DIY 3D Angkor Wat Backdrop / Background

[webmoose]

the concepts are awsome... I really like the face on the wall.. very very cool

[Sulla]

Thanks again for all the great feed back

Didnt get time to do much today exept to finish "remodeling" the aquarium stand and getting it painted. The stand is semigloss black so the aquarium will stand out more. I also plan on painting part of the each end of the tank to cover up where the background is attached and also the wood colored molding of the tank. I will try and get some pics up soon.

[malkore]

I'm so very impressed with this idea, and can't wait to see more!

[BillyZ]

Great progress! Are you using just a hot wire for the carving? Have you found that's the best/easiest tool for working with styrafoam? I'd imagine it keeps all the little foam balls to a minimum )

I like how you have the filter inlets laid out, very well thought through. Do you plan on putting any mesh screening on the holes to keep fish/stuff from getting into the intake?

[swanandmokashi]

this is simply awesome !

[DonnieP]

Sulla
Have you given any thought to adding a corner overflow box to the setup? I incorporated the overflow because being a saltwater reef keeper for about 30 years I know the importance of filtering off the surface layer of water.. With the overflow in place, the surface water is kept crystal clear and clean of any organics, hence perfect oxygen water contact for better oxygination.. I tried the canister filters but nothing even comes close to the overflow.. In my setup, the water runs over the corner overflow and down over 2.5 gallons of bioballs to a 20 gallon sump below the tank. the water is filtered in the sump via a Penquin 330 duo bio wheel and passed over activated carbo and returned via a rio 2500 pump.. This setup has really worked great for me and was well worth the initial cost of setup..The corner filter box is hidden by a thin section of styro-rock..

Here is the overflow from above

[DonnieP]

Try this!

[Sulla]

BillyZ I am only using the Hotwire set to carve and then a heat gun for some light smoothing. Your right this really does keep the snow down

I dont think I will put any mesh on but I might silicone another grate of the same size onto the back facing the oposite way so I can put a round sponge insert into it to keep out baby fish if I ever have fish that do any breading.

Donnie I think for filtration I am going with a Proquatics 2400 Canister/BioWheel Pro 60 (I have these) and an Eheimm 2229 Wet/Dry Canister with an Eheim surface extractor. I think this should be more than enough for the 70 -90 gallons the tank will end up running. But I would be glad to get any feedback I can as I am much better at the carving than the fish part

Also does any one have any suggestion about water movement. I can add places to put powerheads behind the background to get water moving some. Any thoughts on this?



Surface Extractor
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewIt...product=EH3535

Eheim 2229
http://www.epinions.com/content_32014438020

[BillyZ]

are you planning a [acronym:963c31152c="Freshwater"]FW[/acronym:963c31152c] or [acronym:963c31152c="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:963c31152c] setup with this? That will make most of the difference in what kind of water movement you want.

In general, I would say do like you did for the filter intakes, at not so visible spots, leave a space you can plumb a piece of tubing for a jet of water. What kind of substrate will you have?

[sumphead]

I am very curious about this with saltwater applications. This combined with some handy acrylic works makes the little light bulb above my head go halide! Donnie, how hard is this when covered with the concrete? Any curing issues causing [acronym:03507a65e2="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:03507a65e2] spikes from the concrete? Also how thin are you mixing the concrete?

R-