And so I am ready to begin. it's time to jump in and DO IT! I am a very patient person and plan to do this once, the right way, so let me thank you in advance for your help along the way.
This is a Perfecto 44gal hex that I picked up on clearance from one of my suppliers. I would normally use only Oceanic tanks but I'm use to my saltwater hobby... I'd hate to ruin an Oceanic.
I originally wanted to do a 90gal corner bow.. but man they are expensive.
I got this tank and stand brand new right off the Marineland Semi truck for $84 plus my $12 delivery fee. Managing a pet retail store is the only thing that makes these hobbies of mine affordable!
The Start of something great... The False Bottom will measure 3" from the floor, 1" from the water table, and cover the entire bottom except for the water that will be in the front. I don't want any of the fb, foam or underneath visible so all 3 panes of the front will show only my water feature. (That's my helper in the background)
Here you can see the panel that will give me a compartment in the back that will allow me access to my heater, pump and other equipment behind the scenes. It is going to be sealed in with the GS foam and will touch the glass top preventing any critters from finding their way in.
The red square shows where I am going to mount my circulation fan. I want to re-circulate the air in the tank, not circulate"fresh" air from outside. The pink square shows the outlet for the water feature. I am using head pressure to regulate the right amount of flow instead of a valve.. if this fails to work I can always add a bigger pump. I may also put a fogger in here somewhere. You can also see that the backpiece fits perfect to the lip the glass top sits on preventing critters from finding their way back there. (I got lucky on this one) The glass top will be custom made and open 3 different ways.
I am going to screen up the eggcrate and cut my pvc legs tonight. I plan on doing the foam on friday...
couple questions:
1. is it necessary to run silicone over the entire area of glass that the GS will be applied to if i won't see that side of the glass anyway? and if so do I apply the GS while the silicone is still wet?
2. is a fogger deadly to the animal only if they touch that stream on top, or does it affect the water in some way?
3.
I am thinking of layering these plastic plant pots(cut to fit) largest on bottom leading to smallest on top, up the back wall to make layers of plants ascending the waterfall. any thoughts on that???