# My 125 Gallon DIY Stand, Canopy, 3D Background with Drylok



## gregjonesonline

(disclaimer, not sure if my account is enabled for photo and link sharing with 0 posts, so excuse broken links if that's the case)

Hey guys, long time cichlid-forum surfer, first time poster. I've gotten so much inspiration from everyone's projects that I've decided to register and share my 125 gallon aquarium stand, canopy, and 3D background build. I've primarily kept turtles in the tank, but have found drylok holds up much longer with fish (through experience), so I thought i'd post the result of my project here.






Currently the tank has 6 turtles, a handful of swordtails, and assorted tetras in it. I've bred angelfish in the past, and the large ones did fairly well with the turtles, which I might consider doing again sometime, however, I currently own 0 cichlids. so sorry about that!

I am living in my second apartment and have set up, taken down, and moved the tank three times since it originally went up, which was a ton of work, but i do make regular updates on the tank on my youtube channel. If you guys have any questions on materials, technique, or have constructive criticism i'd love to hear it and respond to it here, and would also love it on my video comments as well.

I've decided that the 125 is the largest aquarium i'll ever own, as it is a pain in the neck to move, however i've been considering buying a bunch of 55 gallon tanks during the $1 per gallon petco sale and setting up an aquarium system when i have a basement to work with.

Anyways, Here are a few still shots from the video link above, in case you were wondering if it was worth watching!! Enjoy,


















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Thanks,

-Greg


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## zquattrucci

freaking awsome


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## rp-photo

effing epic !


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## mightyevil

Yeah, very cool but I think the tank would of called for an open top set up. At first I thought it was an odd background for fish but when I saw the turtles, it all made perfect sense. Digging the basking beaches! Too bad the splash is an eye sore but an open top would make it all better, just saying. Awesome build nonetheless. It looks like you went with Drylok, is that correct? If so, I would worry about the turtles biting the styro and destroying the background...


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## mightyevil

Oh, just realized it is Drylok only... so yeah.


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## gregjonesonline

mightyevil said:


> Oh, just realized it is Drylok only... so yeah.


Yeah, it's drylok, i've had pretty good luck with the turtles not damaging the background, i had one turtle get curious once, but i patched the spot he was biting, and he hasn't done it since. I typically leave the canopy open, but there is plenty of air flow out the back, turtles need multiple types of lighting, which get hot and bright, so i didn't want to do an open top and blind people, plus, the top of the tank is 5 feet tall anyways, so hard for everyone to enjoy from above.

Thanks!


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## dhfgjgh565

-bump-


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## duds

Fantastic build, thanks for posting! The wooden trim around the base of the tank... is it attached to the stand or tank or just sitting there?


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## meowstan

That is an awesome setup! How long did it take from start to finish.


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## gregjonesonline

duds said:


> Fantastic build, thanks for posting! The wooden trim around the base of the tank... is it attached to the stand or tank or just sitting there?


Thanks! That's the skirt, it's not attached to anything, you place the tank on the stand, slip the skirt over the tank to cover the black plastic trim of the tank, and then place the canopy on top.



meowstan said:


> That is an awesome setup! How long did it take from start to finish.


Thanks, It took about a month or so from start to finish, but i only worked an hour or two a day, sometimes more or less on weekends, i'd guess probably somewhere around 40 or 50 hours total, but i went slow and enjoyed it!


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## DanniGirl

Looks good and very creative. The upper levels add a nice touch!


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## Elrato

WOW, wish i had the skills to do something like this for my turtle tank


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## happyfriend

Nicely done!

One small question though - could the materials or paint hurt in anyway the turtle?


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