# 125 gallon Background; First attempt



## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

Well, here goes. This is my first post and first attempt at a BG. I have spent about the last 3 months or so just reading and researching. I bought a 55 gallon for my children and we picked out our first fish, 2 SA/CA Cichlids. Well needless to say, after only a couple of days, I was HOOKED! I would spend hours upon hours after work online, researching anything and everything I could about this new found wonder. Within 2 months I was already looking to go bigger and better. After about a month of "discussion" with the wife, we agreed on a 125 gallon, which we just picked up 2 days ago and would like to share my experience with the "experts" on here, hoping for constructive critisizim and advice. I am pretty much 100% new to all of this and cannot believe I have never been involved in such a hobby until now!

The tank sitting in the garage:









The styrofoam used:









2" thick stryo used, 71 inches x 21 inches. Used 4 layers for 8" thick:









Numbered from back to front so once I went to peeling all the plastic film off, I would not forget which order I had them in for the best fit:









Styro all siliconed together and curing in the garage:









2nd post of DAY 2 coming next!


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

Just getting started on the carving:









About halfway done carving:









Side view to show depth:









Almost done carving it out:







That is a big mess!!

Finally done carving:









Full piece side view to show depth:









WHAT A MESS, good thing the wife is asleep!


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

And tomorrow starts the DRYLOK! glad i have the day off work!!


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

Oh yea, forgot....This was my "reference" pic...the ROCKY IV...:


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## ksk_che_che (Sep 26, 2007)

Looks like you made a mess and are about to make a master piece. What type of filtration are you going to run and how are you going to incorporate it into the backgound? Also cant wait to see what color combos you are going to do with the drylok. opcorn:

Are you going to make any center piece rocks that sit on the bottom?

P.S. Nice camo truck box :thumb:


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## PauloSilva (Apr 17, 2006)

Let me just say that this thing is going to look AWESOME. As far as the detail in the carving is concerned it's one of the best I've ever seen.

I have a 125g as well and I've always worried about doing a background because of losing the depth (front to back). It's only 18" so I'll be interested to see how this plays out.

Again great job.


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

Looks really good! I am impressed! :thumb:

I think it may turn out better than mine... :x :lol:

Looks very close to the inspiring background so far good job! =D>

Can't wait to see some fish in this one :fish: 
opcorn:


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

*** spent most of the morning fine tuning the upper half so that I can get good water flow from my filters, I currently plan on starting it out with 2 established aquaclear 110 HOB, just cant spring for a canister or 2 right now... I got the filter intake areas carved out today as well, PICTURES TO FOLLOW within a couple of hours. For those with experience with canisters, will the areas that I have carved out behind the BG be suitable when I make the switch to canister filters...guess you'll have a better response once you see the pics!

Thanks for all the good words.....  , oh yea, and as for the front to back of tank length on the 125....Yes i did want to get a 180 gallon with the 24 inches, but the max points on the background are only out to 7-8 inches. so a good 10 inches in front....to bad my driftwood from my 55 gallon wont fit in with this BG.


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

DAY 3!!!
Fine tuning on Height and Length, made sure everything fit snug. Cut and carved out the filter intakes. Base coat of DRYLOK applied. I varied the coloring of each piece just to see what I like, and will be modified later with futher coats of DRYLOK.

Everything fits! just got lucky...









Had to cut it into 5 sections due to the tank having 2 braces across the top....and one of my Huskies saying whats up.









Filter intake area opened up









Close up of the Intake tube from the back:









Everything back in place in the tank, making sure the intake areas are to displeasing:









Another view:









This is the DRYLOK I used along with QUICKCRETE coloring charcoal:









After the base layer applied:









Same thing different angle, and hopefully the varying colors from each piece wont be too much of an issue with additional layers later on:









And the mess from todays activities:


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## stouty109 (May 13, 2009)

lookin good man


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

Being completely new to this entire hobby, are the dual aquaclear 110's sufficient for awhile with 125 gallons, or should I wait to begin cycling the tank until I can get at least one canister?


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

they are fine. good mechanical filtration. i love my ac 110. canisters are dead silent and less intrusive. the 110 does 500gph, so ud be turning over the water about 8-9x per hour. this should be fine. others may tell u that u need more, but i think ull be good.


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

cool, right now i have the 2 aquaclear 110's both running in my 55 gal. 
I hope that the angle of the top of this background is enough for good water circulation from the HOB's. The wife says I better make do with what I have on hand for now!

As far as maintenance, which one is easier or user friendly....I am always gone on deployments or trips somewhere and my wife will be maintaining the tank while I am gone, I do 15% water changes twice a week and clean filter as per instructions, but from the "pro's" on here, which would be easier for her to handle. If i do not end up going the canister route, I will purchase one more additional AC 110 for a total of three filters for this new tank. All out of attempting to keep things as simple for my wife as possible. With 2 dogs, 2 children and a husband who has always "just got home" or is "getting ready to leave", the new fish hobby of mine is one more thing she will be responsible for taking care of while I am not home.


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## Malawi_Junkie (Nov 26, 2009)

Very nice work, can't wait to see it finished. :thumb:


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

DAY 4!!!
Went to Nashville today and then took the wife out to dinner, but she deserved it, she suprised me with this:







I'll use this to supplement the 110s, hopefully using the AC's for primarily mechanical filtration and use the canister for good bacterial filtration...any thoughts on this???

So once I finally got home didnt get started working till about 7 pm. Tonight I used the quickcrete dyes: charcoal and buff to get the first detail layer of DRYLOK on:










Close up to get an idea of the color:









Long view:









top view:









Close of of detail in the rocks:









real close, could get the brown on some of the down deep black in the cracks, it was still wet from a second coat of base layer:









last one of the night:


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

Very nice, keep up the good work. Definitely gonna inspire some people in here.


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## Pali (Dec 22, 2009)

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

Very nice looking BG

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

@ mighty and all other's who have shared their creations: I've spent a good amount of time inspired by your creativity. I wouldnt have had the determination to complete one of these projects if it hadnt been for so many others posting their amazing creativness and handi-work.

And thank you for compliments, At first with just they base layer on I was really worried about a number of spots on the BG looking like.....well, like painted styrofoam. But this feeling was immediately gone when I started using the techniques taught by "mightyevil" to apply the detail and coloring he achieved in "BG #8"(which was spectacular by the way)


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## kitana8 (Jan 20, 2010)

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb: 
Awesome! It's not even finished and your background is up there with my favorites of all time! Wow! Can't wait to see the result with the paint finished and the water in!


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## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

Your doing a Fantastic Job Tnfishfan! I can't wait to see when you have it all done and in the tank with the water. Keep up the great work bro!!! :thumb: :thumb:


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## ilikemyusername (Mar 1, 2010)

wow. just... wow.


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## zazz (Apr 5, 2008)

TNFISHFAN said:


> DAY 4!!!
> Went to Nashville today and then took the wife out to dinner, but she deserved it, she suprised me with this:
> 
> 
> ...


i know its not a constuctive comment since its already done.. but the rock looks far more natural with the smooth finish.. the nobbly bits just kill it for me... like some artex ceiling.


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

I completly agree, after I got the base coat on I was very disappointed with several of spots that simply looked like painted foam, the spots I had carved with a "hot wire cutter" looked great. I actually went to home depot the next morning and bought a handheld propane torch in an attempt to texturize the stryo that had already been painted. The attempt failed miserably! Oh well, live and learn :wink:


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

On the flip side though, the smooth parts were harder to get the detail paint layer looking good while the nobby stryo caught good contrast with the lighter detail layer and the black base coat, if that makes any sense....


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## zazz (Apr 5, 2008)

having looked at exposed rock the thing that always impresses me is that it has this majestic quality like it has been formed over centuries of wear .. and as such little inverted dimples do not have any place in that rock.. they would have been worn smooth a long long time ago.

up until that point what you did was really excellent!


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

honestly, only when u show the closeup does the dimples really show up. from a safe distance it still looks amazing. Only if u put ur face right next to it does the dimples become apparent. I still think it looks amazing and think the last few posts have been a little overly critical. I would rock that background all day! I wish I could make one myself, but I overstock my mbuna and need all the space I can get, lol


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

This right here looks amazing, l think it looks like old wet rock hanging from a cliff next to a cascade... just my opinion










Either way, whether it is something everyone likes, some people like or nobody likes, this is your first background, imagine what the next one will look like now that you developed some ideas on "do's and donts" (I imagine).

I myself... am in the LIKE crowd! =D>


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

Thanks for all the support, I had to make trip to Little Rock yesterday, headed back to TN today. Bummer I had to skip a day of working on the BG.
As for the diferences of opinion on the rock look, different strokes for different folks!

After I painted the brown onto the BG, I was in awe of what I had created, having never attempted any kind of artsy or crafty project before. Up until that point I was sure that all these other backgrounds that people had made were with some special insight and tools that I did not have. Ha, turns out a kitchen knife and some paint go a long way.

Anyways, so my next idea which I would like some feedback on if this is possible, to "hollow" out large sections of the background with the propane torch to give me back some more water volume I lose with this size of a background. I would leave "columns" still jutting out about 2 inches in width to silicone to the back of the tank, along with siliconing the bottom. This way a much less amount of water is sacrificed to the BG?

Any issues structurally? Or any other things I may be overlooking.


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

Oh yea, forgot about something you all might find entertaining/halarious: this is just how borderline obssesed I am with finishing this background,

Had a dream last night that I got out of the military and opened up an aquatic shop and teamed up with "evil" and we started cranking these bad boys out and became the most popular aquascaping company in the U.S.

Think I need therapy?....my wife thinks so!!


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## SuperBro (Feb 22, 2010)

=D>

Very nice so far...can' wait for the finished product. You've given me some ideas for my upcoming 1st build.

opcorn:


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

TNFISHFAN said:


> Oh yea, forgot about something you all might find entertaining/halarious: this is just how borderline obssesed I am with finishing this background,
> 
> Had a dream last night that I got out of the military and opened up an aquatic shop and teamed up with "evil" and we started cranking these bad boys out and became the most popular aquascaping company in the U.S.
> 
> Think I need therapy?....my wife thinks so!!


LOL... I usually daydream while at work about stuff like that :lol:

No, you do not need therapy because if you do then I would need it too and I dont want therapy.

So you are in the military? What branch? I was in the Marines from July 2002 through December 2006.


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

Well, Im pretty sure my amateur craftsmanship are about to blow up in my face!! haha

I decided to remove 2 inches off the back of the background and then silicone in "blocks" that would be the attachment points for the background to the tank. Im doubting it is going to hold all that foam underwater....There are at least two different points of attachment on each section of the background by still a very low surface area actually making contact with the glass.










Here is a view of the "attachment areas"


















Secondly once I had it all siliconed in, I realized that the first piece into the tank was crooked and when I tried to slide it a little, the siliconed had already hardened somewhat and kinda unstuck from the foam....my guess is NOT GOOD, but i pushed it into place and that section has its own 50 pound sand bag pushing down on it now....

Last shot for the night...


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

First off, background looks great.

However, I have 1 question... you cut 2" off the back, only to add spacers to add water volume behind the bg... IMO, would have been much better to gain the 2" of water volume in front of the background so that you have a bigger footprint for the fishies. Why not just remove the block spacers and silicone the 2" shorter background directly to the back glass?

IMO, the extra volume behind the background is not going to help one bit. It doesn't let you stock the tank any more really. You may even get a deadspot and waste accumulation behind the background that is impossible to clean. And if the water isn't circulating through the display, then it really is completely usless. With cichlids, its mostly about footprint, so you got 6' x 10" or so, regardless of the volume. Volume only really helps with nitrate accumulation. The bane of backgrounds is not using up water volume, but rather using up footprint, at least from a cichlid enthusiast's point of view. What are you planning on stocking it with? Since the footprint is only ~50% bigger than a 55g, if you go mbuna species groups, you can really only get maybe 4 species out of the footprint, rather than the 5 or 6 a 125 can usually hold. All male peacocks may be fine, but you lose out on some of the more impressive haps than can usually be stocked in a 125 due to not being able to get anything that gets bigger than 10" do to the background.

I'm not trying to be a killjoy or anything - I really do think it looks great. But IMHO, I'd much rather let the fish be the centerpiece of the tank, while the background should be, well, in the background. I would love a nice bg for my 125 I'm about ready to set up, but not if it means I have to compromise on what I want to stock it with.


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## Malawi_Junkie (Nov 26, 2009)

I think you have done an outstanding job. I like the color and texture is fine, you wont notice it. I truely hope that it does hold seeing how my first attempt did not.
Oh and maybe we all need therapy cause I too have had such dreams. LOL


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

After pulling two inches off the back, increasing the footprint in the front of the tank was the reasoning for that, but that was when I realized that I needed that two inches of free space behind the BG for the filtration intakes. When I had the background in the tank flush against the back glass, I thought it was PERFECT, until the light bulb came on... Oh yea! **** what about my filters!? 
As for stocking, the inhabitants of my 55 are going in, a green terror, a firemouth, a Jack Dempsey and 6 tiger barbs + 1 galaxia pleco.


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## bertolli (Aug 18, 2009)

very cool. For the space in the back for your filter intakes just carve out a space for the intake in your bg. I imagine having a dead spot like that would be a real pain.


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

I originally did have "sections" carved out with the original design: but I got greedy and tried to sacrifice my original plans for a "good idea" 


But once I pulled the 2 inches off the back to regain footprint out front, I could not cut any deeper into the BG or it would have come out the front the BG in some spots, due to the depth of protruding rocks carved out.

There are going to be 2 AquaClear 110's and an eheim 2217 canister, so three intakes spread across the back of the tank. Does this sound like it might work??...


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

Well, the stand was moved into the house tonight and tank put upright...now comes the waiting game for the silicone to cure....patience....booooooo

anyways, here is a couple of update pics





bad picture in the dark:


Here is the tank currently holding the fish that will be going in:


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## LSBoost (Jan 21, 2010)

Very nice :thumb:


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## MonteSS (Dec 8, 2008)

Looks great!

You lost alot of tank space though 

...Bill


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## Scorpio (Sep 27, 2003)

Nice


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## wadman (Mar 4, 2010)

it's going to look good


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

Well, here we go!
spent about 4 hours cleaning the PFS with the nice weather today. PFS went in the tank and and then some fresh water. So here are the update pics:










good side view:


















top view:


















All pics are about 30 minutes after filling up the tank and cleaning out the little bits of floating styro.

ABOUT THE POSSIBLE DEAD SPOTS BEHIND: I ended up getting a hydor koralia 1 and was able to fit it behind the BG somewhere around dead center behind the BG. This should cure any issues dealing with the possible dead spots back there. there will be an AquaClear 110 on the left side, and an AquaClear 110 and an Eheim 2217 canister on the right side, I hope this is sufficient and provides all the water circulation and filtration that will be needed for this tank!!! with the powerhead pushing water from the center out to the left and right, this should work....Any other ideas will be much appreciated....


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

So, the big question I have is....Im going to be leaving for a month, and when moving over the fish from an established tank, should i do about 65 gallons fresh new water and add all water from established 55 gallon, and move established filters over immediately or, should i just let the 55 gallon tank stay good and well with fish while I am gone, and let the new tank with BG sit and filter with my wife adding a little bit of food every 3 days or so with a backup HOB and canister filter running on the new tank.....I am in the army so these "gotta go" scenarios happen quite often...and I just want to give the wife and the tanks the best opportunity to thrive.

In simple words...
I just filled the tank up tonight(sat) and I leave for a month later this week...I have 3 fish about 2.5 inches each, and 6 fish about 1 to 1.25 inches each.....they are in a 55 gallon that has been set up for 3 months with 2 aquaclear 110's on it.....CAN i move the fish by monday night, or should I leave them in the established tank until I get back.....


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## AElliott (Feb 14, 2010)

TNFISHFAN said:


> In simple words...
> I just filled the tank up tonight(sat) and I leave for a month later this week...I have 3 fish about 2.5 inches each, and 6 fish about 1 to 1.25 inches each.....they are in a 55 gallon that has been set up for 3 months with 2 aquaclear 110's on it.....CAN i move the fish by monday night, or should I leave them in the established tank until I get back.....


I would leave them in the established tank, since you wont be there to monitor water parameters or perform water changes, then start a fishless cycle when you return. Looks great BTW!!


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

Well, finally back from Free Fall school,
Got the new tank up and running and fish moved over, everything is looking good, 1 ehiem canister and two AC110's water seems to be moving well behind the BG, I put a powerhead back there to help. Firemouth is pretty stressed after the move completely dropped all color, but everyone else in the tank seems to be doing fine. I put the pots in there cause I dont have any rock as of right now that matches the BG. Here it is:


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## bremz8 (Apr 9, 2010)

looking great, i may be making a bg for my 150 now. lol although i want to put my filters into my bg and have it take up less tank space. i reeeally like your set up.


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

Looks good man... can't wait to see it with some rock though.


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

So all is well with the BG in the tank, kinda.....My galaxia/vampire pleco: L007 is being true to its name and is being a true vampire to my BG.

Every morning when I get up to check the tank....tons of litte pieces of styrofoam are floating around the surface and there are little pits or holes chewed/dug into the BG where the pleco likes to hang out. so far about 5-7 spots are now bare white styrofoam, each smaller than the diameter of a pencil eraser, but non the less extremely annoying after all the hard work on this project.

ANY SUGGESTIONS or ADVICE...










He likes to sit up in the crevices and eat away at the BG


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

Oh yea just for anyone elses future projects....

Im pretty sure I almost killed my fish with the first week of the BG in. 
The intake holes that I had cut in my BG, I used a wire mesh to keep the fish from getting into the backside of the tank. well turns out that wire mesh started to rust pretty quickly and it was only out of luck that I realized it and was able to get the wire mesh out and now the holes just have cut pieces of filter sponge shoved into them, seems to be doing a decent job of still allowing flow to the intake tubes of the filters and is acting as a pre filter to keep the PFS from getting back there as well.

Didnt even think of the rust issue with the wire mesh and when i did, I researched into the effect of rust on the water chemistry and went into immediate oh **** mode to fix the problem...water parameters appear to be fine, as do the fish.


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## FSM (Nov 11, 2009)

rust isn't soluble in water, I don't think.


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

wow, my pleco never sucked the paint off my background but it is not a huge deal, algae will grow there quickly I'm sure. You can try putting a pile of rocks there to keep the pleco from getting to his favorite place. You can also set up a nice dark rock pile big enough for the Pleco to move into in as well, that will keep him from trying to stay in that particular area. Plecos like the dark so it will look for the darkest area to stay.


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## PepoLD (Dec 9, 2009)

looks amazing, only missing some nice rocks 

i totally loved your background 

wtg!!


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## TNFISHFAN (Mar 19, 2010)

Well, I ended up selling the Galaxia Pleco to a LFS a couple of days ago...but the damage was already done.

After spending several days covering up the exposed styrofoam that the pleco had made with fake plants or small rocks. Decided I couldnt take it anymore. I tore out the entire BG tonight, bought 140 bucks worth of lace rock and trashed the BG.....Oh well! Here is the tank now:

No more BG, but got my tank volume back and the wife likes the real rock better than the BG, so I got that goin for me...which is nice.


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