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New 6ft frontosa tank build

18K views 39 replies 12 participants last post by  JimSparks 
#1 ·
Well as of today I have a new home for my frontosa here now. Currently sitting in the utility room till I get the spot in the office cleared and ready for it. First off a pic of the tank...

6ft x 18 x 23 (125-130g'ish)



Here's the plans for where it will be going....



Basically that back wall is a fake wall that is about 12" out in front of the actual back wall. The back wall behind it has 12" deep shelves built into it. So plans are to remove the fake front wall, tear out the shelves, then that will make it so the tank will fit back into the wall and will only stick out from the wall by about 6". Then I'll be rebuilding the wall around it so it is built in and have the top part of the wall hinged for tank work. Like all my builds this one will have a 3d background in it. Looking forward to doing this 6ft background. Lots of area to play with.
 
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#2 ·


Being one to not let grass grow under my feet, I decided to start tonight on tearing down the fake wall. All the bonsai trees are moved and already got the fake wall ripped out. Now I have a huge amount of stuff that has been on those shelves in storage and not seen the light of day in years to be carried from the basement up two levels to the attic so I can knock the shelves out to make room for the tank. These old knees will be sore from that soon.

Should be pretty cool once the tank is in place. Already looks a lot bigger back there with that fake wall gone now.
 
#3 ·
Make sure you post once it is all set up. Good luck!
 
#4 ·


Tons of work done today. Everything is moved out of the way and got the shelves ripped out. Managed to get the tank and stand wiggled out of the utility room and into place by myself (that was fun) and found I had about 1" too little room in the recessed opening. So had to do a little "modification" to the wall to fit it back against the wall. Long ways to go still but got more done in 24hrs than I expected to have done.
 
#5 ·
I think I really should see a doctor because I dunno what's wrong with me. I don't know why I can't just put a tank on a stand and be happy with it. Now after sitting and starring at this for a bit tonight I think I have a bit of a change in plans.

I think I may end up taking out the lower braces on the wood stand (red wavy line) and then rebuild the brace as more of a base under the legs and attach with metal L brackets. (new base would be red straight lines). That way it would raise the whole tank 4" higher as well as give me 26" of room under the 130g tank, which would be enough room to fit the 75g bleekeri tank in there (blue lines).

 
#6 ·




Got a lot of work done today. Raising and modifying the stand was a brutal job because of the way it was built plus not being able to take the tank off the stand while I was working on it, but 8 hrs later it's done.

Stand is modified and braced, new base for lower 75g tank built, foam under both tanks, leveled and filled with water for a 2nd leak test. Next will be building the wall in front and the 6ft 3d background for the main tank, but wont be able to start doing those till later next week once I get some other jobs done.
 
#8 ·
Thanks Deb. When I move the fronts out of the 75g they are currently in I'll be moving the FX5 that is on that tank over to this one. Then on the lower tank that will house a single 7" bleekeri I have so I'll be putting a fluval 304 that I have on that tank for him. Should be enough room to the right of the 75g tank for both filters which will then have an access door in the wall once it's built.
 
#11 ·




Well 1am and about 12 hrs worth of work done on it today so time to throw in the towel for the night I guess. Still have a lot to do but it's finally starting to take shape now and actually look like I envisioned. Can't wait to finish all the paint and trim work so I can get started on the 6ft 3D background for it. Got some cool plans for that.
 
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#14 ·




Got a little spare time today before I start a 3d background for a customer tomorrow so decided to get the lower 75g Bleekeri tank up and running. He now has his own tank but does have a roommate. The big red zebra who is as much of a troublemaker as the Bleekeri is in there with him. They were both in the same tank with my other fish for the past year so they get along together just fine, also put the big 7" Rhino pleco in with them as well.

Hopefully will be able to get to working on the background for the upper frontosa tank with in the next couple weeks. The wood in the upper tank is a piece I picked up at my local club auction yesterday for it, gonna be a nice fit for that tank.
 
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#15 ·


Finally got caught up enough with customer work that I have time this week to get back on my own tank. Was able to get the background laid out and roughed in today. Now onto the carving stage next. Hopefully will have this tank up and running with in the next two weeks is the plan.
 
#17 ·






Sleep is overrated ;) burned the midnight oil and spent the past 7 hrs carving away on this. Actually got all the carving done now tonight. Will be dryloking and painting in the morning so way ahead of schedule now. I really wanted this background to have some impact so I did some pretty massive rocks in some area that are as much as 5" thick so it is really going to have a lot of depth/3D look to it. I'm very pleased with how this one is looking.
 
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#18 ·










Moving along really well now. Have all the painting and shading done so all that's left on the background is to seal it tomorrow and then it will be ready to install permanently into the tank.
 
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#20 ·
Thanks. Intake will mounted on the right side panel and hidden with some wood & rock work, then I'll be building a spraybar that will tuck up against the top trim out of sight.
 
#21 ·


All sealed with Pond Armor and silicon'd into place in the tank and curing. Probably go pick up the sand today. Originally planned on black sand but think I have changed my mind and will be going with a tan color sand. I think that will look good with the background color and really bring out the colors of the Frontosa.
 
#22 ·


Picked up some slate today from Lowes. I wanted the rock work in the tank to match the background I made perfectly so bought some white'ish color slate and just got done painting/shading it in the same colors at the background. Just have to seal it and they will be ready for the tank.
 
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#23 ·
















More work done today. It is pretty much for the most part done new. All that's left is to do a few details things and route the cords better, then fill with water and move the group of frontosa and FX5 over and it'll be done. Really excited to get the fronts moved into it soon. This one has become probably my favorite tank I have owned to date.
 
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#25 ·


Thanks, should have the fronts moved into it probably with in the next week most likely. I use the playsand from Lowes which is pre-washed, I never do any extra rising of it. Here's a pic above from last night taken just 5 mins after filling with water, nice and clear.
 
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#26 ·
That's super clear! Now that I see everything together, good choice on the sand. Fits the background perfectly! Thanks for clearing up my thoughts about that btw. I'm about to do a shell dweller tank so now I know what to expect with the play sand. Is there a specific brand to look for or is all Play Sand usually a pretty safe substrate?
 
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