# New 6ft + 3D latex background journal



## corny-ratbag (Feb 25, 2010)

I just thought I might keep a journal kind of thing for my new tank that I am installing a 3D background into and thought I may as well share it with everyone along the way 

*Day 1*
After a massive effort to get this tank home and in the door we had the rather large task of cleaning out all the muddy sand and what was left of the gravel in the tank from its old home. 
















But first we attended to the new fish. They were quite happily transported in an esky and when we arrived home we acclimatised them to our existing 4ft that we are upgrading from where they will be kept until their new awesome home is ready. We stripped everything out of this tank (even the 3D background) to limit the amount of fighting between them over caves and such.
















Now onto the task of removing the mud so we could put the 3D background in. We filled it up and used the gravel vacuum to remove what we could from it then let it sit for 24 hours to dry out. After letting it dry out we used a house vacuum to remove the left over gravel.
















While waiting for it to dry we decided that we would setup our new fluval fx5 and get it ready to go when everything was finished.
















After finding out that the fx5 would not fit in the cabinet we removed the divider between the end cupboards (wow that was a mighty task  We had do it without moving the cabinet as the tank was on top because there were not enough of us to lift it off) and just to be on the safe side added a support made out of a piece of timber we had sitting around.
















The state of the house at the conclusion of that night  (this picture does not do it justice)









*Day 2*
Now onto the background itself, a nice piece of driftwood came with the tank, so we thought the basic tank design would look nice something like this  (we ended up turning the background over to allow for better filtration with the fx5)









As the background was too long and high for the tank we had to cut it to size. So to shorten it length wise we held it up to the back of the tank and put a mark on the top and bottom, measured them both .... once .... twice .... three times just to be sure, then it was time to cut it.

To cut it we used a piece of timber clamped to a work step as a guide between the two markings and a basic hand saw as the cutting tool of choice. 
















I was pretty happy with the result, it was a little uneven so we were yet to see if it fit. (To the right you can see the old Ã¢â‚¬Å"3DÃ¢â‚¬Â


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## Pali (Dec 22, 2009)

Awsome start out, gonna be nice to tag along on this one.

Love thouse bend cornors on thouse tanks, got a 5 ft myslef and looking into getting a whole bunch of them when my fishroom is ready.

Very nice 3D BG !

opcorn: opcorn: opcorn: opcorn:

looking forward to the next update

cheers


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## whatupcichlids (Apr 12, 2010)

Nice tank! I love the bend corners, I got one just recently.


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## rarefaction (Aug 6, 2009)

Nice tank, good journal!


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## danielratti (Feb 17, 2008)

Man how many venestuses do you have? 3 or 4 right?


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## Evan805 (Apr 19, 2010)

That is an AWESOME looking tank... nice score.

I'd be careful with that magnet scrubber..


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## R-DUB (Jun 3, 2007)

Very nice! Great build. What brand name of BG is that? How much did it cost?
:drooling: 
=D>


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## PepoLD (Dec 9, 2009)

looks great!


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## ChadRamsey (Mar 12, 2010)

wow great tank build

i may have missed it but where did you get the background?


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## corny-ratbag (Feb 25, 2010)

danielratti said:


> Man how many venestuses do you have? 3 or 4 right?


Sorry for the very late response. I have 5 male and 1 female between 20 - 25cm and 2 males at 10cm.



R-DUB said:


> Very nice! Great build. What brand name of BG is that? How much did it cost?
> :drooling:
> =D>


Again, sorry for the late response.

The background is made by universal rocks and is called "Olgas". Looking in the shops its will cost between 300 - 400AUD, I was lucky enough to pick one up off someone who bought it and decided against installing it for 150AUD 



ChadRamsey said:


> wow great tank build
> 
> i may have missed it but where did you get the background?


I have seen it in shops like Aquariums r Us (a shop in Australia) and similar places, however I picked it up off a guy on another forum


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## corny-ratbag (Feb 25, 2010)

Thank you everyone for your awesome comments. Sorry it has taken so long to post an update, I have been flat out between uni, trying to find a job and selling my other fish.

Anyway, here is a pic of it in its current state, still looking at adding plants, just haven't had time to do some research 










Group shot









PEPPERMINTS       









Fish in it are as follows:
Trio of Red top zebras
Trio of Electric Yellows
2 x Venustus
Albino Peacock
Tangerine Peacock
Blue Peacock
OB Peacock
Orange Peacock
2x Yellow tail Aciei
Pair of Peppermint Bristlenose
Pair of flamebacks

Regards
Ryan


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

Not to hip on the white substrate but the background looks awesome. Excellent step by step building instruction. :thumb:


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## corny-ratbag (Feb 25, 2010)

iceblue said:


> Not to hip on the white substrate but the background looks awesome. Excellent step by step building instruction. :thumb:


Yeah .... I'm not to sure either but its starting to grow algae on it so it breaks the colour a bit. What would you suggest as a replacement?


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## nauTik (Mar 18, 2009)

I love these types of threads , great looking tank and fish. Nice job :thumb:


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

corny-ratbag said:


> Yeah .... I'm not to sure either but its starting to grow algae on it so it breaks the colour a bit. What would you suggest as a replacement?


It's all about personal preference. I like a darker natural sand. Imo under brighter lighting the reflection doesn't wash out the color of the fish and is easier on the eye.


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## mark P (Jun 14, 2010)

Really nice looking tank 8)


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## corny-ratbag (Feb 25, 2010)

Thanks mate 

I thought I might just share a couple of pics that my mate got of my africans with his awesome camera 

*Some of my current peacock fry*

























*Adult Africans*









































































*Red Top just finished/halfway through spawning with a mouthful*









Thanks for looking

Regards
Ryan


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## bubG (Jan 24, 2010)

great pictures and fish :thumb:


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