Brhino's 300g megatank

[CrazedMichael]

Hmm, and some say money can't buy happiness! Thats a long wait!

Time to buy some scratchcards!

Meanwhile you could play around with making a DIY background using styrofoam, quickrete etc. Just to see if you can do it. After all, you got pletny of time to kill so might as well!

[Asherbonnie]

Really looking forward to seeing this tank when it's all done and dusted :-)

[Hardy85]

Have you ordered the background... I am going through withdraws here...

[Brhino]

no, I haven't. I haven't done much of anything on the tank... been dealing with other minor financial setbacks. I do have the money now though, but I haven't been able to get in touch with the company via email. May have to break down and actually call them.

[Brhino]

Finally an update to report! I've managed to save up a bit of money at last to continue.


Picked up this used 75 gallon tank on craigslist plus its black iron stand (useless to me for now, but doesn't hurt to have) for $85. It's a bit dirty but seems to be in good shape overall. I now have a sump!

I also just placed the order for the 3D background. It was... expensive. Hopefully it looks as nice as the small one on my betta tank does. I won't be installing it any time soon because I will have to wait until after the plumbing is designed and fit-checked, but I'll at least roll it out and take some pictures when I get it.

Haven't had time to address the levelness issue with the stand, but I hope to get some time and some help to work on it this weekend.

The last expensive thing I need to get to bring the tank up to basic readiness is the pump. I will probably have to wait until June for that. I'm hoping I can get fish in the tank by August, the 1-year anniversary of me getting the tank. We'll see.

[ScottishFish]

Glad to hear that you are making some progress!

[Brhino]

My background arrived today!


It came in a remarkably small box. Obviously getting it into the tank through the limited openings is not going to be a problem.


Inside, the background was tightly rolled up and held with shrink wrap. You can see how flexible the stuff is, which bodes well for my ability to bend it around the overflow box.


Problem: It's a bit too tall. This may be partially my fault - I told them I wanted a 30" background because it's a 30" tank, but maybe that's the exterior height rather than the interior one (which would be a full inch shorter since it's half inch acrylic). I didn't think it was but I'll have to check. In any case, I'll have to trim it down some. When I did this with the background I put in the betta tank I used a pocket knife which didn't work very well at all, but in this case I think a jigsaw should work pretty well. May have to be a bit creative coming up with a way to cut an even amount across the entire edge - not that it's too critical, because I can just put the rough side down where it will go beneath the substrate.


Given that the background is too tall it wasn't going to fit deployed very well, but I was determined to sort of just jam it in there anyhow for a picture. This is the result. I think it's going to look pretty nice when it's installed.

___

In other news, my attempt to level the tank stand with shims and an extra sheet of plywood ended in failure. There's just too much area to cover that way. it might work with a glass tank where only the perimeter needs to be touching, but not with an acrylic tank where you need coverage over the entire bottom. My next attempt is going to be to use self-levelling epoxy to create a smooth, flat surface above the wood. If that doesn't work I'm just going to have to rip the entire top of the stand off and level it better.

[mizzoutank]

That Background looks amazing!

Do you have lights for the tank to throw on for a sneak preview?

If I had a tank that big, that is the background i'd get too. very cool and superb choice

[Brhino]

for the time being lighting will be provided by a pair of shop lights suspending from the ceiling. You can see them in this older picture:



I can't exactly just throw the tank up there unfortunately, so properly lit photos of background in tank will have to wait.

[Sandz]

Woohoo! Progress! That background is going to look amazing.