BIG TIME Build log!

[raymondsmindjob]

So I finially get a vacation from work, and I am ready to build my big paludarium in a 65 gallon High aquarium. I have all the materials gathered and I will be posting updates all week as my creation takes shape.

I want to build it to look similar to a Japanese Water Garden, with a cliffside look as well. Anyway I post a few pictures shortly after I get everything organized to show the materials I will be using.

Wish me luck!

[raymondsmindjob]

Here are a few pictures:

Pic 1 is the empty tank, it still has the old background on it


Pic 2 is a picture of the eggcrate and foam sheets I will be using


Pic 4 contains several various items I may or may not be using; reptofilter (the big one),3 waterpumps with various tubing, filter floss, activated carbon, a zoo med forest background tile and piece of corkbark, some driftwood and grapewood, some bamboo sticks, some of those green foam plant bricks, a few pipe elbows, pvc pipe, nylon screen, a box that has an air pump with air stones and air line adapters, and some river rocks from the hobby store


Pic 3 is more art supplies and tools: a hobby knife, caulk gun, silione (clear and brown), cans of great stuff, a box full of paint brushes and various colors of acrylic paint, a painters sponge, some X-clear which is a non-toxic acrylic sealant, some drylok paint, a bag of calcium sand, and a jar of painters pumice. The same and the pumice are to add texture to the drylok and other paints to make my surfaces look more like real stone.


I also have tons of other stuff that I may or may nt be using so I will not be showing it here.
For substrate I have some eco-earth and some jungke bedding. Also some Flourite and aquarium gravel

[raymondsmindjob]

Been busy doing lots of stuff so far this vacation (mostly taking care of the kids and family activities), but I have managed to sneak away late at night to get a few things done for my tank.

Attached are the photos of the false bottom pieces and materials I used.

I covered the visible side of the false bottom with great stuff, leaving about a 1 inch gap at the bottom to allow water flow from underneath the false bottom. I also built a ramp for each piece of egg crate and covered it with great stuff as well to allow water and land access. Lastly, I made 2 big pieces on the bottom of each side that I cut level with the fatmax saw so I could later silicone the false bottom to the tank bottom to keep it from floating or shifting around.

[raymondsmindjob]

one last false bottom photo

[raymondsmindjob]

ANd here is a picture of the beginning of my background and some of the tools I have been using to make backgrounds. Hobby knife, t-square, sharpie

My plan is to make the background all in one piece, then cut it to palce it inside the tank after I paint it. In the photo you will see the beginning of the background piece which I have taped together while the silicone sets up.

[raymondsmindjob]

Also for fun and function, I made a sort of dragons head that will be incorperated somewhere in the water feature.
I made it using air dry clay shaping it around a PVC elbow so the water would come out of it evenly.

[LucidRant]

I'm excited to see this project finished! I too wanted to create a water garden theme. How is the project going?

[raymondsmindjob]

Of course, I ran into some modifications I had 2 make during construction of the background and water feature (as always), and I had to do away the left side of the false bottom and extend the right side with an extra piece. I did this because with both false bottom pieces in the tank I didn't feel comfortable that there was enough room for the detailed water feature I wanted to make

So anyway... after these modifications I moved on and made the background, which I will unfortunately have to cut into 3 sections before painting it because my tank as a divider bar.

Here are a few pictures of the materials I used to make the background, as well as a picture of the whole background (and junk in my work area) and then a picture of my future water feature.

To keep my water garden theme I made 2 spots on the background that will hold aquarium ornaments. One is for a asian temple with golden dog statues and one is for a tiny Buddha figurine. More on those items later.

[raymondsmindjob]

After carving the background a little and applying finishing touches with the great stuff, I moved on to some painting.

To paint I use a mix of drylok and non-toxic sealant, then add concrete color or acrylic paint for color. I also use painters pumice and reptile sand in my paint mixes to add texture.

So far I only have a little painting done, but you will see a photo here of 2 faux brick wall pieces I made to conseal the false bottom, the brick looking sides will be facing the outside of the tank.

Making these is really simple, I just cut some foam sheets, carved the outline of the bricks into the foam, then painted the cracks with black paint mix and the bricks with a colored mix paint. Then to texture the bricks, I mixed some black and brick color and used a small brush to apply random color patterns, then went over it with a dryer brush to blend it together.

There is also a picture of the materials I use to paint my projects.

[raymondsmindjob]

On yea, and in the one photo you can barely see my dragons head, which I actually submerged in sealant and let it dry, then painted it black for a base coat.