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A gravity run system by 2 cats.


Basile

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A bit about me , just retired at 51 i had enough!! My doctor said i was stressed out so i'm taking the year OFF. Semi retired i should say because i don't think i can stay put. Because my trade, Chef onships; i couldn't have a permanent saltwater tank . This time i gave myself a retirement gift. I'm having a custom made system from Concept Aquariums from Calgary. A starfire 150 G reef tank and a 75 G display refugium . This next picture was my old 65 G tank the one i lost in a blow out because of the stand a few years ago.



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Now going semi retired, staying home i'll do catering for the elderly. Cooking home and delivering for sceniors. I'll have plenty of time to care for those tanks and those living in it. And I have care takers with me.


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Lulu and Theo on the right and the tank is going to be in their play room, Meow!


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I started with a concept of two tank on top of each other like so



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But then i discovered that the floor where i live, in a condo ; second floor couldn't take the load. I had a civil engineer survey the building plans and we came up with a new configuration. Sorry for the rough sketch, i can't draw well with sketch up so i used a simpler program.


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The floor plan that I've obtain from the city archives shows the floors to be reinforced concrete 6 inches thick, OUFFF. That's a relief!! My tanks are now side by sides in a reverse "L" shape position with the 72 inch long 6 feet 21" high Rimless , 28" from the floor on one side and the display refugium , Rimless on a custom steel stand 6 feet high on the other side dumping by gravity into the reef tank. The sump will be under the reef. Now since the fuge is no longer on top of the main reef tank I've scale down to a 48x18x21 =75G starphire display tank and the stand being that high i'll have a shelf with my QT on it and my controllers. In the corner will be the RO tank and mixing tank.


I write big for my iphone friends...
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I left nano reef years ago because i had a bigger tank , and well i wasn't a nano anymore, but i found out that you had a place for me now. I also remember some of you had incredible experience specially in planted tanks, which i have now a 75 G display refugium and could use some advices. Always learning.



This update is to say that the tank is already built. However i shall take you through the build up process as it occured anyway, because i get lots of questions on facebook about it on how it was built that are in my build up. So you have an idea too , the next post are of course after facto but in sequence. and i'll post them in series . The tank is actually almost a year old now. So bare with me , ask any question you like i'll answer even if the post is not at the right time frame, i'll even have a better answer probably with an even better explanation lol.



The whole process took a year for different reasons the project faced delays, and difficulties and also permitted me to fix and foresee problems that i wouldn't of anticipated if everything had gone smoothly.



The delays actually gave me time to reflect and avoid some pitfalls, and correct them before mistakes were made, so it actually was a good thing. I even got good opportunaties out of it. Including the sale of a $ 6000 ceramic panel backwall from germany for only $ 669.00



Hope you enjoy the thread and pictures, i love picture don't you they give so much info.



So lets kick OFF the thread



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I write big for my iphone friends

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I'm redoing the fishroom ; the cat room, actually the computer room, the multifunction room! This is the dam room! By the way the white tape is where the Reef tank will be.
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I'm doing the floor in Italian terracotta where carpet use to be. Salt water and carpet don't mix.
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Never done this before so no complaint please! Besides these are hand made cost a bundle and are not the same to start with; so the guy at the store told me not to try to get them straight or i'd go crazy.
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The inspector's here!
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The jumping, climbing pole
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Details of this beautifull Italian tile, cost 10k for the whole condo.
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On the level
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It was a left over of a line because they were having trouble selling it. It was too crooked, too many complaints from consumers. People are used to straight lines here in America, in Europe they know about these hand made tiles and rustic looks. So they were getting rid of the stock so they had only so much of certain kind. So i didn't have enough of one size to do the whole condo, so i bought all size and mix and match on the floor to make a sort of mozaïc with different sizes.
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Part of the play room not finished yet

 

 

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How am I suppose to do any work in that room with these guy climbing all around me!
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An extension of the play room
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Got my plans from Concept Aquariums from Calgary, great guy Denny. Very professional and full of options and designs.

 

 

My Reef tank first draft;
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Reef stand; 2" rods powder coated , the 60G sump will go underneath
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My refugium first draft
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Refugium stand first draft
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Awesome plans! Glad you're destressing and have some more time for yourself. Adorable kittens ya got there too.

 

 

 

 

Thanks ; hope you enjoy the build up .

 

 

Concept Aquarium being very professional and interested in your project asked you about your project and what you want to do. Mine is to basically fusing an old filtering based system of refugium and reef tank with new the technology of powerfull skimming machines. So Concept redesigned the tanks like so for me.

 

 

The refugium has a C2C because its feeding by gravity the reef tank and at the same time dumping into the sump, its a split herbie drain.
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My refugium stand had its shelf too hight to put my QT so they put in at 30" instead, ideal for my controllers as well.
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The main reef tank they put a C2C, a weird because since i have ceramic panels covering the backwall i'll have less cutting to do, less lost space better plumbing room to redirect my pipes toward the sump and no salt creep on them. Plus if something happens is easier to work from behind too than underneath.
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I like the tile, looks great for your first time! I'm looking forward to seeing this tank get set up, you have got some serious water volume going on in there.

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I got new rock for my sculpture, flat shelves from Marco's rock and i have some more comming this friday the 13....ya i know. Plus lots of goodies, for the sculpting, rods and mortar, diamond drill bits , some macro algae are also comming for my little tank i've started for the refugium, the live rock i have in there will help jumpstart the big system so a combination of live rock, well secured, i've taken precautions, to irradicate potential pest and with the dry rock, sculpture and my ceramic walls , i'll start the system on a good foot hopefully.
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All those and the ones comming will be drilled and set with rods and mortar into a specific sculpture , i'm taking my time on this because i don't want to have to restack those rock in 18 months time because i don't like the way they look anymore. Plus tonight i'm getting my Vertex RO/DI unit so i can get that organized and set up right for the upcomming tanks in 2 1/2 weeks time Yippee!
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I just came back from picking up my stuff from the UPS store, and my sand is sooooooooooooo cool!!!!! Very pretty,Tropic Eden Tonga miniflakes and flakes. With these pinkish pebbles really nice stuff i can't tank the guy enough who suggested that to me. i can't even remember now who did either lol and from which sites lol. When i set up everything i'll have a shot of it for now its stays in its bag, its not live sand no. I have to rinse it before using it.Cost me $ 410.00[/font][/size]
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Concept Aquariums has sent me some pictures of my tank being done.

You can see my custom made wavebox, i just have to put a powerhead in there and voila!
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My 150 G Reef tank , 72"X24"X21" with 3/4" starphire glass all around.
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A nice external Coast to coast , that wont take any room in the tank.
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This external wavebox cost me $20 to have made compare to the $610 from Tunze, i just have to buy their powerhead, $300 so i save lots and the thing is out of the tank, out of sight, and will be blacked out to prevent algae along with the external overflow.
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Thats my starfire display Refugium 75 G , 48"X18"X21" and it also has a C2C and a Herbie system because it'll be connected directly to the sump since it wont only host macro-algae but seahorses and anglers. Both species are very messy and will need the help of the skimmer for filtration. You can also see the connecting hole by which it will feed the Reef tank by gravity. The reason for my refugium tank stand to be higher than the Reef tank, and the price tag lol.
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Dude.. you're a hoot! :lol: Tile looks good. I started out with a good bit of marco rock and selected pieces of florida rock that was cooked in a brute for about 8 months while I set everything up. I too swore I would never touch my aquascape. Get it right the first time and leave it alone. 2 years later.. the only thing I added after the fact was a mag rock.

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really like that tile, build looks pretty sexy too..

 

you never had to leave NR, we love tanks of all sizes here ;)

 

 

I didn't only leave because of that , lol their were also other imperatives. lol.

 

 

150 gallons starfire tank 72"X24"X21" = $ 1680.51

 

 

75 gallons starfire tank 48"X18"X21"= $ 843.09
60 gallong sump tank 48"X20"x16"= $ 200
2 " steel powder coated stand 72"x24"x28" = $450.00
2" steel powder coated stand 48"x21"x83" = $550.00
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$3723.60 +( $850.00 shipping ) = $ 4 573.60
Super Reef Octopus 3000 Skimmer $564
3 X Tunze Turbelle nanostream 6095 ($ 279 ) $983.25
2 X Tunze Turbelle nanostream 6055 ($249) $575
Tunze osmolator universal 3155 $ 219
salt mix pump $ 48
QT pump $ 36
Heaters $ 91,97
2 X Diablo DC 5500 Variable Speed ( $ 170) $339.98
Lighting; Razors
2X 16 k 27 inch Maspect Razors ($ 539) $ 1 078 Reef tank
1X 10k 27 inch Maspect Razors $ 539 Refugium
1 X 10 k 20 inch Maspect Razors $ 449 Refugium
Neptune Systems Apex w/ Display Module, PH & Temp Probe & EB8 (Lab Grade PH) =$619.85
QT ; $101
Mixing Drum Canus 30 G $ 145
Little equipment( valves, strainers, etc) $466.62
Supplies ( testing) $210.32
Vertex Puratek Reverse Osmosis/Deionization (RO/DI) Filter - 100GPD = $ 330
MUD ; $101
German Ceramic panels $ 3/LB 197 LB = $666.70
Live rock; 20lb $289
Tonga branch; $ 115 Sculpture
Marco's rock supplies;
$352.97 Sculpture
$210.46 Sculpture
$73.86 Sculpture
sand = $409.90
Plumbing PVC Flex = $323.84
= $73.33
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= $ 14 221.65
+ $ 450 macro algae
3 980 fish & inverts & corals
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$ 18 651.65 plus that was last year lol
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Ok so i've started my videos on how i do my sculptures, i still have to edit them before uploading them, so in the mean time here's some of the pictures i took of the buildup of the Marco's rock sculpture with PVC and Nylon rods.
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This my drill with a 7/16 diamond coated bit; worth every penny less than 10 second to go through that rock.
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I use a saw for the nylons because the cutters squeezed the nylons and the nuts i used are harder to fit in after so the saw leave the shape of the nylon intack.
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I use a wooden board in a tub with water; i place my rock on the board, and the water cools my bit and also prevent pieces of rock from flying into my eyes and also splashing mud all over the place. When you reach the board, 10 sec later you feel it right away.
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I've align the holes and put the rods and cut them almost flush. I left just enough to twist those two nuts in place. This is all done prior to put the ciment mortar and to make sure your structure looks good . After all this is your only personal touch in the whole system all the rest is bought or will be done by the corals. And you'll be looking at it for a very long time. So you might as well take the time to view and review your designs all day or for a few days because this baby will be there for years to come, and playing with it when you have critters and fish in there isn't doing any good to the stress level of your inhabitants.
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The Bat cave!!
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With nylons and mortar its nice to be able to extend plates and edges, i'm however careful not to take too much room to overshadow the sandbed too much, i do it within reason and the structure will be at its lowest point 1" above the sand to give it waterfow clearance.
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The cave
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The central piece will be the highest so it can carry the stalactite in the end.
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Without the mortar the rock look unstable and are only holding in place because of the nylon; in the end the nylon will be cut to fit under the rock being the ceiling of the cave and the top rock with a nut. At each step mortar will be added and i'll wait that each level is dry and stable to make sure the rocks don't wable under the stress.
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Other kinds of rocks gives you options for other things. it didn't work in this case but i still have a 75 Gallon fuge to do. So always have more to have options to work with.
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Well here are my first videos , they're on my sculptures ; don't mind the fat guy, lol.

 

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A few more pictures, the sump this time and the stands before shipping.
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The 60" high stand with the 83"high extension to provide support behind the refugium tank and to secure it to the wall .
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The refugium stand 48" X 23" wide has a shelf at 30" height for the QT and underneath will be the future fridge feeder and rotifer factory much later.... lol.
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They gave me a board that is suppose to hold a 40 gallons tank like i asked, i'll painted totally black, like the rest of the stand.
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Thats my sump60G; 48"X20X16" with its socket for the socks, the first chamber receives the water from the quiet Herbie, controlled with a gate valve on both the Reef tank and the display refugium and as the water rises it unloads into the socks. Now i may or may not use them there as i find the use of sock before the skimmer unwaranted, i rather use them after. To each is own.
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My sump has 4 baffles to stop the Bubble Blasters micro bubbles to invade my return pumps, like i've heard so many people complaining about, so i've added a extra one.
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This video is about the progress after drilling holes and placing nylon rods and placing your rocks on the sculpture, not always a good idea to go too fast as you'll discover. Another issue creepedup the weight of the structure became a problem, what to do.

 

 



Sorry for the abrupt end of part 4 but i'm not a professional video maker,lol continuing in this one i've constructed a bigger support base to spread the load of the structure, and i'm starting to put the rocks in place with mortar. i also have little side projects on the go that will benefit the tank; a copepods farm using corrugated plastic sheet, found at any hardware store for a few bucks.I also mend a Tonga branch rock that will be used in the second sculpture project later on.
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Using nylon rods to secure the next level of rocks, mortar will be put in between; do not over screw the nut, you'll squeeze out the mortar, allow a few milimeters of the stuff for better bonding. In addition this mortar is hydrofuge it can be used underwater so it better to wet your rocks( if your doing this dry) to help the mortar to bond better with both rocks .


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To repair a rock like this Tonga Branch rock soak the branch 30 min in water the apply the mortar . If its a prefect fit tilt it or twist it to make a gap so the mortar can have room and a chance to bond between the two pieces.


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Wrapping it gives it time to really bond better by controlling the humidity, drying to quickly is not good. the next day unwrap it and let dry naturally.


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Only mix what you need this stuff bond fast; they say 15 to 20 min but in less than 5 i couldn't pull my nylon rod , it had already bond and i had to leav it like that. So progress one rock at a time .


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Dont scrape ciment its looks bad and sloppy, instead sprinkle it with crushed coral it looks much more natural and blends in very easy.


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Sometimes contrast can be an eye soar or a point of discussion in any case, it'll start a conversation; and thats the point, you don't want people to indifferent to your creation do you....lol. Notice the crush coral , now what could that mean...



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Starting this sculpture i realised that the weight was going to be superior to what i was expecting in my original plans. So to accomodate that and disperse this weight i've extended the feet into an elaborated tubing structure to diffuse that weight in a larger area of the tank, otherwise the whole weight of the sculpture would of been focused on those four small point and potentially ruptured the tank floor. So be aware of that if you make a support for a solid rock structure.



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Changing one rock to a different , darker rock, both for mechanical and esthetic reason brought me to a change of direction in the design, so completing your sculpture too quickly is not always a good thing .


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The second sculpture is about an often misused rock; the Tonga branch rock.

Here i'm doing a artificial root system with pvc, egg crates, wrapping the branches with Zip ties and foaming the feet. The structure will of course be under the sand you'll only see the branch as a tree as it should be.


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Remember the mended branch? The reason for this sculpture is that it will be covered with Green star polyp, which with a wavebox movement will be awsome to watch. When ever you make a sculpture ; Have a purpose for it, nothing worse than a useless piece that takes space in your tank for no particular reason.


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Each foot of each branch goes through the egg crates , for two reasons. Stability of the branches, and so i can apply a first layer of foam and make a sort of perimeter where the cement will be poured in .


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Using foam to glue my branches on to the pvc is easyer than cement in this particular instance, but the feet will get cement to lock them together.After the foam has harden the zip ties will be cut and the foam will receive a coat of resin and sand to better hide and blend it in.




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The sand will cover all the egg crate and cement only the the branches will be visible



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NirvanaandTool

One heck of a retirement present you're building there. Cant wait to see the pics of it running. Guessing it's already going based on your sig?

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Nice work with the sculptures! Gonna add the following suggestion: use different sized rocks/rubble as silicone coverage. It helps make seams look more natural. And really press the rubble into the silicone/greatstuff firmly to prevent gaps. I figured this out while doing my mantis tank's false wall.

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Nice work with the sculptures! Gonna add the following suggestion: use different sized rocks/rubble as silicone coverage. It helps make seams look more natural. And really press the rubble into the silicone/greatstuff firmly to prevent gaps. I figured this out while doing my mantis tank's false wall.

Thanks for the suggestions, as you can read lower she's already wet lol. But i've used similar techniques myself. I'll check out your thread.

 

One heck of a retirement present you're building there. Cant wait to see the pics of it running. Guessing it's already going based on your sig?

Yes if you read the second post of the thread thats what i say actually. My tank is almost a year old. But when i post on YouTube or elsewhere i get so many question as of how i made it, that i've decided to start my thread here with the build up. Its in sequence.But outdated of course.

 

This is awesome...love it.

Thanks the best is yet to come, made a stalactite........

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The Tonga project;
Tonga branches are a real problem for most people. No one seem to know what to do with them.So on this video i'm giving you a way to make a great sculpture that's not really hard to do cost very little and look amazing, well i think it does. The difficulty with the tonga branches is that they have no way to support themselves, so i give them an artificial root system with pvc and egg crates, coupled with zip ties for temporary holding and foam for support, its quickly becomes a self standing sculpture that can be part of your aquascape, for a few buck.
To use mortar you have to be quick and know where your going or mistake can happen i found that out last night. They say you have 15-20 minutes to of work with the cement but sometimes the material bond much more quickly so be aware of that. So have a plan and a back up plan. you'll see what i mean.
I'm not a professional video maker so if it cuts abruptly follow in the next on, i rather not waste time editing lol

 

A bit of directional phots shoot to see where this is going with a bit of intrusion from the directors....

 

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Director # 1 taking a leasurely approach to the job and in charge of plumbing
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Director # 2 opening every boxes, opening everything in sight to make sure it ok on set
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So my sculpture is finished, just have to rebuild the support with 1" pvc which i got as you can see i just need elbows ,lol. Then just got to hide those nuts and put it in the tank with a plexi glass in the bottom. The sculpture is 36" longX20"wideX 20" hight. My tank is 21" hight, but the structure was suppose to be built with 1/2" pvc now its with 1" so my last rock will be floating, i'll put a mini palm tree and a lodge for the snails.

 

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At the end of the ramp a stalactite will come down.
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