# Build thread for 46 Gal bowfront (DIY BG, Stand, ect.)



## DMWave45 (Jan 22, 2008)

Well my brother is getting married this fall and since he is the person who originally got me interested in fish, I'm making him a cichlid tank with DIY BG, stand, Lighting, and maybe UGJ.
I will be documenting everything with pictures of course and I'll certainly be asking questions, especially if I do jets. Any suggestions are completely welcome.

I picked up a 46 gallon bowfront yesterday, used for $50. Just a few tiny scratches on it. Came with a stand too but I'll be making a DIY one.
A little dirty but in good shape.


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## remarkosmoc (Oct 19, 2005)

What a good sibling. I'm going to forward this to my brother :lol:

I love watching DIY projects unfold, good luck opcorn:

Love the apartment by the way, reminds me of the good ol' days!


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## DMWave45 (Jan 22, 2008)

I went to home depot in search of styro and cement for the BG but I could only find the cement. I never knew there were so many types of quickrete...Which kind is best for DIY BG's? I got the fast drying kind...I wasn't sure.









:thumb:


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## DMWave45 (Jan 22, 2008)

I was finally able to find the foam I was looking for at Home Depot. I got a great deal on it because it was "damaged", but it's just barely. About $10 for 2'' thick by 4' by 5'. I'm cutting and gluing to sheets together so I have one 4'' think sheet.


















I'm hoping to start carving it out sometime tommorow. I plan on making some nice cave for hiding. My only concern is figuring out how to fit in the filtration. 1 AC 70 and a fluval canister. Also the heater.


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## DMWave45 (Jan 22, 2008)

Siliconed the two sheets together


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## DMWave45 (Jan 22, 2008)

i started carving out the background this morning. Not as easy as it looks but I'm going slow so it hopefully looks good. My goal with this BG is to create caves so I don't have to have as many rocks t make up for the loss of space from the BG. Still not sure how to integrate filters...any help would be greatly appreciated. :fish: Always, questions, suggestions, and comments are very welcome.


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

Hey dude, I woulda probably commented earlier but I hadn't seen the thread. I'm going through almost the exact same thing as you so maybe we can bounce some ideas off each other.

I'm doing a BG for my 120 gallon. Mine is going to be removeable though so I'm looking at using magnets to hold it in place. Its going to be in 3 sections that will hopefully butt up nicely together so you cant see the seem in it.

I also just finished my UGJ's. I love them. I'd suggest doing them and you can probably do it quicker than I did by benefitting from some of my errors. Let me know if you have questions about the UGJs if you do decide to go with it. I've got some unique ideas that have my UGJs working very well and keeping my substrate quite clean despite a couple dead spots *** created only because of the layout of my ornaments.

As for your quickcrete question. I'm not sure which one is best either. I'll probably be buying my quickcrete in the next two weeks or so if things go well, but it could be longer as I'm still designing my BG.

I too am having some caves but I'm forming them first by siliconing "boxes" that jut out from the BG wall and then just carving the square features of the styrofoam to something more cave like rather than carving a whole cave out. I dont have pictures yet cause my progress isnt quite where I want it to be for my first pictures yet. I'm maybe 15% done the background project at this point. I've got my firsts section almost structurally complete. Meaning that it hides my powerhead on one side of my tank but still doesnt look quite rock like enough for my liking. I'll be doing all the structure of it all then use "Great Stuff" to add more features so it looks rock like along with just carving the styrofoam. My base depth of my background is only 3/4" and the cave/powerhead covering section sticks out a good 10 inches or so but I've managed to make it look relatively natural. I'll post pics asap in the thread I started all about it:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... highlight=

If you do go with UGJs you should be planning this right now since you might want to integrate them into your background. My background is going to cover the powerheads that run my UGJs so my tank will look a lot more natural. I'm quite excited. So if you want to do the same I'd say do your UGJ's first before the BG. UGJ's dont take that long to make. My BG is going to take me at least 3 times as long I figure by the time Im done.

As for where to put your intakes and returns... Im struggling with this a little bit too but moreso just with the intakes and my water heaters. I have an AC 70 as well and it just will waterfall over the BG on the back. The two canister filters I have both have returns that will still overhang the tank and over the BG. One is just a flexible return like in fish stores and the other is a spray bar in the top side wall of my tank. Both will remain after the BG.

I'm thinking of having my intake tubes hidden behind my BG and eventually appearing, but camoflaged, at the depth they should be. I guess I'll just carve out an area where they'll have to exist. I dont want to hide them much more than that so that my water is still being circulated properly and debris can actually get to the intakes rather than finding its way through some small hole or something.

Anyways thats a long reply. Let me know what your thoughts are about it all.


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

Duplicate... Oops!


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## DMWave45 (Jan 22, 2008)

Thanks so much for the info. I checked out your thread, some good ideas there. I definitely like the idea of being abke to remove it, but I may still stick to the silicone. I'm starting to really think about doing UGJ's now but I'm not sure of what all I need and how much it will cost. This tank is a lot smaller than your so I imagine I won't need as much. I did just get an idea about the canister intakes though. I have a 72 gallon with an eheim pro II on it and i have an extension tht goes all the way to the bottom of the tank. So Maybe if one of those was used and the UGJ's were pushing debris towards that, it could be hidden under a cave in the back? Anything you can show me to get me started on the UGJ's would be great though. Again, thanks for the help :thumb: And good luck with yours.


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

I've submitted an article to the site about my UGJs thats pretty useful. If you PM me your email address I can send it to you since it hasnt been approved and added to the library yet. It has some pictures explaining how I made my UGJs along with the flow scoops which is different than anyone else so far that's made them as far as I understand.

If you look at my tanks on my profile too there is one pic with my tank empty and my UGJ network laying in the empty tank. I've since only added my flow scoops to improve my design and it now works really well.

Depending on what kind of powerhead you use to run your jets it'd probably set you back 50-80 bucks if you bought everything new. Theres a couple articles you can read in the DIY section of the library. I think you've probably read them but heres the links:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ug_jets.php

Here is another system you might consider since your tank is smaller:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... 68&start=0

You'll have to decide what you want to power your jets. My tank's footprint is 2x4 so yours Id guess is probably close to 1x4 so you could probably get away with 4 jets doing the job as long as you position them well. Here is a place you can buy pumps from, its quite cheap compared to going to your LFS.

http://www.kensfish.com/powerheads.html

I bought two cap 3600's for mine. I actually bought a smaller model but they were out of stock and shipped the 3600's for free so I got an even better deal. Was about 90 bucks including shipping to get my two cap 3600s.

I think I like about 175-200GPH of flow for each jet. So if you went with 4 jets Id probably get a pump that has near 800GPH to run it.

As for the design, just make sure two jets aren't "covering" the same area or they kind of cancel each other out. Id probably worry more about just making sure the jets are keeping all the water near the substrate moving ever so gently so debris cannot settle; I wouldnt worry a ton about making sure that the jets ALSO channel the debris directly to your intakes. If the jets keep debris off the ground it'll just eventually get back there on its own.

Other than that its really simple to make the jets. I might also add that I'd order my pump first and see what kind of attachments and what kind of piping will work best for it. The cap 3600's had some really nice fittings that were for a different pipe than my system. I wish I would have just waited but its not a big deal either way. The Cap 3600s I think have a 1/2' Diameter on their pipes on the inside and the overall diameter including the actual pipe is probably like 18/32". Its quite thin. But if you decide not to go with their fittings then theres always gonna be parts you can buy that will work. Its hard to explain haha.

What kind of substrate is going to be in the tank? If you're going with sand the UGJs are reallllllly helpful. I switched from gravel to sand with this new 120 Gallon setup and without the UGJs It'd be hard to clean the substrate without sucking up half a cup or more of sand every cleaning. The UGJs help it so I dont have to syphon right off the sand very often at all. I just have to worry about stirring the sand every so often.


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## DMWave45 (Jan 22, 2008)

Ohhh excellent. I think I'm really getting a good idea of what to do now. The tank is 36'' by and average of 14''(since it bows). Are the CAP's quiet? Do you think if I just did three jets on a CAP 1200 it would work out pretty well? Also how big are these CAP's? I just want to get an idea of where to put it in the background. This is really sounding great. Thanks a ton for all the help.


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

Yeah Id say a 1200 could handle 3 jets. I know that those ones dont have the ceramic shaft though Im not really sure how beneficial this is, I just know any pumps that have it communicate it as a benefit.

The Cap's are known to be quiet, it has a similar hum to any filter but it definitely doesnt sound loud. It sounds like a normal aquarium with just a very subtle hum but I dont even mind it especially cause my filters already have a very slight hum anyways.

As for the size of the 1200, Im not entirely sure. Id guess its prob like 4"x4" or so or 4x2 I cant really say for sure but my 3600 is about 8x4 after you factor in the suction cups that hold it to the wall and have it stick out a bit more. If you didnt put these on and attached it to the glass another way then itd be smaller still. The suction cups that come with these pumps are the best *** ever seen too. I hada hard time getting it off the dang wall when I needed to take measurements for my BG so that I can hide them. Keep me posted. I'll hopefully be adding more pics to my thread sometime this weekend if things go well and I figure out how to use photobucket.


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

Oh yeah, another plus to the CAP pumps is they have an adjustable flow rate lever if for some reason your jets do ever run too powerful and you want to turn them down just a titch. Make sure you use the provided hardware if you want that adjustable flow though.


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## DMWave45 (Jan 22, 2008)

I bought some PVC a couple days ago and started working on my UGJ's. I got 1/2'' PVC, it may not work, but I thought I would try it anyways. all the PVC and fittings only cost me about $4 so not a big loss if I have to re-do it. I'm not sure at all how to do the jet parts, any suggestion?


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

Is that a pic of the system you've built? That article I put a link to at the top explains how to do the jets. Another word of advice is to make them only come up just enough to they dont protrude too far. Mine come up a bit further than I'd like. I'd also say that putting some silicon on them and then sprinkling sand onto it is also worth while to help camoflage them.

1/2 piping will almost for sure work, you'll just have to find an adaptive fitting to attach it to the pump, worst case scenario you could just silicone one on or something if it doesnt fit real snug.


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

Any updates DMWave?


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## cichlid-fan (Sep 18, 2007)

Wus goin' on man lets getta done! :-?


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## DMWave45 (Jan 22, 2008)

Hey sorry I haven't updated in so long. I just haven't had much time lately to work on it so progress has been slow. I do however, have all the holes cut in the bg for the filter intakes, outputs, powerhead, and heater. I have done a fairly good job in hiding them so that they will be almost impossible to see. I will be posting some pictures either tonight or tommorow. :thumb:


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## cichlid-fan (Sep 18, 2007)

Hurry and post those pictures! Can't wait to see your progress :drooling:


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

Just make sure the heaters have good circulation around them so they adequately heat the water and also that they dont effect the BG at all.

I should have more updates on my thread on Tuesday as it's Canada Day up here in Canada and I'll have the day off and its suppose to rain.


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## DMWave45 (Jan 22, 2008)

Sorry it took so long but pictures are finally here. The first one is the back of the bg showing how I'm hiding the filters, powerhead, and heater. They all have holes going through to the front but they should be virtually impossible to see.









The second picture is of the completed front in 3 sections so i can fit them into the tank. I did a test fit and I had to shave some off to get it all the way in but it didn't effect the look. I found my best tools were a serated kitchen knife, and soldering iron, and a small torch. Burning this stuff is probably toxic so I wouldn't recomend it but it looks awesome and works great.









I will be concreting this baby tommorow night and more pictures will be on the way. I plan to mix acrylic fortifier mixed with the cement and also a brown cement coloring to add different shades.
In other news, I figured out how I'm going to do the lighting in an inexpensive and very effective way :thumb: . But more on that when after the bg is finished.
Any reccomendations are welcome.


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

Which of the three slots is going to hold the heater? I REALLY want to hide my heater but I'm just not confident I'll get proper water heating if its hidden. I need a current running through the heater all the time for this to work. I'm still kind of thinking of a way to do it. I dont want a dead zone where heated water is around the heater all the time causing it to think the water is at the proper temperature.


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## DMWave45 (Jan 22, 2008)

The biggest hole on the far right will have the heater and the powerhead below it. I have three places for water to flow in there and my thinking is that the powerhead will suck water from there creating some decent water movement. If it doesn't work out I'll just end up putting the heater outside the bg.
I put on the first coat of cement last night and I plan to put on another coat tonight if that is okay. It looking good and it wasn't too hard to put on with a paint brush.


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## booba5 (May 3, 2008)

hey you i was looking in another bg thread and found this link for an inline heater, just food for thought
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... ine+heater


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

haha i was gonna suggest the inline heater too. Not sure if DMWave has the time to do it though since this is for his brother before his wedding, correct? I think I'll be doing the inline heater eventually. It sounds real simple.


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## mccluggen (Jul 5, 2008)

On that background of yours, skip the regular concrete, get mason mix or quickwall. I just got finished building a DIY background myself, and got regular concrete the first go around. I had trouble getting it to adhere to the foam because of the gravel and large grade sand in it. I also hear (and this is purely friend of a friend type rumor) that the gravel used in some concrete can be made from mining rubble which can contain heavy metals.

I went back and got some mason mix because it is just cement and fine grade sand. Did much better for me. I added some peat moss to the cement mix for a bit of texture on the final coat.


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

Cool!

I love working with the foam.

I use it for almost every BG I do from my Reptiles and Amphibians Terrariums to my Aquariums.

Hopefully I will be doing a new one soon and can post but I suck at taking aquarium pics..lol!

I get the thick harder type of foam from the craft stores. I glue two pieces together so it makes it a bit thicker and then I simply carve out rock patterns with a grill lighter or candle. I just have to do it outside and wear a mask so I don't inhale anything bad.


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

Double post sorry I had a issue :wink:


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## barbarian206 (Apr 2, 2008)

the gravel that is mostley used in concrete is blue stone or pea gravel :fish: :fish:


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

Sorry for the noob question but what is the purpose and benefits of a UGJ or USJ? Is it basically a Under Gravel Filter system or am I totally wrong?


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## DMWave45 (Jan 22, 2008)

A undergravel jet system is actually kind of the opposite of a UGF. The UGJ's are designed to keep any fish debris off of the substrate in an effort to keep gravel vaccuuming to a minimum. Some people have said that a well designed UGJ system can totally eliminate the need for vaccuuming. This is my first attempt at one so I'm anxious to try it out.


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

I see. I have been scanning this site all day and cant get enough. I just joined today and kind of jumped the gun on that question.

I got to the DIY's and figgured out what it was just a little while ago.

Neat idea, I cant belive I never heard of it before.


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## DMWave45 (Jan 22, 2008)

Over the last week I have been slowly concreting the background. I started with a very thin base coat of uncolored cement. I then waited 24 hrs and sprayed it with water a couple times while it dried before applying another thin coat of cement with brown cement coloring. After 24 hours and more spraying more I mixed a thicker batch of cement and added even more coloring to achieve a darker brown. I then waited 3 days while spraying it down a couple times each day. My final coat I mixed the cement fairly thin and added the most ammount of coloring.

I spred this cement in random places to add shading and color differences. The multitude of shades in the cement certainly add to the realisticness of the bg and it is well worth the effort. For all four coats of cement I added acrylic fortifier with hopes to waterproof the cement somewhat.

I experimented with drylok but I discovered, contrary to what I've read, that it is almost impossible to dye and even adding half a bottle of brown cement dye, it was no where close to brown. The bg may not last as long as it would with drylok, but I think I applied the cement in a way in which it should last for a pretty long time.

My plan is to silicone the whole bg in sometime today now that it's finally going to fit in the tank right. (I had to trim off edges in certain spots in order to have it all be flush against the back of the tank).

This is a picture of the bg sitting outside ready for me to put it into the tank.









Any questions, comments, or concerns are welcome.


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

Looks great man. You've been very diligent in getting it done. Now that I'm back in town I'm hoping to be concreting mine by the end of the month. I've got so many projects on the go though that it might have to take a back burner spot as this is just a hobby and my other projects are part of my life. Its been a long time coming but I'll get 'er done. I always finish my projects.


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## DMWave45 (Jan 22, 2008)

Hey thanks Ebola. Can't wait to see more progress on yours.

I actually started the hood last weekend and I now have it painted. I used 1/4'' plywood from one big sheet that cost about $8. I cut it down nailed and glued it together and sanded the edges to make it look finished. Now I'm just waiting to wire it and I will be done with the hood.

Here is a pic from right after I finished sanding it and before I painted it.









I will be posting more pictures of the hood tommorow and pictures of the bg that I glued into the tank last week.

If anyone has questions on how I did the hood feel fre to ask. It was quick and easy and it only cost me the $8 for the wood.


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

whens the whole project suppose to be done by? You've been working quite fast. Have you got the pumps for the UGJs yet?


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## DMWave45 (Jan 22, 2008)

I hope to get the whole project done in the next two weeks. As long as it's done in a month though it will be ok. I did get the pump for the jets and it works great. Thanks for reccomending that site, and that brand. 
I worried about how long the backgroung would last with only the exposed concrete so I decided to add a thin layer of silicone over the entire thing. This should help to extend the life of it and it will not change the look at all. It does look wierd out of water but once submerged, it looks exactly the same.


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

I like your shading, Im definitely going to do this once I get around to concreting mine. Holy its been a long couple months building mine. I think its like 2-3 times the size though so I guess it makes sense  I still got a fair bit to do. Maybe this weekend Ill get some done though I kinda doubt it cause the weather report looks spectacular so I'll likely head to the lake or something instead haha


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## R-DUB (Jun 3, 2007)

color looks cool. Good job. Do you think that the UGJ will vibrate from the water flow? I have a worry of that on my own. Good Luck
:thumb:


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