I got bored, decided to gut my 65 low-tech and start over from scratch. About time I tried to apply the last 5 years' worth of learning and experience. It has been a *slow* build. Started ordering rocks back in May, and I just now got what I need to do what I want to do. Now that I know how they'll all fit together, I'm working on some creative plumbing with PVC to provide hidden filter intakes and returns, along with some tunnels for plecos. Here's the rock work so far. In the future, I'll be adding some MarsAqua LED black boxes and CO2. I'll try to post updates as I go.
Remodel of a low-tech 65 to a High-Tech Nature Aquarium
- Thread starter DTWGulo
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Dallascowboys16
Aquarium Advice Addict
Nice looking hardscape. Any plans to epoxy it all together or anything?
Definitely. I've got epoxy, silicone, and some aluminum rod that I'm going to use to connect and brace the pieces. They were pretty stable in that configuration, and I'm sure if I piled substrate under them and filled the interior of the 'mountains' it would have been secure... but I'm hoping to sneak PVC in there for creative water flow via filter and CO2 returns, as well as places for the plecos and so on to hide. All of the nifty tubes/edges and stuff on the dragon stone make it fairly easy to lock the stones together. Between that and the adhesives, it should be pretty solid. My big goal was to avoid having 8-10" of substrate in a big anaerobic pile in the middle of the tank. I'm using lava rock to fill up the middle of the left side. The big PVC pipe and the shape of the rocks on the right has filled the inside space pretty tightly already. I'll probably just fill that with substrate after gluing the mountain together.
Gotta love holidays. Quite a bit of work done on the tank.
Redid the rock work. Didn't turn out quite as well as the first time for reasons I can't quite figure out. I laid out all the pieces in order as I took them down, but stuff just didn't go together the way it did before. Still looks alright.
Used epoxy putty, silicone, and also drilled holes in the rocks so I could slide in small bits of aluminum rod. The hardscape is really pretty secure at this point.
Under the left mountain, I have some PVC pipe that should allow me to put my filter return into it, so that the water will get shunted to the left bottom front of the tank. The filter intake is at the middle-right and/or right back corner. I coated the pipe with silicone and then dipped it in sand to disguise it as part of the substrate. That worked pretty well but was a huge mess.
Now the big decision before I start on the plumbing is whether or not I'm going to have wood be part of the hardscape. Without it, the scale is more "mountains." With the wood, it's a lot more "submerged roots and rocks." Will have to sit on it for a while and see what I like better.
Redid the rock work. Didn't turn out quite as well as the first time for reasons I can't quite figure out. I laid out all the pieces in order as I took them down, but stuff just didn't go together the way it did before. Still looks alright.
Used epoxy putty, silicone, and also drilled holes in the rocks so I could slide in small bits of aluminum rod. The hardscape is really pretty secure at this point.
Under the left mountain, I have some PVC pipe that should allow me to put my filter return into it, so that the water will get shunted to the left bottom front of the tank. The filter intake is at the middle-right and/or right back corner. I coated the pipe with silicone and then dipped it in sand to disguise it as part of the substrate. That worked pretty well but was a huge mess.
Now the big decision before I start on the plumbing is whether or not I'm going to have wood be part of the hardscape. Without it, the scale is more "mountains." With the wood, it's a lot more "submerged roots and rocks." Will have to sit on it for a while and see what I like better.
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fishenthusiast
Aquarium Advice Addict
Personally I like it better with the driftwood, but I think you can make a nice scape with just the rocks. Any idea on what plants you’ll be adding?
Looking good! Nice touch with the root effect.
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