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I left two spaces in the background for the mechanicals. On the far right is the uptake for the canister filter, behind the tall protrusion. Just to the left of center the outflow from the canister and the heater sit behind a wall that extends beyond the break in the background. So the...

Nice find! Will you try doing a background for this one?

Aww that's adorable! Thanks for the giggle.

Oooh that's really cool. I bet the fish love getting under those ledges! I agree this project was messy and time consuming and I too had a tough time waiting at certain stages. I said in a different post that I probably would have given up entirely at one point if I didn't have so much money...

Thanks KD! What kind of foam did you use? I don't know if a hair dryer would have affected mine too much. If I do it again I might try to find foam that is easier to work with. Mine was the big board used for insulation.

Thanks Wy! I bought 4 bulbs when I bought the live plants and they are growing like crazy. I think I'll try some more bulbs. I'm looking forward to having some lush growth in there. Andjak, I bought everything except the marine resin at Lowe's. I bought the marine resin directly from West...

I also created the foreground pieces at the same time with the same process so it would look uniform, and just siliconed them to the floor of the tank. I just have a few mollies in there at the moment but they seem to be really enjoying their new home. :)

Thanks! I'm really delighted with how it turned out. I followed the directions found at Faux Stone Aquarium Background at Ken's Aquariums & Pond The marine resin was a bit expensive but well worth it IMO. Carving the styrofoam was way more difficult than I anticipated. I broke several heat...

Added a few plants I added a few plants over the weekend which seem unaffected by my clumsy cycling efforts. :whistle:

Awww so cute!

I've only ever I kept one at a time. My new tank is a 55, probably too small for two, do you think? I would love to watch them interact if they don't really fight.

Oh they are just beautiful! Do they not fight? Do they each have their own home?

Thanks! I'm like a kid at Christmas right now. :D

It's been a long time coming but tonight I put in the substrate and filled it. (I let the background soak for a day with no substrate first. Ph = tap water Ph (8) after 24 hours. Ammonia 1 ppm.) Rena Filstar xp4 and Aquaclear 70 HOB both primed and started without a hitch. Heater heating...

And thank you so much for your kind words. This project has had me in tears on more than one occasion, but I'm a pretty stubborn cuss when I set my mind on something. If you have any planting suggestions I would love to have them. I haven't kept many live plants in the past so it's a whole be...

Not totally sure yet but tentatively planning dwarf gouramis, gold angels, rasbora het., cherry shrimp, one hammers cobalt lobster... I have a list somewhere ;D

That looks spiffy! I can hardly wait to see how fish will like mine. Here's a pic this morning. The ledge/cave in the foreground on the right is the future home of the black ghost knife I will get. That's my favorite FW fish by far and they like a cave. I'm going to put water in tonight.

I've coated my cement with marine resin. It's rather expensive but I believe it eliminates a lot of the long curing process required for uncoated cement. However I'm still in the build stage so I can't report my own findings. I should be filling the tank in a couple of days so I'll keep you...

Derp! Turned out I had the wrong kind of silicone. It had latex in it. :facepalm::banghead: So, I got the RIGHT kind and have glued it all back in. It's already in better shape than it was after the first gluing, so I'm not going to beat myself up [too much] [more]. Nothing but time, my pride...

BF says it couldn't cure because it wasn't getting any air circulation. He thinks I should just use a few dabs of liquid nails to secure the pieces into the tank, but I've read elsewhere that liquid nails is not fish safe. He says once it cures it should be fish safe. He's a PhD chemist and...

I made the background using the foam board - cement (3 layers) - marine resin method. I put the pieces in the water by themselves to see if they were causing it and they were not. It was definitely the silicone. I broke down and worked the pieces off. The places where the silicone was still...

Hm, this is odd. I am hitting it with a hair dryer and it smells rather like the kind of paste we used in kindergarten.

Yeah, I figured a week was plenty of time. But I can't imagine what else could be white - the background is black, coated with marine resin, and I did not put substrate in yet.

Well, my impatience got the best of me, and unable to wait any longer I put water in the tank. About 4" worth of water and a white cloud started billowing out from behind the custom background. I filled it all the way full and the water was totally cloudy. Sigh. BF says it was the silicone. I'm...

I love the plants. I think the harmony between the dark/ light contrast and the green looks great! I've got a couple different bubblers, still making up my mind where to place them.