# AquaTerra Slimline Mesa Rockwall



## citizen clive

Just got two pieces of the AquaTerra Slimline Mesa Rockwall, each piece is 20" x 18". Not sure if Iâ€™m going to put it in a regular 20 gal or a 20 gal long. It is a lot sturdier I thought it would be, Iâ€™m very impressed with the quality of the product. Also purchased one of the small rock caves, 12" L x 41/2" W x 5" H. Iâ€™ll post some pictures once I get it installed, or not if I mess it up 

Clive


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## Philg

Where did you buy the background?
Thanks
Phil


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## citizen clive

I got then from http://www.aquariumhabitats.com no brick and mortar store just online sales. The two sheets came very well packaged, I was worried about them getting damaged in the mail, but after seeing how well they were packaged thereâ€™s not much chance of that happening.

Clive


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## kfig7

I am using the Slimline Mesa Rock in my mbuna tank. It looks great. You shouldn't have a problem installing it. It's pretty simple. Good Luck.


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## Philg

It looks fantastic. Is it flush against the back glass?


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## TrashmanNYC

kfig7 said:


> I am using the Slimline Mesa Rock in my mbuna tank. It looks great. You shouldn't have a problem installing it. It's pretty simple. Good Luck.


nice, what size tank is that?


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## Curator

nice...I like that stuff...


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## kfig7

Philg said:


> It looks fantastic. Is it flush against the back glass?


Yes its flush against the back glass.

Tank is a Perfecto 120XH (60 x 18 x 26)

I like the slimline because it doesn't take up much room in the tank like the other backgrounds do but still looks nice. (a lot cheaper to) If I could do it over though, I'd probably go with the canyon rock. It only extends 2-4 Inches off the back and you could hide all the plumbing. I'm happy with what I have though


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## TrashmanNYC

kfig7 said:


> Philg said:
> 
> 
> 
> It looks fantastic. Is it flush against the back glass?
> 
> 
> 
> Yes its flush against the back glass.
> 
> Tank is a Perfecto 120XH (60 x 18 x 26)
> 
> I like the slimline because it doesn't take up much room in the tank like the other backgrounds do but still looks nice. (a lot cheaper to) If I could do it over though, I'd probably go with the canyon rock. It only extends 2-4 Inches off the back and you could hide all the plumbing. I'm happy with what I have though
Click to expand...

thanks, where did you pick it up from?


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## kfig7

I bought mine from www.aquascapeonline.com but there are many places you can order them from. Even ebay has some nice prices.

I also have 2 new 30 x 20 aquaterra canyon rock backgrounds sitting around that I may sell for cheap. If interested send me a pm.


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## Curator

*checks website* :x **** thats pricey stuff,lol Even with a discount I doubt I could ever afford that stuff,lol, looks really cool though


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## freshwater100

kfig,

Thats a great looking tank, I also order the Tanga in Grey Color.

Do you need to cut the halfs and then joined them in the tank, and if you did how you cut it like ziz zag, plus what is that brown stuff on the rocks, is that peat moss, sand or the tank is Cycling.

Do you have latest pics.


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## ccla

citizen clive said:


> I got then from http://www.aquariumhabitats.com no brick and mortar store just online sales. The two sheets came very well packaged, I was worried about them getting damaged in the mail, but after seeing how well they were packaged thereâ€™s not much chance of that happening.
> 
> Clive


I also ordered from http://www.aquariumhabitats.com and can confirm that they pack very well. I ordered a Tnganyika Brown and I was amazed at how well they packaged. Here are a couple of pictures that show the packaging:



















There was absolutely no damage to the background.


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## kfig7

Nice background ccla. Thats going to look great.

Heres my updated pics. The brown stuff was diatoms which are now gone so everything looks a little cleaner.


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## freshwater100

ccla,

Thats a nice background and it is packed good. I also order from them and mine will be here on monday, I got the Grey since he sold the last Tan, that might be you who got it.

Mine will be going in the 90G and I will use Black 3M Quartz S-Grade.
I am just waiting for the background so I can start putting it in.
My Stand is same as yours Black.


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## Sshhyguy

With the canyon rock , when you join two pieces together do they match up very well ? Is the seam an eye sore?


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## kfig7

Not sure about the canyon rock but the slimline mesa rock fit like a puzzle.


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## freshwater100

I am also trying to find out the best way to join two pieces, I read somewhere that try to cut uneven like a jigzaw puzzle, but how you joined them, do you put Silicone GE I at the back or between or in the front. I also read that someone put some matching sand on the Silicone to match the background.


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## ccla

freshwater100 said:


> ccla,
> 
> Thats a nice background and it is packed good. I also order from them and mine will be here on monday, I got the Grey since he sold the last Tan, that might be you who got it.
> 
> Mine will be going in the 90G and I will use Black 3M Quartz S-Grade.
> I am just waiting for the background so I can start putting it in.
> My Stand is same as yours Black.


freshwater100, I am really impressed with the quality of the background and the packaging. I could not find a single blemish.

And I might have been the guy who got the last one. When I talked to Chip he told me he had two left.


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## ccla

freshwater100 said:


> I am also trying to find out the best way to join two pieces, I read somewhere that try to cut uneven like a jigzaw puzzle, but how you joined them, do you put Silicone GE I at the back or between or in the front. I also read that someone put some matching sand on the Silicone to match the background.


I think I am going to remove the trim from the aquarium, rather than split the background.


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## freshwater100

ccla said:


> I think I am going to remove the trim from the aquarium, rather than split the background.


If you can do that that will be the best way to install the background, I saw one post here where one guy try to do that and he ends up breaking the top trim and he had to buy the trim.
Chip told me dont do it its not that easy and I am not that good with tools either.
But if you are good with tools then you should try that method.

I saw one tip from an older post that they use the background trimming (when you cut the extra sides and top) to glue on top of the line where two half meets, like they peel off the real background from the foam and paste it on the Silicone glue to give a natural look. I might try that too.


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## ccla

freshwater100 said:


> I saw one tip from an older post that they use the background trimming (when you cut the extra sides and top) to glue on top of the line where two half meets, like they peel off the real background from the foam and paste it on the Silicone glue to give a natural look. I might try that too.


That is a thought. But I was going to use the trimmings to hide my wavemaker. I will have to think more about it.


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## SoDakJeep

if you do cut it make sure to cut at an angle / so the line wont be as noticeable. when you glue them together also if you want spread out silicone in a thin layer and then cover with your substrate. Good luck and post some pics when you get it complete.


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## freshwater100

I got my background in Grey and as ccla mention before in perfect condition and a great shipping packaging. I already install it and waiting for it to dry. The hardest part was to join the 2 halfs as compare to the bottom and sides but it wasent that bad and I am not good with tools and silicone. I did cut it at an angle to give some natural look and use GE Silicone I Clear 
gel. First I cut it in half, then glue the half, then glue the bottom then glue the sides.
I did not put any sand on the silicone because I was not able to find any grey color sand to really match with the background so I leave it like that and its not that bad since i use the clear gel. My tank is 90G so its 24" in height but the background was 23" so I have 1 inch of space left at the top. I think i will keep my water level at 1/8" below the background top. If its been 23 1/2" it would have been perfect. I will test it today with water if its dries out.

I took lots of pic and will be posting them soon.


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## freshwater100

see the link for the background pics.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... 90#1306490


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## npg3

I have a 36" section in between my overflows, can I get a modular piece to attach to the Slimline to give a bit more 3-D appearance?

I think I will go with this since I can cut it and place it around my overflows.


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## freshwater100

My piece is 48" long and can be cut easily in any lengths you want.
Same will be true for Malawi background mine is Tanganyika.
Do you want to hide your overflow, if you do you can do that also by putting the background infront of the overflow, remember that Malawi has a 12" depth at certain places and Tanganyika has 8". What is your tank size and if you have 24" depth then you will have no problem but if you have 18" then it will be crowded to put the background infront of the overflow.
What kind of overflow you have built in in or hang back...


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## ccla

freshwater100 said:


> ccla said:
> 
> 
> 
> I think I am going to remove the trim from the aquarium, rather than split the background.
> 
> 
> 
> If you can do that that will be the best way to install the background, I saw one post here where one guy try to do that and he ends up breaking the top trim and he had to buy the trim.
> Chip told me dont do it its not that easy and I am not that good with tools either.
> But if you are good with tools then you should try that method.
> 
> I saw one tip from an older post that they use the background trimming (when you cut the extra sides and top) to glue on top of the line where two half meets, like they peel off the real background from the foam and paste it on the Silicone glue to give a natural look. I might try that too.
Click to expand...

Freshwater, I finally got around removig the top from the tank (see here towards the bottom http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... highlight=) and I can tell you that it is a lot of work.

First it takes forever to remove the trim. Once the trim is off, it is very time consuming to remove the silicone from the glass. Let me tell you, a blade does not take all of the silicone off on the first pass. You need to scrape and scrape and.... you get the drift. 
Then to remove the silicone on the edge of the pane the blade does not work (I mean the blade will take off most of it, but it will not take all of it off). I had to carefully use sand paper for that.

Then you have to remove the silicone that is stuck to the trim, and that is what I am going to do now...


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## freshwater100

ccla,

glad to see you took the top out now at least you dont have to cut that thing in half.
Keep on updating as you progress.

I have mine running for more then 2 weeks now pics are posted on this link with fishes.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... 52#1315652


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## ccla

Freshwater,

I have been following that thread. Your tank looks awesome.

On another matter, I got off-white substrate and I am wondering if it is going to look good. I will definitly post as I go along, although my pace is not as fast as yours.


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## Trawler

recently rescaped my tank with the AquaTerra Malawi Rock background


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## cichlids _killer

anyone know how this slimwall can fix to a tank with 24" height?? it seen like this type of BG only make to 20" height


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## patrickeriksson

cichlids _killer said:


> anyone know how this slimwall can fix to a tank with 24" height?? it seen like this type of BG only make to 20" height


Hi,

The tallest slimline (Mesa Rockwall) is 22" and is ment for 24" tall tanks. Since a tank that is 24" on the outside is usually 23" or less on the inside it will fit.


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## John7429

Very nice :thumb:


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## cichlids _killer

patrickeriksson said:


> cichlids _killer said:
> 
> 
> 
> anyone know how this slimwall can fix to a tank with 24" height?? it seen like this type of BG only make to 20" height
> 
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> The tallest slimline (Mesa Rockwall) is 22" and is ment for 24" tall tanks. Since a tank that is 24" on the outside is usually 23" or less on the inside it will fit.
Click to expand...

hi 
sorry i didn't get what u mean ...my tank 72 X24X24 ....anywhere in or out side the tank still 24" with this BG is only 22" we short 2" for the 24" tall tank ...unless we put the BG all the way to the top and let the 2" sand bed cover the 2"short in the bottom ..


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## cholile

if only these were less expensive! they look great.


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## freshwater100

cichlids _killer said:


> patrickeriksson said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> cichlids _killer said:
> 
> 
> 
> anyone know how this slimwall can fix to a tank with 24" height?? it seen like this type of BG only make to 20" height
> 
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> The tallest slimline (Mesa Rockwall) is 22" and is ment for 24" tall tanks. Since a tank that is 24" on the outside is usually 23" or less on the inside it will fit.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> hi
> sorry i didn't get what u mean ...my tank 72 X24X24 ....anywhere in or out side the tank still 24" with this BG is only 22" we short 2" for the 24" tall tank ...unless we put the BG all the way to the top and let the 2" sand bed cover the 2"short in the bottom ..
Click to expand...

Your Tank is 24" Tall from outside but from inside its 23" so a 22" BG will fit perfect you can leave 1" on top since you dont fill the water all the way up, or leave 1/2" from top and bottom.
then put some foam and cover it with sand in the bottom. But If I were you I will leave 1" from the Top that is much easier and just keep the water level 1/8" below the top.


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## cichlids _killer

freshwater100 said:


> cichlids _killer said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> patrickeriksson said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> cichlids _killer said:
> 
> 
> 
> anyone know how this slimwall can fix to a tank with 24" height?? it seen like this type of BG only make to 20" height
> 
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> The tallest slimline (Mesa Rockwall) is 22" and is ment for 24" tall tanks. Since a tank that is 24" on the outside is usually 23" or less on the inside it will fit.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> hi
> sorry i didn't get what u mean ...my tank 72 X24X24 ....anywhere in or out side the tank still 24" with this BG is only 22" we short 2" for the 24" tall tank ...unless we put the BG all the way to the top and let the 2" sand bed cover the 2"short in the bottom ..
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Your Tank is 24" Tall from outside but from inside its 23" so a 22" BG will fit perfect you can leave 1" on top since you dont fill the water all the way up, or leave 1/2" from top and bottom.
> then put some foam and cover it with sand in the bottom. But If I were you I will leave 1" from the Top that is much easier and just keep the water level 1/8" below the top.
Click to expand...

you guys was right ...my bad i'm sorry


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## bimmer88

kfig7 said:


> Nice background ccla. Thats going to look great.
> 
> Heres my updated pics. The brown stuff was diatoms which are now gone so everything looks a little cleaner.


Can i ask how you got the diatoms to go away?? my pangea background is now covered in it


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## kfig7

bimmer88 said:


> kfig7 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Nice background ccla. Thats going to look great.
> 
> Heres my updated pics. The brown stuff was diatoms which are now gone so everything looks a little cleaner.
> 
> 
> 
> Can i ask how you got the diatoms to go away?? my pangea background is now covered in it
Click to expand...

Good old Bristlenose Pleco. Just one of them in my 120 gallon took care of the problem in a week.


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## bimmer88

none of the LFS's around here had bristlenose in stock so i just got two sailfins instead... hope this works..


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