Shallow Mangrove Reef AIO vs. Sump

T

Texco

Goby
#22
#22
Ordered the tank, starfire 48.5"x24.5"x13" and it will arrive in a couple of weeks. I also started the stand, using blue insulation foam I cut out each piece to form naturalistic rock towers that will be used to mimic sandstone/limestone pillars. It will almost seem like the tank is just sitting on top of the millions of years of coral below it. This technique is commonly used in vivarium backgrounds, I just scaled it up. The pictures are bad, but it will be covered in grout where the rockwork is and sealed then painted for the rock color highlights. The flat white panels which are part of the fake doors will be covered in silver leaf.

This is just the 'bulk' of the foam rockwork, now I will remove pieces with a hot wire to get more relief and deepen the shapes so they will still show well after a few layers of grout. I also will be adding a top deck around the back against the wall, this will serve to encapsulate the aquarium in a mountainous looking bowl and serve as a cool background when looking through the glass. I will be placing crushed fire glass between the aquarium and the border on the top of the stand.

 
neil82

neil82

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#23
#23
The stand sounds way cool. The whole setup is a really unique concept. Keep the pictures coming! Silly question- does the stand have a wood or metal frame under the foam?
 
T

Texco

Goby
#24
#24
neil82;n660624 said:
The stand sounds way cool. The whole setup is a really unique concept. Keep the pictures coming! Silly question- does the stand have a wood or metal frame under the foam?
Click to expand...
I just built a normal 2x4 stand to my dimensions, but the top of it i made an irregular shape. Then I just added the foam to the stand as if it were a vivarium wall. I am almost done with all the foam and will post some pictures before I grout and when the trap doors are cut out for the sump.
 
T

Texco

Goby
#25
#25
Cut the side cabinets out today, one shelf will be for my supplements, and the other will be for kessil controller, mp10 controller, digital thermometer etc. The shelves are held on with really strong magnets. When I do the grout over the foam the cut lines will disappear more, and the shelves will be almost completely hidden but with very quick and easy access, each having its own separate cover.
 
T

Texco

Goby
#26
#26
Layer one of grout almsot done.... Grout layer 2 and 3 will fully blend the foam lines, but some I will leave to give the impression of different layers of sand stone.
 
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