# Guess who's back..... Henry goes steampunk...



## zozo

First who the hell is Henry?? 

This is Henry




Still a little Fancy goldfish and he's Black.. And he stands in a little 25 litre tank on a old vintage chabbychick coffee table.



Now, Henry is steadily growing the owners feel kinda sorry for him and decided Henry needs more space.. But still would like him to stay on the coffee table.. They want a tank on it in about the same length of the table 135cmx35cmx25cm. And the tank needs to fit the over all apartments enterior.. So after looking around, sucking up the interior details and all is Hipster, Vintage, Chabbychick kinda steampunk fashion. Now that's going to be a nice challange!  Right up my aley. The table is rock solid but made out of an old vintage pickup trucks wooden loading platform.. There is no darn mm of straight surface to find..  How do we get a straight tank in this dimensions on there without making it a complete out of fashion straight glass box.

Thinking back to my latest Garden tank experiment which proofed to be very solid and safe construction concept.

long story short, cut the crap, Henry is Fancy, Henry needs a fancy tank in a fancy livingroom.

And pics say more than a 1000 words. Anyway Henry goes victorian style steampunk and out of the box..

Right now i'm still in the process of gathering and preparing materials.. But the blue print is there and it's a work in progress. No turning back..




Bottom panel is going to be 22mm Multiplex, the glass is going to be integrated into the wood. To wood is going to be all around Epoxy coated.. It getting an antique Maroon brown transparant coating.





The net glass dimension gets 123x31,5x21cm, so roughly we wont have more than 90 kilo to support. 21 cm hieght results in 4mm glass beeing strong enough.

To get a flat surface on a crooked surface there is only one way, using a set of adjustable feet dividing the weight.




Metric T nuts and bolds.. 6 total will result in less than 20 kilo strain per bold. Still needs to get a counter nut later on of course.




To make it fancy, each corner gets a old style brass loin paw.. As you can see, the slid the glass is goin to be situated in has a cross section at each corner.



When the glass is in, there still will be 2 x 10 mm slid left open.. Slids are 5x5mm so to mask that and keep it in the same fashion, a little 10mm piece of a 5x5mm brass rod is going to fill the open slids in the corners. Once it is glued in all gets a last clear epoxy finnish to fill up any open spaces and also cover teh brass.





For the light Henry doesn't need much, but still gets a lot.. i found a very nice suiting aluminium led strip profile. Coded the P7 found them at ebay Germany  They are for regular SMD led strip.. It's going to be 1 metre 19 watt cool white strip, remotely controlled with a dimmer..

That 3,6mm hole at each end is perfet to tap some M4 thread. The profile is 100 cm, tank is 123cm. That's where the 6x4mm brass tube comes in. Solder a M4 thread into the brass tube and screwed into the aluminium profile. And extend the lenght with brass tubing.. Than the the little metal M5 pneumatic 90° M5 socket/nipple comes to the rescue. They come in Brass or in Nickle plated, not yet decided which one, but got them both. Tap some M5 thread in the brass tubes other end and the 90° elbow can be screwed on. The light tube will only be 3 cm above the glass makes it 5 cm above the water level. So i need a little piece of 3cm tube standing again on the glass. That's where a little piece of 6mm aluminium U profile come in screwed to the tube as retainer stand on the glass. So that's fr the light stand.. 




That's it so far.. So you have a rough idea where i'm going with this Fancy tank for Henry.. I'll keep you posted on it's development.. Any questions or comments, shoot! All yours.


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## roadmaster

Can't imagine Henry lasting long with cat scratching pole? in background of first photo.
At least not on something as easily accessible as coffee table.


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## zozo

roadmaster said:


> Can't imagine Henry lasting long with cat scratching pole? in background of first photo.
> At least not on something as easily accessible as coffee table.



Till now they are going together for over a year... So?? But indeed with cats you never know.. It also is not my concern with the decision to make this or not. You know how people are, i can tell them.. They'll take notice, but likely wont change a thing, since it worked already for over a year, didn't it.... I guess unfortunately only a Henry the Second will learn them. Or Henry the first stays lucky as he is..


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## Edvet

Interesting build, will follow


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## Edvet

zozo said:


> But indeed with cats you never know


http://koiridderkerk.nl/media/catal...aa66f/S/c/Schrikdraad-Rijgerkit-100-meter.jpg


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## zozo

Got the glas today and did a dry fit. 


 

Need to do litle sanding and make the side slits 0.5 mm wider. The glass cutters fault the long panels are half a millimiter to long.




Than fit again and if ok it's time to start coating the wood..


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## zozo

The colored epoxy coating is on. 2 thick layers.  It shines like a surfboard, pitty actualy is gets covered with substrate..




Only vissible wood will be the outside edge, this still needs an extra coating layer.. But first 7 days curing, next sunday it's kitting time.. At the wood it will be black kit to mask the the slid, with transparent it will be see through wont look that good. Not yet sure to use transparent kit at the glass sides, that's my plan and idea, but i leave that desicion to the initial owner of the tank. He's going to be my helper next sunday. 




Than after the kitting i need to cut the brass bars to fill up the ends of the slid.. Than it needs a sanding, see how that turns out, if the sanding leaves me with a worn off look. We might just leave it like that and just use a clear coating to keep that look. 

So far it's a very fun build.. But the tricky part will be the kitting.. I want a minimal as possible seam.


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## Edvet

Nice shape too, i always liked those 12G long ones.


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## zozo

Edvet said:


> Nice shape too, i always liked those 12G long ones.



Thanks.. It is indeed, i also always liked those 12G long. It actualy was that tributary scape from Findley bringing me back into the hobby. I believe that is an ADA 12G.

I kinda feel a bit envy by now with the thought i have to give it away when it's done.   But it stays in the family.. 

But first i want to explore a shallow cube tank anyway.. So build me the same in a cube version after this. Still have an antique square cabinet 70 tall and with a 40x40 marble top plate. I always wanted to put a cube on that, but had my doubts about that marble top and a glas cube on it.. With this style i doubt it will look bad and fits perfectly to an antique style cabinet..


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## Edvet

zozo said:


> have to give it away when it's done.


So it's just practice for your own, clever


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## zozo

Edvet said:


> So it's just practice for your own, clever



You got me there..  Got to guinea pig on somebody, that's what family is for.. Tho the very first in kinda this style i did last year for myself, with wooden  side panels. That's what i offered them first, what they didn't want. So i got kinda forced into alternatives and to put on my blue suede shoes.


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## Edvet

zozo said:


> with wooden side panels


and cleverly you left that one in the garden should it leak


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## zozo

Edvet said:


> and cleverly you left that one in the garden should it leak



Thanks for the complements.. It's in the cellar now for the winter and still going strong.. BTW at the right side is Lobelia cardinalis var. Queen victoria, it all grew from the rootstock from the big 1.8 metre emersed one. 



So drained it partialy and moved it there.. Like this




I'm rather confident, this i never wood have tried with a full glas tank, move it downstairs partialy drained with hardscape in place. Darn thing is rock solid.. Earthquake proof if the ceilling doesn't fall on top of it. 

Oh this is also in the cellar now..


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## Edvet

Watching, learning and getting ideas


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## Zeus.

Edvet said:


> Watching, learning and getting ideas



Me too, if I only had the time, one day I keep telling myself, hopefully soon.


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## zozo

Edvet said:


> Watching, learning and getting ideas



Thanks..  Means a lot to me, an old fart like you learning from my silly ideas to do things differently..  Can't wait to see what you come up with.


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## zozo

Zeus. said:


> Me too, if I only had the time, one day I keep telling myself, hopefully soon.



Thank you too..  Well time aint an issue.. As you can see this you can build in a week effectively in less than a day, but i don't mind to let them wait 6 weeks or even longer ..
They concept i like it rather yesterday, never worked for me.. It only works if i feel like it. If i don't 10 horses can't pull me to it..


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## Tim Harrison

Looking great Marcel, really like the steampunk theme 
And it's good to see next years Mission Bathtub safely tucked away in the cellar ready for summer 2018


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## dw1305

Hi all, 





zozo said:


>


I'm not sure I've seen a white _Hesperantha coccinea_ with such broad petals before.

Do you know which cultivar it is?

cheers Darrel


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## zozo

dw1305 said:


> Hi all, I'm not sure I've seen a white _Hesperantha coccinea_ with such broad petals before.
> 
> Do you know which cultivar it is?
> 
> cheers Darrel



I actualy didn't expect it to be a white one too. And never had a white one before...  I have to dig up the lable, i still most have it somewhere, but don't remember it saying anything different than the usual plant name.. But i know it showed a red flower on it.. I look iit up.


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## zozo

dw1305 said:


> Do you know which cultivar it is?



The lable says "Schizostylis coccinea Major"
This excact lable


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## zozo

And now i see what you mean..  The var. Alba should be the white one and indeed has less broad leaves.




I didn't know that, never personaly seen it available in the shop.. What i have must be some accidental spinn off from both i guess, it should be Red.


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## Edvet

http://www.bethchatto.co.uk/s-z/schizostylis/


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## dw1305

Hi all,
That is interesting. I've got three different ones in the garden (they aren't really pond plants, they like a damp summer, and a drier winter), but I've never seen a good white one before. They are hardy here, but I assume they wouldn't go very well some where with a colder winter. Remind me in the spring and I'll send you a red one (they are very easy to propagate).

For me the red (type) grows really well, but the pink ones are more likely to decline over time, if you don't give them a bit of TLC.





zozo said:


> The lable says "Schizostylis coccinea Major"


 It was _Schizostylis coccinea_ until fairly recently (a lot of African Irids were re-classified, _Acidanthera bicolor_ is know _Gladiolus murielae, _and various_ Anomatheca_ spp_. _are now _Freesia_ spp.)

cheers Darrel


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## zozo

dw1305 said:


> Remind me in the spring and I'll send you a red one (they are very easy to propagate).



Thanks a lot for the offer..  I already got red ones in the garden.. They indeed propagete very well, last year i collected seeds and all germinated very easy.
I havent looked or didn't notice the last 2 weeks, good chance i got some reds flowering in the garden right now.

But let me know if you want that white one, i can split the one that is flowering right now, i see it has a lot of small runners at the base. I can send them asap before the frost or next spring. No idea what's best option..



dw1305 said:


> It was _Schizostylis coccinea_ until fairly recently


I thought it changed to Hesperantha, or is this also an old  name changed again? The common name in our language always was Bog Gladiolus.


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## dw1305

Hi all,





zozo said:


> I thought it changed to Hesperantha, or is this also an old name changed again?


Changed from _Schizostylis_ to _Hesperantha.
_
cheers Darrel


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## zozo

Sunday was kitting day..  Darn it is and stays a tricky job to pull off realy nicely if it's not a daily practice. So after 36 hours excitement and doubts, today the mayden voyage..

And i'll be damned, it's water tight.. 




Tried to keep the seems at the glass edges as minimal as possible, at least i made a wild guess about what is minimal? and went with 3 mm  Looking closely it has some minor imperfections.. The glascutter failed and made a panel almost 1mm to long. It shows in one corner, this one.. When it's freshly kitted whit all fresh kit bulging out of the outsode seems, it is hard to spot these imperfections. Now when its dry, the kit cut off, it shows that i failed to devide this over both corners. But that is peanuts, once the tank is decorated there are other things to look at..




Lets just say, imperfections is part of the kitchen table DIY process and only attributes to the Vintage style. Nice excuse isn't it.
For the bottom panel i didn't pay much attention to kitting eastetics, it's going to be covered with black substrate anyway..





Now it's time for the finishing touch on the outside edge and making the light setup.. 

Even tho it is less than 20 cm water height, over the lengt of 123 cm the 4mm glas panel bulges out 10 mm total in the middle, 5 mm per panel.. Not possible to show this on the picture. But for real this looks kinda drastic. Tho if i check my 90cm tank with 6mm glas panels, this also bulges out over 5 mm and the 60cm 4mm glas tank does the same. So this is pretty normal.. It's the lenght of the glas showing it much more obvious. The glas can take it and still has even more flexibility.. But have to admit it looks eerie.. 




So i decided to glue in a 10cm or 15 cm wide glas strip halfway between the 2 long panels as a bridge, for extra strenght. I'll give it a try not to make this strip straight, but give it a slight twist or kinda S curve but much less. And place it exactly on the waterlevel height 15mm from the top, so the strip is in the water. And decorate this strip afterwords with some small rocks, small pieces of moss overgrown wood and plants. Thinking of UG, HC or MC and some hydrocotyl trailing over the sides outside the tank. Than it will look like a curved green land bridge deviding the tank in 2, viewed from the top.

Now off to  the finishing though.. And than the scaping and planting part.


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## Edvet

zozo said:


> glue in a 10cm or 15 cm wide glas strip halfway between the 2 long panels as a bridge,


You could do a removable wooden one, same wood with cuts on the under/glas-side,  you can fix the light on it and still remove it to facilitate maintenance, or to fit large woodpieces


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## zozo

Edvet said:


> You could do a removable wooden one, same wood with cuts on the under/glas-side,  you can fix the light on it and still remove it to facilitate maintenance, or to fit large woodpieces



That could be a good idea, didn't think of that. Tho i have no idea if this would strain the glas when it's pushed outwards. A glas strip is kitted inside and gets pulled, kit is flexible, this feels kinda much safer. Using a decorative piece of driftwood and saw slids in it, than the bulging glass is pushed outwards against this wood. I would might need to put some padding in.. The other challange i'm facing is, it's 2 slids. 31,5 cm apart both corresponding in perfect vertical 90° angle as well horizontaly it needs to be lined up. If it is a wonky irregular shaped natural shaped piece of DW. I guess to pull this off i need more equipment than a pocket calculator, a kitchen table and a hand saw.

The idea is nice, have to sleep that one over a few nights. Thanks..


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## Edvet

20 cm waterlevel and 4 mm should be realy safe though.


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## OllieNZ

Good looking build  
I'd love a vintage wrought iron framed tank.


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## zozo

Edvet said:


> 20 cm waterlevel and 4 mm should be realy safe though.


Yes it is, glaas is is still darn flexible.. As said it just looks eerie seeing a 10mm bulging out if you look over the tank.. Noticed the flexibility during the cleaning after the kitting. And thought, if it is setup and filled, the cleaning lady of the house needs to be realy gentle on the rubbing part. I kinda feel safer with glueing the bridge in.

Another thing that comes to mind with using a piece of wood for that, is soaking and capilairy suction.. Than this piece of wood shouldn't tought the water.. If it does it will soak and likely drip water over the edge outside the tank... Same as wow grandma always kept plants alive during teh holidays when away from home. With a bucket of water and a wool string to the plant pot.. I remeber i even had this problem once with Algae growing in the top corners inside the tank. It grow all teh way to the top edge and capilairy suction of the algae mass puled water out of the tank if i filled it to high up. I thought for weeks i had a leaking kit seam. But it was darn algae.. After rubbing the corner with a toothbrush problem was solved.


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## Edvet

I don't know how technical you are: http://www.confederationconstruction.be/Portals/27/Userfiles/File/glasenwaterdruk.pdf


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## zozo

OllieNZ said:


> Good looking build


Thank you.. 


OllieNZ said:


> I'd love a vintage wrought iron framed tank.


Yes this also is something still ghosting through my brains. I would like to make one from brass and use rivets a la Captain Nemo style.. I while ago i played with the fantasie to build a tank like this into the wall from kitchen to living room. Than from the kitchen side a glass panel, but at the living room side 2 old brass vintage Portholes from an old boat. 

But after seeing the prices of old brass vintage portholes.. I did put the project on a long term hold.. But a brass rimmed tank with rivets and portholes at the back, would be completely out of this world.. And more something for a marine setup i guess. It was just a fantasy.. But doable..


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## OllieNZ

I love some of these


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## zozo

Edvet said:


> I don't know how technical you are: http://www.confederationconstruction.be/Portals/27/Userfiles/File/glasenwaterdruk.pdf



Thaks nise article.. 

Well for the rest i'm as technical as about the tools a have available.Give me a workshop and i build you a pink submarine if you like.. Here i have my (also financial) limits, also my inventive alternative inspirations to stil make it work. I left school as a certified Toolmaker.. Worked some years building Technical installations (measuring and control engineering) for laboratories and factories.. But due to family relations/bussines i went working as a simple plumber after that.. So toolmaker never realy got a proffesion it stayed more like a hobby inventing all kinds of silly things for home and garden use, just something handy in the pocket.


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## zozo

OllieNZ said:


> I love some of these



Now that's craftmanship to the max.. Long gone and extinct. Priceless..


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## AverageWhiteBloke

zozo said:


> The glascutter failed and made a panel almost 1mm to long. It shows in one corner, this one..



How about some minimal corner beads @zozo ?


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## zozo

AverageWhiteBloke said:


> How about some minimal corner beads @zozo ?


There is already kit in that corner, did cut diagonaly off.. But it's transparent and still shows.. Not a big deal. you realy have to push your nose in to see it. And it gets 2 small HOB filters, left and right.. So i'll hang the HOB in that corner.


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## AverageWhiteBloke

No bother mate, for 1mm maybe sanding is an option? I was looking at  a you tube video about taking chips out and somebody did it with emery cloth on a wooden block and polish but if you can live with it cool.


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## AverageWhiteBloke

Also Kudos for doing a test fill in what appears to be in the house. 



zozo said:


> Lets just say, imperfections is part of the kitchen table DIY process and only attributes to the Vintage style.



That'll do, I can remember a school trip to Notre-Dame Cathedral and the tour guide saying that on every Cathedral there is always something that isn't uniform like a window smaller than all the rest, it was based on nothing is perfect except God so an imperfection was built in. I suspect it started as an Architect covering up a balls up and Architects after that used it as a plan B just in case but there you go. You could claim you did this deliberately on religious grounds.  I use the same excuse at work if something doesn't look right (then change it anyway) See also working Sundays, I don't do them for the same reason. It goes against my beliefs and forcing me to work Sundays is therefore a religious hate crime...sometimes works.


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## zozo

AverageWhiteBloke said:


> You could claim you did this deliberately on religious grounds.


 That's a nice one i'll keep that one in mind.. But in the end i think nobody will notice, as said 2 hob filters, place one at that corner.. The only one seeing it i guess will be Dady in Law..  I reckon him to be an envious nitpicker looking for something to criticise.. I don't mind, also on religious grounds..  

Took some rocks from the garden mission bathtub and a piece of it's wood.. To have a play with some black gravel..





It will be something like this.. 2 slightly elevated islands.. Between te rocks a Nymphaea some low crypts aruond it. And some Java ferns on the wood and also some crypts around it.. I think it's going to be C. Wendtii green left and brown right to contrast the green Java. And leave it like that to grow in.  experience crypt wendtii nice low staying crypt making runners like a champ in a low tech. I guess that's the perfect plant for this.


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## zozo

AverageWhiteBloke said:


> Also Kudos for doing a test fill in what appears to be in the house.



Yes also thought that was an Evil Knievel act.. But after a throughly visual inspection i couldn't hold the urge.. It cracking open i din't realy believe.. Looking at it, i though if so it will only drip. So took my chances. And got lucky..
Thanks..


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## zozo

After doing some thinking on the bulging and the bracing part.. And than i also came up with another "what if" scenario..  The tank has quite a surface area it will evaporate some water.. What if the owners don't like it and want cover plates. Once it is up and running with the above idea it will quite a hasle to fix it properly.

So i skipped the fancy stuff and went for a Euro Bracing? As it is called in English?..  So got me 2 x 110cm x 3cm glass trip and brace the tank over almost it's intire lenght.



 

I dotted the first strip in this morning 5mm bellow the top rim... Tomorow it will stand on it's own on the cured kit dots.. I kept a 2mm open gap with tooth picks.. Than i can cut off the excess dots and put the kit in via injection method into the gap....




I made this choise, since cross bracing which is easier to perform, but i would needed 3 braces and that doesn't look as good.. Actualy i would liked it not braced at all.
But as said, if the owners decide after a month they wont it covered, they can put cover plates on it without much trouble. The standard acrylic hooks for cover plates on the market are not realy a beatifull option for 4mm glass and sinck in way to deep. And a bulging tank with straight cover plates gaping, makes it even more obvious it's bulging.

So for several practical and easthetic reasons Euro bracing it is..


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## OllieNZ

Euro brace is the correct term in english 
How about adding antique finish brass angle on the outside of each corner (for looks only)


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## zozo

OllieNZ said:


> Euro brace is the correct term in english
> How about adding antique finish brass angle on the outside of each corner (for looks only)



That could be an option. Thanks for the idea. A 5mm corner profile has 4mm internal, should fit perfectly on the glass. Also thought of brass corner protectors.. But i leave that to the final owners. it's something that can glued on later.  The Lady of the house was already worrying i would take it to far when i optioned the planted centre cross brace. They just want the rest as basic as possible. 

She also got a bit worried and carried away by that scaped picture from above i also sended to them with an optional plantlist... I guess she tought i was going to deliver it like that..  And she said that she has a different vision and wants to do it her own way, she only wants the tank and i need to pull some brakes... I had to explain i was nothing more than just playing with some rocks and gravel and my own curiousity..  She is without a doubt the Boss!!. He's the oil driller..


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## Edvet

Just make sure she sends pictures


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## zozo

Edvet said:


> Just make sure she sends pictures



I suspect it's going to be the average girly fancy goldfish tank. With a castle and a shipwreck. She wants it minimalistic and maintenance free as possible and start easy.. I told her it's 90 litres easiest is to start with sufficient planting. Minimalistic is something we do not have much decicions in. It is rather counter productive towards maintenance . But i get the feeling 'm talking to deaf ears.  When i said, ok just do it your way and learn it the hard way, she got a little angry that i was kinda critizing her vision. This babe isn't bending a fraction of an inch.. Well silence is golden in this case. She doesn't get it yet and thinks more plants is more work..


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## Edvet

Make sure she gives plenty light


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## zozo

Edvet said:


> Make sure she gives plenty light


That's the point, making a light for this thank was my idea. she actualy doesn't see the need of it. And she doesn't know if she wants it. Than i told again, "It's not about what you want!" It's about what a fish tank with plant needs to be healthy. And again it was recieved critizising her vision. The 25 litre tank she has now also is not lit and this goes OK in her idea with some elodea and a half dead echinodorus.

I just make the light and if she doesn't want it can take it off again. I think that's whats going to happen.  I like the Girl verry much, but this seems to be a case of a child that is criticized to much in her younger days.. She fighting against and blocking any form that can be enterpreted as personal criticize.. I'm not a shrink and probably to direct in my bob the builder word choices to get in. Trying to help, but this is beyond help, i guess she needs to fall first and standup again.. At least i'm helping Henry with more water to live in..

I guess if this tank is setup and running it's going to be pics of a dissaster. At least for the beginning. I hope i'm wrong..


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## AverageWhiteBloke

zozo said:


> With a castle and a shipwreck.



What not a "no fishing" sign? disappointed.


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## AverageWhiteBloke

BTW, I was going to suggest siliconing two lengths of acrylic maybe 3" wide longways across the bending panel with holes drilled in bottom to form a terrestrial plant section so it was dual purpose as well as a stiffener but if things are getting complicated already maybe not.


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## Costa

AverageWhiteBloke said:


> Also Kudos for doing a test fill in what appears to be in the house


Agree. Real men test fill in the living room, with the wife present.


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## zozo

AverageWhiteBloke said:


> BTW, I was going to suggest siliconing two lengths of acrylic maybe 3" wide longways across the bending panel with holes drilled in bottom to form a terrestrial plant section so it was dual purpose as well as a stiffener but if things are getting complicated already maybe not.


If it were my tank i would have gone for such an idea.. Since that's not the case and they want is basic above the wood part.. They get it as basic as possible.. 
So they can see afterwards what other bells and wislles they want or not. 

The first brace is in..



 
Darn its difficult to get a very tiny 2mm wide kit seam over a 110 cm strip that is only 3cm wide, even with the use of masking tape. That's realy something you need to do daily to pull this perfectly off in 1 go and 10 minutes time.

I need to do some cutting and cleaning when it's cured. Maybe redo this one.. Well Rome wasn't build in a day. After 48 hours we know more.. Tomorow the other side. Second round new chances..




And i wonder what kind of (clamp) tool the professional builder uses for these kind of braces. Searched the net, but couldn't yet realy find any examples. They must have some kind of simple diy tool. Have to brainstorm about that one, can't be difficult.


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## zozo

I think i need to make me this.. That's the best obvious euro brace clamp/tool i can think of, to freehand a euro brace into a tank.


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## Edvet




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## zozo

Edvet said:


>



Thought of that, but didn't like the idea of clamping 4mm like that.. And it needs an extra pair of hands around, with a +1 metre long brace.. Still wan't to able to do something all by myself with 2 hands only.  And create my own extra set of hands. 

The other thing is with clamping like this, if you want some sufficient kit in between, than you need to kit the brace first put it on the glas and clamp it. Than still yu squeeze all the kit out again. To get a 1mm kit layer between the glas surfaces, which kinda feels a lot safer to me, than this is a no go.


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## zozo

Here they are.. The DIY Euro brace clamp left side.. Can be adjusted in height and angle.. 


 

Right side.. Not yet tested them on the strip still to be glued in.. And it needs a little rubber inside from an old bicycle inner tube..




This will hold it in place, no need for a lot of force..


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## zozo

And bracing left.. Still needs some masking tape..




But the clamps do perfectly, hold the brace steady in place with a 1mm gap. 




And praise the glass cutter!! Looks like he sold me those braces in Opti White glas, without me asking. Coincidense? 




And i asked the office clerck, the average price difference between normal blankfloated.. And it's only about 20%, 
1m² 4mm blank floated = € 34,- 
1m² 4mm opti white  = € 40,-
So you now you are not paying for the glass when buying an opti white, you're paying for the idea, the name and hopefully the proper craftsmanship..

And stupid me, had to ask this before i ordered the glas last week.. I still had the other glas shop in my mind who told me it was double the price. So he definitively tried to rip me off on that one. The croock.  

Now i did spend € 31 on regular blank floated, could have had it opti white for a few euro's more..


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## zozo

So finaly, braces are in all the kit work is done.. Darn last seam was the best.. Always the same story, when you finaly get a hang of it, your done. Like learning a language, go  on vacation to that country and by the time you finaly can speak a proper sentence the holidays are over and your back home with nobody to talk to.. 

Anyway, tho some minnor imperfections i'm still very pleased with the over all results. 2 mm kit seam is not easy. More minimalistic, shows every little imperfection more clearly. Good thing the braces are optiwhite.. This makes them a tad less distractive from a distance and this is how a tank is viewed the longest part of the day.. And once it is up and running, i guess they don't realy matter anymore. Other things to look at..  The tank not also looks less fragile it is realy much more stable like this if you touch it the whole tank shakes instead of feeling a wobbling glass panel.. Expect cover glas on top within a few weeks anyway.








Now time for the finishing tough.. The bottom panels wood rim, close the corner gaps and another coating.. And the light setup while this is curing. Almost done, took me longer than anticipated, get the darn thing off my dining table.. I want it back for myself..


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## Tim Harrison

Looking great


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## zozo

Thank you Tim..


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## zozo

Little sneak peak on the corner finish..  Just a fancy small eye catcing detail.


 
The little pieces of brass are kitted in place, with a paintable polymer, so the epoxy doesn't get repelled... Once it is all cured, it gets this final blank epoxy coating. This will run in and fill up all the gaps and make one smooth shiny surface.


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## Tim Harrison

Nice...


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## zozo

Tank is completely done. And running it's second test fill.  Funny is despite the 3cm wide braces, it still bulges almost 3mm out. That's 7mm less than without the bracing. Glass is actualy darn flexible in every way.. 




Also working on the lights setup.. Constructionaly is is finished.. Tomorow i will put in th eelctronics, led strips and controller/dimmer..



 



 
I'll come back on that with more details when lights are burning and all is buffed up a bit...


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## Edvet

zozo said:


> Glass is actualy darn flexible in every way..


Glass is actually a liquid


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## Edvet

TThe u -shaped pieces on the rim, couldn't you make them out of copper?


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## zozo

Edvet said:


> Glass is actually a liquid


Is it? Never looked at it like that.. 



Edvet said:


> The u -shaped pieces on the rim, couldn't you make them out of copper?


Yes and maybe no.. I know/see what you mean, saw the same thing in the close up. And changed the Square knee to a chrome nickle version to break the contrast and is a bit less bulky in size..

I thought because the LED Profile is aluminium to give at also an aluminium touch elsewhere. I've look around for brass U profiles, the excist but are bend and not in the same dimensions as the aluminium extruded versions. What i found till now i didn't realy like. The tubing i used is Brass, but i soldered some brass thread in and used S39-CU flux and noticed the brase gets a kind of CU finish from it.. It likely contains some CuSO4. If i give it a decent buffing job it will be off again and just clean brass. Tho i lik ethe cupper touch, makes a bit more like ols used finish and might change over time in color again.

Not yet sure about it, also still got some Humbrol met. brass modeling paint, might just paint the aluminium U profiles with that. HAve to see how it looks. Also want to paint the plastic side covers from the Alu LED profile in this color.

But not yet sure.. Actualy looking at it as a whole. those alu U profiles don't look so bad..  The picture is a badly taken close up shot, showing it as detail to much in your face. The whole light ficture is 123 cm long, with a 1m long alu led profile. So aluminium is the dominant part after all, can't change that. The painting idea might just look to fake.. Don't know yet have to try..  And the brass definitively needs a buffing..





Maybe just run the file over the sharp U profile edge and round it a bit. These little detail can do a lot..


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## Tim Harrison

Edvet said:


> Glass is actually a liquid


Thixotropic... 

The whole ensemble - tank, base/stand, and light - is looking great Marcel, nice craftsmanship


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## zozo

Tim Harrison said:


> Thixotropic...


 It gets more exciting by the minute.. 



Tim Harrison said:


> The whole ensemble - tank, base/stand, and light - is looking great Marcel, nice craftsmanship


Thank you..  Actualy it is all very straight foreward kitchen table DIY.. All thats used is excisting material available in every well equipped hardware and modeling store with a minimum of rather ordinairy tools.


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## Nelson

Tim Harrison said:


> Thixotropic...


Que......
Had to google that .


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## zozo

Caramba..... Ariba hambre hambre...
me too.  I knew our hobby had certain plasticity, but this...


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## Danny

Love the base and corner detailing, looking forward to seeing this all set up and finished.


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## Edvet

Let the predictions begin:



or:


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## zozo

Danny said:


> looking forward to seeing this all set up and finished.



Thank you Danny..  If i can ever show it setup i have not yet an idea about.. I'm not building it for myself. I deliver this setup next week ready to run and tested to the new owners. I yet didn't got an indication in how and when they are going to set it up. This topic in unfortunately only about the diy building part.  But after thus i buil myself something simular in cube dimensions in the near future..


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## zozo

Edvet said:


> Let the predictions begin:
> 
> 
> 
> or:



I think you are very close with the last one.. I've heard her mentionng that substrate color.


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## zozo

Finaly!! This project is finished for now and ready to ship out.. 

Few details on the light fixture..

It has 1m - 8520 dual chip 18 watt 6500K LED. (2 x 50cm) it needs a 2 amp (24 watt) PSU.. It has 72 chips with 65 lumen p/chip. If that is 72x65= 4680 lumen i dunno, but it's pretty bright, hence it needs a dimmer.. All is glued with M3 double sided sticky tape  into a round P7 aluminium led profile.

 

As in earlier post this is the profiles cross section diagram


 
The 3,6mm hole at the top i used to make a dowel connection, reamed the hole with a 4mm drill bit.. The 2 stands: 1 assambled and 1 disessambled.

For the dowel i used 40mm x 4mm solid brass rod, the tube is  6x4mm brass.. Hammered the dowel 20mm into the tube, the other end fits snugly into the led profile and makes a very stiff connection keeping all straight in line in every direction. After all the complete fixture is a stand in 123cm long.. Stands can be easily pulled out again, for maintenance or storing etc...




The rest is rather self explainatory, i guess.. But still for clarity, a 100mm - 10x10 mm Aluminium U profile padded inside as stand on the glass. A little piece of brass M4 thread soldered into the vertial tube. The U profile is nutted on with a brass M4 nut secured with a stainless steel spring washer. at the other end taped M5 thread 5mm deep.. In there comes the M5 knee, screwed in a M5 x10mm piece of brass thread again with on that the piece with the dowel. M4 is the only thing soldered, the rest is screw and dowel connection.


 
Decided to paint the plastic end caps.. Humbrol enamel number 54, nice stuff, looks nearly realistic.. 




Took a cheap $ .5 RGB led controller with remote controll.. Cut off the RGB connector.. Leaves you with 4 wires, RGB and Black.. Black is the positive lead and the leds are controlled via the negative. So the 3 negative RGB wires can be soldered together in my case, since i have only 1 channel white light. Now it doesn't matter which button on the remote controll is pressed it doesn't do anything strange. Only important buttons are On/Off and the DIM buttons.But if any other button is accidently pressed nothing happens. Nice is these controllers have an Eprom memory, so if mains is switched with a timer it comes back on in the previous setting..




So now it's a single wired controller for a white light led only..


 





Let there be light..  Oh and i placed a thin poind foil mat on the wooden bottom panel, in case to extra protect the epoxy with moving rocks around.


 

I didn't paint the Aluminium U profiles, because seen as a whole it fits the over all design, it needs to age a bit over time.. It all will change in color by cleaning rubbing and touching, that's something paint doesn't handle very well.. Except on the plastic, that Humbrol paint vulcanizes into it.


 



 





Well i'm about done.. Noow get this thing out of my house and hopefully i can show a pic when it's setup and running with a Happy Henry.. And hopefully 2 other happy owners. 

I hope you liked it and maybe i inspired you with some crazy ideas of your own.. Todays available materials do not limit us anylonger to complete glass boxes only. Room enough to still be playfull and go different routs than only traditional. Thanks for your time..


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## Tim Harrison

Great build and journal, tanks for sharing


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## zozo

Pleasantly surpriced i received this in the mail today. 






 


 






 
Actualy not bad for a few beginners.  Except the Chamaedorea 2nd plant from the right.. The shop clerck said it wasn't a problem.. I said you'll find out within a few weeks that he's full of youknowwhat.


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## Edvet

Fits right in place there!


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## rebel

Wow what a great ending/beginning to some enterprising DIY!!!


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## dw1305

Hi all, 





zozo said:


> Thanks a lot for the offer..  I already got red ones in the garden.. They indeed propagete very well, last year i collected seeds and all germinated very easy.
> I havent looked or didn't notice the last 2 weeks, good chance i got some reds flowering in the garden right now.
> 
> But let me know if you want that white one, i can split the one that is flowering right now, i see it has a lot of small runners at the base. I can send them asap before the frost or next spring. No idea what's best option..
> 
> I thought it changed to Hesperantha, or is this also an old  name changed again? The common name in our language always was Bog Gladiolus.


I took a couple of photos of the plants outside the lab.

There used  to be Ivy (_Hedera helix_ "Glacier") and a pip grown Pomegranate (_Punica granatum_) covering the wall, but about 10 years ago they removed them and exposed the building in its full 1970's architectural glory.

Our last Vice-chancellor then decided it was an eye-sore (she may have had a point) and spent a very considerable sum of money on some grey irrigated planters and retaining wires. 

They then planted some fairly sad looking climbers in the containers (the wall is SW facing), and left it. If anything it looked worse than before the planters and infinitely worse than the Ivy/Pomegranate combination, which hadn't cost us anything.

I was fed up with looking at it every day, so when the "maintenance" contract ended I guerilla planted some plants in the containers, including a pale, and type, _Hesperantha coccinea. 
_
This was the middle of October_,_ the pale cultivar flowers a lot later than the type red one.
_








_
cheers Darrel


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## Edvet

dw1305 said:


> I guerilla planted some plants in the containers,


So where are you going to work next


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## ian_m

Will not aluminium and brass galvanically corrode ?, especially in presence of moisture, even worse if chloride present ?

Quick Google reveals you should never connect aluminium and brass together without an insulator. Didn't the aluminium roof of some posh skyscraper in NY fall off due to using brass fixing screws ?


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## zozo

dw1305 said:


> Hi all, I took a couple of photos of the plants outside the lab.
> 
> There used  to be Ivy (_Hedera helix_ "Glacier") and a pip grown Pomegranate (_Punica granatum_) covering the wall, but about 10 years ago they removed them and exposed the building in its full 1970's architectural glory.
> 
> Our last Vice-chancellor then decided it was an eye-sore (she may have had a point) and spent a very considerable sum of money on some grey irrigated planters and retaining wires.
> 
> They then planted some fairly sad looking climbers in the containers (the wall is SW facing), and left it. If anything it looked worse than before the planters and infinitely worse than the Ivy/Pomegranate combination, which hadn't cost us anything.
> 
> I was fed up with looking at it every day, so when the "maintenance" contract ended I guerilla planted some plants in the containers, including a pale, and type, _Hesperantha coccinea.
> _
> This was the middle of October_,_ the pale cultivar flowers a lot later than the type red one.
> _
> View attachment 111470
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 111472
> _
> cheers Darrel



_Nice  Also yet never seen the pink ones in the shop.. Might es well just get them one day.. Got the white one and it was labled red..
Yes managers.. Tell me about it, Office clercks whit a degree thinking it will never work without them. Contrary is often true. 



ian_m said:



			Quick Google reveals you should never connect aluminium and brass together without an insulator. Didn't the aluminium roof of some posh skyscraper in NY fall off due to using brass fixing screws ?
		
Click to expand...


Yes you are correct..  But luckely this is a simple aquarium led light, not a roof and not a skyscraper. Before this falls apart or gets stuck from corosion Henry will already be to big for this tank and likely will have another one. Chloride i don't worry about, it's not in our tapwater and likely not used in the tanks vicinity. So it wont be run such a fast pace. 

Same as iron and lead shouldn't touch.. But if it does it still takes years for the iron to rot away in weathered conditions.. For a buildings roof 10 years aint much._


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## Tim Harrison

Edvet said:


> Fits right in place there!


I was thinking the exact same thing... very nice Jules Vern themed interior...


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## zozo

Sometimes good things come out off stranded relations..  The kids decided to break  it up and go each their own way. And the one left with the tank decided to move to and work in another country..

And now this tank comes back to papa, without henry i think, but i don't mind if that also the case. Got a nice tub for him as well. 
Anyway.. Already have some crazy ideas what to do with the long and shallow dimensions..





Not this.. But i like to work up both sides into emersed sections, like a slize of cross section of a stream in the middle.
Thus something like this..



Now i'm thinking of a HOB filter, that creates a small water fall and stream over the longest emersed side.. Than i have to DIY some piping in the substrate to get to the water in the middle and hide a filter basket bihind some hardscape.. The idea is an oversized tunnel from PVC pipe 25 or 32mm dug in.. So that the inlet from the HOB hangs in that tube filled with water. As if it is sucking up water from a well.. I'll fix something..

This is going to be a fun project! Also going to cut out the eurobraces.. These i find much to distractive in this idea.

It also is going to stand on a cabinet next the a south side window.. Thus no lights only sunlight and lots of emersed growth. Not heated..

still have to wait a few days, but due time i start a Journal from this thread.


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## Tim Harrison

Awesome, glad you got that back, somehow I felt a little bereft when you gave it away,..probably something to do with all that unrealised journal potential. Where are the fancy corner detail feet ?


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## zozo

Thanks Tim.. Indeed i'm glad too.. I felt the same way after it was done and realising it's potential.. Tho it wasn't a give away, they asked me to build something in this size to put on that table. And i came up with this idea and they paid for it. It was legit buy only the hours spend on it was a family gift.

And now i get it back, as a gift i assume..  At least to keep it safe till he has the room for it again. Else it's going in storage that would realy be a pitty..

The picture is an old one from earlier, just as a quick reminder and an idea sketch.. Thus the lion feet are still on it. And i'm still waiting for it, not at my home yet. Got asked yesterday and might get it next week.


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## aquacoen

Nice! Looks like an interesting project to follow!


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## Matt @ ScapeEasy

That sounds like an amazing project! Keep us posted on progress!!


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## rebel

Wow another beginning! Sorry to hear of the split though.

Very keen to see what you do with it! Love these dimensions.....


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## Steve Buce

Sunlit stream idea sounds cool, will be following this.


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## zozo

I'm still waiting to recieve it back.. I hope it is soon. should be.. But don't realy know... Anyway, waiting for it in anticipation.. And if, you never now, if, this tank doesn't come back to me for what ever reason.. I definitively going to rebuild a same one again but for myself and scape it..


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## Tim Harrison

Waiting in anticipation


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## zozo

It's back!  And in place..

On an old antique low cabinet? It actualy aint a cabinet nor a table, it's a bottom piece of an antieque Oak farmers wardrobe. The rest of it is tugged away in the attic. It fits the tank perfectly.

Seen from the sofa.. still in the process of cleaning it..




The window is facing South - West.. Thus that will be plenty of light and the only light it gets, partialy full sun if the blinds are open. Thus the blinds will be my dimmer.




Most of it will be emersed growth.. It's a total of 90 litres, but less than half of it will be flooded submersed. Still have to brain storm about how i'm going to bank that substrate up that high and keep it from sliding. It's going to be dry start anyway, thus the plants will be the major substrate support.. Not flooding it till all plants are fully established and rooted.. That may take a while.. Mayeb keep it dry starting till next summer.

Good thing is i have a pond shop about next door that sonn will start selling plants.. They have a number of easy tropical species already nursed for outdoor summer conditions. My goal is to keep all plants South American..

What realy baffled me and i've never seen before.. The transparant silicone is stained with a blue color.. And since i build this myself i know it wasn't the case before.




And it looks like that all silicone that was submersed stained blue as you can see the top is still clear.. I realy have no idea how that iis possible.. Silicone should be chemicaly inert.. Now i realy wonder what did those kids add to the water to color the silicone blue?

DOes anybody of you know a water condiitoner in the trade doing this? Or maybe a medicine, i know they had issues with sick fish.. I'm at a loss here and haven't got a clue.. Bit it definitively turned blue..


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## zozo

Found it already..


> Methylene Blue may permanently color the silicone sealant in aquariums.



Strange stuff..


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## Parablennius

I'm pretty sure that methylene, blue, malachite green and other copper based meds dye silicone blue. Typed same time as you!


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## AverageWhiteBloke

I watched a youtube video once on Mark's Aquatics where he tends to do things on the cheap wherever possible. He was setting up a low budget shrimp tank using stuff he found in the wild and second hand gear that was being given away to show what could be achieved with very little £££ One thing he did say was to watch out for any blue staining on the silicone which meant meth blue had been used in the tank so if you couldn't get it off don't use it with shrimp obviously because of the copper. 


Sent from my STH100-2 using Tapatalk


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## Tim Harrison

That looks epic, the bottom of the wardrobe not only fits well it's the same sort of steampunk vibe.
And yes definitely stained by Methylene Blue. Are you thinking about cutting it out and resealing?
The pond shop next door can't start selling pond plants soon enough; looking forward to seeing this take shape asap.
As for creating a slope have you thought about using pumice...


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## akwarium

looks really cool!

I used pumice in a tank once, to find out that some of it floats... that did not improve my mood much at the time...  the second attempt did create a nice and stable slope covered with soil. So get rid of the flouting stuff on forehand or maybe crushed lavarock could be an alternative. A pond shop should sell both...


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## zozo

AverageWhiteBloke said:


> don't use it with shrimp obviously because of the copper.



You're saying it will indefinitively keep leaching copper back into the tank after it is used?..



Tim Harrison said:


> And yes definitely stained by Methylene Blue. Are you thinking about cutting it out and resealing?


If above is true i might beter do that?.. Dunno yet, wasn't realy planning life stock anyway. But some snails and shrimps would be the least i could take in consideration. Have to wait and see till it 100% established. As said this is going to be a darn long dry start to begin with.



Tim Harrison said:


> As for creating a slope have you thought about using pumice...



Yes i did  i guess that's about my only option.. I can stack it and glue it together. than top it off with a fine black gravel.. Also still have a bucket with black/brown cobbles i might use as hardscape. I was thinking of using pond plant baskets filled with alfa grog type substrate. Need to cut them into shape diagonaly.. 



 
And than create a diagonal retaining wall with pumice. Than fill up the rest with black gravel.

I see how that goes.. Never done something like that before..


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## mort

I've personally used tanks that have stained silicon from copper many times for shrimp and corals. The amount, if any, it will leach back into the water is pretty negligible and since you will be doing water changes, it becomes even less of a problem imo. The real issue with copper meds is if you use calcareous material or rocks that would have sucked it up as these do leach harmful levels back over time. 
I'd also consider shrimps need a little copper, it's in their blood to hold oxygen, so minimal leaching won't hurt in the slightest.

A lot of what's written on the Internet about it is old advice where people just pass it on and it becomes a well known misconception imo.

Looks a real cool project so looking forward to seeing it develop.


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## dw1305

Hi all,





zozo said:


> You're saying it will indefinitively keep leaching copper back into the tank after it is used?..





mort said:


> The amount, if any, it will leach back into the water is pretty negligible and since you will be doing water changes, it becomes even less of a problem imo. The real issue with copper meds is if you use calcareous material or rocks that would have sucked it up as these do leach harmful levels back over time.  I'd also consider shrimps need a little copper, it's in their blood to hold oxygen, so minimal leaching won't hurt in the slightest.


I have the same opinion as @mort. Because you've taken all the substrate out etc. I don't think it will be a problem, also it is a permanent stain, so nothing is leaking back into the tank now.

cheers Darrel


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## zozo

Still have a lot to do.. Orderd me a HOB filter with a right hand side inlet.. And have to bend me a PVC pipe for it to make it work as i want it to..  At least as i think it will.. Not yet sure of the size if the pipe, need to run some testing first.

Doing some tryouts whit what i have, the base idea is going to be this.



The filter will hang right hand side panel. So need to bend a pipe with sufficient diameter running through the substrate into the water part behind the right hand rock at the backpanel. The pipe will fill with water and level out with the same water level. The inlet from the HOB will hang in the pipe, thus also in the water. Just need to make sure the pipe is sufficient to handle the flow. But it will be a 300l/h HOB. That aint much flow. The water will run over the emersed part back. Like a little down hill stream.




Do the glue trick with the sigarette filter buts, to hold all rocks in place.. The plant roots should hold biggest part of  the slooped substrate in check. 




These rocks are broken cobbles, Dark Grey/rusty Browm patern.. But not sure if i'm going to use this.. Have time to look around a bit more.


----------



## rebel

OMG this is so epic! Such a period piece. Does it get direct sun? I can feel a massive emersed section coming on.


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## zozo

rebel said:


> Does it get direct sun?



Checking my compass the window is exactly south-east oriented. The left corner of the window faces east, the right corner fases south. And the tank stands with the back to the right angled east wall of it.. When the blinds stay open it will get direct sun from around 1pm till around 5pm. For the rest a lot of indirect daylight. 

I guess no need for any artificial lights. Till now the house plants that stood on that wardrobe bottom grew like mad all year round.

No lights, no heater and only a small hob to create a little circulation and water movement. But i'll keep non flooded till all plants are fully grown in. Especialy all that carpets the slopes Depending on the time this takes it might stay dry starting till next summer. I realy need the plant roots keeping it all from collapsing down on me..


----------



## zozo

Did look around for Black lava rocks.. But darn those LFS's are bonkers, they sell it for € 6.50 per kilo..  Than one big chunk easy is 1 kilo if not more.. I'm not going to spend a fortune that goes wholesale for 49 cents per kilo..

But i found the hardscape..  Actualy almost forgot i had it tugged away in a wooden chest for over 2 years. Back then i bought several batches of fossilized wood from ebay. I dug it up and diceded to use it. The texture isn't realy like the typical fossilized wood available.. It has a odd maily black and red color with traces of white. The texture more resambles a kind of lava rock, actualy it could be combined without creating a strange contrast.

Anyway the base structure is done so far. STill have a lot smaller pieces left to work on the details later on.



The voids are going to be filled with crushed filter lava i can get 9 litre for a few buck, with this i can easy bank it firmly up and top it off with a few cm of fine black gravel without all rolling down again. The water level later on will not be much higher than the lowest point of the baskets. There will be at least 5 to 6 cm of gravel above the water level at the left emersed side. The right side gradulay banking up .

I would like to pack it in layer by layer with lava chunks and substrate. Than there will no big chunks be seen at the glas front and side only fine black gravel.

The right side i created a steap cliff with the bigger rock pieces.. The big rock in the back has a verry ruff lava like texture with nooks and crannies. Ideal for mosses and a fern on top.  Everything still needs to filles with lava rocks at the back. Covering the see through gaps, maybe for some trailing plant. thinking of HC..




Left side detail..



 
The pipe for feeding the HOB filter will be situated like this, drawn into the pic with grey.. Need to bend it, so i can clean it with a wire brush. It will be hidden behind the rock far enough above the substrate and mask the emersed end with applying some kit and black gravel. The submeres side will be incased in stones simply looking like a small cave.. But than you have to watch around the corner.. It will not be seen. For the HOB i'll try to figur out a kind of cascading sructure. That's a worry for later when i get it. Will take a few weeks, ordered it from China..




Behind that bigger rock at the  left will be the filter inlet..


 
Now it's off to the LFS get me a few bags of crushed lava and substrate.  So i can fill it up and work on the hardscape details..


----------



## zozo

And sorry, i don't know why, But since childhood i oftenly mix up  left and right.. Even worse when someone asks me directions..  Than 10 minutes later i realise what i did wrong and feel sorry they got completely lost.. I guess it's an (self proclaimed or worse) ADD issue..   .. The H i lost somewhere down the road left or right..

But i guess also, you all catch where i'm going..  Right?


----------



## zozo

Continued as Journal <Here>


----------



## Kezzab

rebel said:


> I can feel a massive emersed section coming on.


Too much information.


----------

