that was mailed to my house. I deposit i and my online account statement says i have 232 dollars. I spent about 200 on vivarium supplies and a few days later, the check somehow gets withdrawn and I have negative 40 dollars in my account. Then the bank slams me with an insufficient funds fee of 60 dollars. So to wrap it all up, petsmart has failed to get me a paycheck in 2 months and got me a 60 dollar fee. Must say its a crappy company and I would certainly not waste any of my money there. :evil: :evil: :evil: 


So with that out of the way, I guess you can count on the fact that I wont be finishing this viv soon. In debt=no driftwood=no background


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## Guest (Apr 6, 2006)

This should put an end to your doubts about silicone.

The "Bad" type is on the right.









That's too bad about the money thing.


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## Guest (Apr 6, 2006)

thanks for the picture of the bioseal! Could I attach the false bottom to the glass bottom with silicone and GS and not worry about it falling off when I turn the tank sideways in a few weeks to do the background.


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## Guest (Apr 6, 2006)

When it fully cures in a few days, it will hold just fine.


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## Guest (Apr 6, 2006)

I forgot to add a trap door for access to the pump and had to cut up my nicely wrapped egg crate. I guess you should really have a solid plan when building a viv.









Now all of the walls of eggcrate and the river are zip tied together. Now just for some more support do you think that I should glue together the joints with silicone, GS, or a little of both? And how about for glueing the walls to the glass bottom? And what would work best for attaching the pvc to the glass?











My dad isnt here right now and I dont know where the caulk (is that what is used for silicone application) is and I wouldnt know how to use it even if I could find it so looks like the glueing will have to wait until tomorow


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

I used to work for Petsmart, I feel ya.


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## Guest (Apr 6, 2006)

Frogtofall said:


> I used to work for Petsmart, I feel ya.


I was actually very surprised at the incompetence of the managers. It seems like they are always doing things wrong, scheduling people on days they CANNOT work,.... the list goes on. Hopefully I can find a better job soon... Im actually really into aquariums and the owner of a "mom and pop" fish store offered me a job there. I'll probably take the offer over the summer, but its just a little too far away for an after school job.

But enough about that, .... How should I really make my eggcrate secure?


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## Iheartdarts (Mar 3, 2005)

I'm certainly no expert....but if you've got the PVC spacers underneath and everything is in place it should be secure enough for you.

-DT


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## Tadpole4 (Mar 16, 2006)

About the paycheck screw up. Get a letter from your manager and corporate person you spoke to who told you to go ahead and deposit the onethat was mailed to you explaining the mix up and take it to the bank and show it to a manager. they should be willing to reverse the overdraft charges because it was your employers fault. Take you dad along for back up if you need it. But remember to get a manager, the regular folks working at the desks don't have the authority to change anything and will only tell you that nothing can be done for you, standard proceedure yada yada yada. But the manager CAN do something. 
You can even try to get your employer to pay the bank fees since it was their (expletive deleted) mix up. At the very least they should write that letter of explanation for you.

Back on topic, nice viv so far! I saw a construction once similar to yours when I was searching for ideas. He used the eggcrate to terrace the viv and create several layers.
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/vivarium/vivarium.html

I really loved how this one was done and I thought it might give you some more ideas. Good luck with the construction keep those posts comming. I think I enjoy the construction phase best, its more interactive on the boards. Not to mention that I am super nosey and love seeing what other people are doing.


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## Guest (Apr 17, 2006)

Im finally back from my trip and am currently making a great stuff wall to keep the substrate from spilling into my pond. I think tommorow ill go to the fish store to buy some stones for the pond and river, and some driftwood for the background. Ill post some pictures tomorow.

Oh and completely off subject, I spent a day at my uncles house and was amazed at his reef aquarium. He really explained a lot of stuff to me and it looks like now Ill be setting up a 29 gal reef. Ill make sure to post some pictures when im done.


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## Guest (Apr 17, 2006)

I had a reef. Ehhh. 29 gallon might be a little small. Wont be as stable as a larger tank. Reefs are a very.... expensive... hobby.


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## Guest (Apr 17, 2006)

i have had a lot of experience with aquariums and my uncle has a similar sized reef. It really doesnt seem that hard as long as you take it slowly and dont rush anything. And also my uncle is only a phone call away if I run into any problems.


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## lowdown (Apr 16, 2006)

You can expect to drop at least $1200 in initial setup/construction of a reef. That is at the low end.


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## Guest (Apr 17, 2006)

No matter who helps you you could run into problems with a reef. I knew the guy that owns Tropicorium. They are a very large coral and live rock supplier. 

Once you get a nitrate spike, or green slime algae, you are basically screwed. There is not much recovery. With a large tank the chances are lower, but once you get a single disease you could loose thousands of dollars in corals, live rock, fish, and substrate. 

Beware who you get your corals from. That is actually how I got the green slime. My uncle gave me some birds nest and a little piece of brain coral, and something had some slime algae on it and whipped out everything.

One more tip, if you are sick, don’t go near the tank. Lol. My dad stuck his hand in the tank after he sneezed and all the fish died. That was before we got a reef, we just had marine fish.


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

armyofanubis said:


> One more tip, if you are sick, don’t go near the tank. Lol. My dad stuck his hand in the tank after he sneezed and all the fish died. That was before we got a reef, we just had marine fish.


I don't believe reef inverts and fish share the same diseases with humans. I would say though, that your father may have had some chemicals on his hands (soap or purel hand sanitizer etc.) that may have got in the tank and killed your fish.


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## Guest (Apr 17, 2006)

[Shrugs] I dunno why, but he sneezed on his hands, then put his hand in there for some reason, and a week later everything was dead. He was real mad about it. It was kinda funny.


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## Guest (Apr 17, 2006)

I just threw away 75 dollars today :evil: . I bouht a 37 gal. with the same footprint as the 29 and I opened my trunk when I came home and there was a big crack. I dont understand how because I drove so slow that someone actually honked around one turn. Oh well.... life goes on, but it sure does seem like a lot of bad stuff has happened recently :? . But I have another 37 on its way to the fish store already.

On a lighter note, I bought some driftwood and am ready to do my background. So I should have some pictures tonight.


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Alex, take the tank back. If the manager of the store is cool, they might let you swap it out b/c they can write it off as a "damaged" item.

Give it a try, I know the guys at my Petsmart did.


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## Guest (Apr 18, 2006)

finally some more pictures:

here I just put tape a little bit above where I want the silicone to go. By not extending the silicone all the way to the tape, the edge of the silicone will be more wavy and natural instead of just a straight line.









I put the light on to make sure that there were no thin spots that let light through and end up looking bad.









Here I started making a wall of great stuff to make sure that my substrate does not spill over into my pond.









Now I finally got my wood and started my backgroundI used pvc cuttings as future pots in the wall because I couldnt find any film canisters.










Make sure you use gloves with the great stuff. I didnt and now it looks like I'm some freak with flesh eating bacteria or something growing all over my hands, and I cant seem to wash it off... :?


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## Guest (Apr 18, 2006)

S.O.S. pads work good, and the skin will grow back in about a week :lol:


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

I use a bottle of Goof Off. Put it on a towel and wipe your hands in it. It comes right off. That or Acetone.


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## Guest (Apr 19, 2006)

now it actually looks like I have made some progress. the tank is upright and the coco bedding is on the back wall.









Here I made a ramp out of stones so that the frogs can get in and out of the pond









Here is a shot of the river









This is a platform that I made in the top right corner because I heard that leucs like to spend the night as high as possible. The little hole is a pot and hopefully I will be able to grow some sort of plant that will hang over the ledge and down to the river.










I ran out of silicone, so I will have to actually glue all of the stones in place tomorow (wow, I've gone through 6 tubes already!). Im also picking up my 37 aquarium for the future reef, so I can also pick up some RO water to test out the water feature.


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## viv4life (Dec 29, 2008)

all of the ge has bio-seal in it but they are showing it on the bottle now for marketing reasons so that tube contains the bio-seal but if you let it cure for about 1-2 weeks it should be fine


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## NickBoudin (Nov 3, 2007)

Those big river rocks are sweet. I assumed you'd use the normal small aquarium gravel. Great call with the bigger ones! This tank looks like it's comming along great. Keep up the good work, and keep us posted!


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## gretchenellie (Aug 7, 2007)

this threads like almost three years old, what are the chances that "guest" will post back with his/her progress? 

even though i would also like to see the final product...


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## iridebmx (Oct 29, 2008)

yeah lets just keep our fingers crossed after three years the"guest" is now a member!....lol


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