Bonsaii Frag Tank

[ahayes13]

i think it looks fine. i like the bonsai look. if it was me i would not do it again. i definetly give you credit for doing a diy and doing a good job.

i think if anything i would take the stack out of the tank while i worked on it. and i would dry off the areas of foam and take a rock or spare peices and crush them with a hammer. spread around some superglue and sprinkle on the crushed rocks/sand. i think it might give you the look you were wanting for not much money. ive done this method with my current aquascaping to blend in poles and i really liked the results.

 

[akabryanhall]

Thanks guys. I think I will try that, i have some loose rubble i can smash up and sprinkle it on the foam.

 

[customcolor]

good idea with the rubble....use some of that epoxy (it will last longer than super glue)


macclellan ...-... thanks for being blunt and to the point! NOT! you could have ben a little nicer with your choice of words and how you used them......not every one gets things to look super cool on there first time.....but hay...they tried!



akabryanhall if you wanna try again i think you could just pull off the rocks...some foam may come with it..dont know. get a can of black pond foam, get some crystal water softner salt (crystal is the size, not brand) spray some foam...wait a minute...but some of the salt on it...squirt some more...salt...and so on till your done squirting......then compleatly cover it with a thick layer of salt....wait 24 hours and rinse all the salt off the foam...then its turd free !

here is some pics to help you out.....

what i used

spray and cover..

after 24 hours

extra salt removed

rinsed

and the close up

here is a pic showing you my tank shortly after i put it up and where i used foam rock in it...

that was 2 years ago....here it is now wow has it changed!

 

[MitchReef]

WOW...Customcolor, that turned out amazing....where do you get the black "pond foam"?

Ans Akabryanhall, I really like the setup, I think it's a heck of a first DIY....Coating it out with crushed rubble will totally change the look....

 

[customcolor]

Beckett Professional Waterfall Foam Sealant, 12 oz. at BestNest.com

 

[macclellan]

I was both critical and constructive - isn't that the best kind of feedback? Much more useful than the backhanded "not bad for a first diy" or whatever. It wouldn't cost much to fix, just more baserock, and as I said, some rubble.

It literally looks like pieces of poo, nice curly one dead center, doggie must get her fiber...:

 

[ahayes13]

okay so in my post i said "if it was me i would not do it again" realize that might have come across wrong....... cause i didnt finish my thought. lol

i meant that i just redid my tank and did the bonsai pillars type thing and it was a pita and would not do it again. lol.

 

[helfrichgolby]

not bad, but i do not know how you stand all that epoxt tho

 

[EvilMel]

McLovin' rocks the house.

It does look kinda like white poo though.

 

[ct_vol]

I just don't see much that is bonsai inspired... Part of the bonsai technique is to create a miniature version of something which is aesthetically pleasing and into some type of artistic form... I don't get this tank??? If it is supposed to be for frags, why did you cover all of the egg crate which you would be placing the frags into with the "poo"??? People are trying to help you out here... Yes it will look better once it is covered in coraline algae, but coraline can only do so much... It is not the hand of god and cannot perform miracles... I would consider starting from scratch... A few people have told you that you need to try and use more rock and I would concur... I would suggest that you stop buying expensive chalices and try investing a little more into your setup...

 

[akabryanhall]

At what point did I become the antagonist of this thread. I just wanted to show something I tried to do. To sit there and say to yourself "You know what, I owe it to this guy to let him know that looks like poo" Is that necessary? Maybe it is I don't know.
BTW ct you come accross very ***** dude. Talk about back handed "help". Maybe just keep your suggestions to yourself, cause whatever problems you have in your life seem to come out in your post.

 

[akabryanhall]

Thanks for this Custom really gives me a good idea of the steps you used to achieve a bad butt tank.

good idea with the rubble....use some of that epoxy (it will last longer than super glue)


macclellan ...-... thanks for being blunt and to the point! NOT! you could have ben a little nicer with your choice of words and how you used them......not every one gets things to look super cool on there first time.....but hay...they tried!



akabryanhall if you wanna try again i think you could just pull off the rocks...some foam may come with it..dont know. get a can of black pond foam, get some crystal water softner salt (crystal is the size, not brand) spray some foam...wait a minute...but some of the salt on it...squirt some more...salt...and so on till your done squirting......then compleatly cover it with a thick layer of salt....wait 24 hours and rinse all the salt off the foam...then its turd free !

here is some pics to help you out.....

what i used

spray and cover..

after 24 hours

extra salt removed

rinsed

and the close up

here is a pic showing you my tank shortly after i put it up and where i used foam rock in it...

that was 2 years ago....here it is now wow has it changed!

 

[GPhiAce]

Sorry that all these people are getting on your case. It was a good first DIY. I would just take their "creative input" and try again-- if you don't think it is the best. It doesn't matter that everyone else thinks it looks like "poo." If you like it keep it and forget about what they have to say. After all it's your tank and no one else has to look at it. CT Vol is not a "***** dude," he is just blunt, funny and helpful.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Let's please try and get along. If you don't have something "nice" to say then let's not saying anything.

 

[ct_vol]

BTW ct you come accross very ***** dude. Talk about back handed "help". Maybe just keep your suggestions to yourself, cause whatever problems you have in your life seem to come out in your post.

Its really no skin off of mine if you choose to have a tank with aquascaping that just doesn't look good... No where in my post did I attack you personally, but you chose to do so... Good luck with your endeavor, but I would rethink not spending $100 on your aquascaping and then spending more than that on a single chalice frag...

You can consider me the guy that points out the booger hanging from your nose... Is it more polite for people to just let it hang there and stare at it and then laugh at you later??? I'm going to say, "Hey man, you've got a bat in the cave, might want to take care of that." You'll be embarassed for a second, but you won't walk around looking like a tool all day and then when you find out about it, wonder how long you've been walking around like that...

 

[macclellan]

Sorry mate, I was just trying to help. Constructive criticism... see something that could be improved, point it out and suggest the improvement.
When I have a booger in my nose, I want people to tell me so I can fix it.
The same holds for poo-shaped objects in my aquarium.
Anyways, best wishes with the frag tank.

EDIT: whoah, ct_vol used the exact same analogy... creepy!

 

[customcolor]

Thanks for this Custom really gives me a good idea of the steps you used to achieve a bad butt tank.

thats what i like to do is HELP any one that i can to do better the next time :haha:

 

[cee]

for one.....you will need to silicone all that down to the tank bottom or add 3 times more weight in rock to them racks

for two.......i hope your going to cover all that foam with epoxy after you drill the holes for the plugs....teh uv from the lights will turn that foam brown and will break it down to the point that it will crumble when you touch it...


you should have used black pond foam...with the carbon in it, it will stand up to uv.....


.....trust me im a foam expert

3 tanks with foam rock work....oldest is 2 years old and all have no epoxy covering them

Yeah, I wondered about that and what kind of things would leach out of the Great Stuff. Good to know as I once considered this for making a rock wall on the back of the tank but ended up using an acrylic sheet with lots of cable ties to hold it all together.

 

[akabryanhall]

but I would rethink not spending $100 on your aquascaping and then spending more than that on a single chalice frag...

.

I think you might have missed the idea behind the group I started. It started so that we don't have to spend that much on a single chalice individually.
Anyway it doesn't have to be a personal attack to come accross like it did....Booger analogy and all. I imagine if you told me I had a booger in my nose, it wouldn't be in private, it would be loud, and in front of a lot of people.

 

[akabryanhall]

Sorry mate, I was just trying to help. Constructive criticism... see something that could be improved, point it out and suggest the improvement.
When I have a booger in my nose, I want people to tell me so I can fix it.
The same holds for poo-shaped objects in my aquarium.
Anyways, best wishes with the frag tank.

EDIT: whoah, ct_vol used the exact same analogy... creepy!

No worries man, I got defensive because deep inside I know it does look like poo.