Raymond John
01-19-2003, 12:24 PM
[b:8f4dbe9392][color=blue:8f4dbe9392][/color:8f4dbe9392] 8) Hello Everyone,
For those looking for an inexpensive background and not wanting to get too involved in something time consuming like making your own from epoxy or fiberglass(Don't get me wrong.....I actually can't wait for the warmer months to roll around so I can go outside and try my own hand at a few ideas I've had in the past now that I know the epoxy or fiberglass wont hurt the fish), heres a suggestion:
CORK. Not that stuff you throw up on the kitchen wall for pinning notes to or the thick, chunky looking stuff, but a natural wood-grained strip that can be bought on-line. Sizes vary from I believe 12x12 to 12x24 inch strips. I went and bought the 12x24 inch strips, thats why I'm not too sure of the sizes below 12x24.
My intentions were to silicone the cork tiles inside the aquarium because I use heavy boulders and drift wood and I didn't want anything laying upon the bare glass of the aquarium. I also didn't want the 'what if' aspect of not liking the cork once it was installed in the aquarium.......tearing down a 180 gallon aquarium was not my idea of fun nor was stripping tons of silicone and chunks of cork from the glass.
The idea I came up with was just applying silver-dollar sized gobs of silicone in each corner and in the middle of the strip. Once these gobs were in place, I placed another gob between each corner. This way, I didn't have a BIG mess of silicone and the only cork that I had to clean away from the glass would be only that that stuck to those gobs.
With each tile in place on the glass, I was impressed......since I butted up each tile tightly against each other, no seam could be seen and it looked like one entire length of tile.
After the boulder's and water went in, I had the most awesome display I had ever made.....I couldn't wait for my Tanganyikan Cichlids to be put in.
By the way, I had plenty of time and was in no rush for the fish since I still hadn't chosen which fish I wanted......before the water was poured in, I let the silicone dry and cure for a little over two weeks.
After a year and a half of being set up and having the fish in, I did have some problems occur with the cork......where-ever there was no silicone applied to the cork, the cork had bowed warped, but this only added to the natural effect of the cork and gave it a real nice 3-D appearance. It also gave the smaller fish a place to run and hide between the cork and the glass.
Cork does not rot or decay under water but it does get soft......my fish enjoyed tearing it apart.....I feel that if I would have siliconed only the very edge of the tiles and laying an X inside this border, it would still have been easy to remove and the fish would not have had the opportunity grap the edges that lifted up.
Boy did they tear it up!! I have recently taken the cork tiles out and it was quite simple.....no mess at all......used only my fingers and just like I said, the only cork mess was what had stuck to the silicone.
My experience with the cork taught me a lot and what not to do next time......But I definately will be using the cork again.
My father recently gave me some clear vinyl which gave me another idea......I can completely silicone the cork tiles to the vinyl and lay the entire thing in the aquarium or go out and buy some of the thicker plastic sheets sold at hardware stores and silicone it to that.......
Try the cork.....use my suggestions of securing it and you wont be disappointed......even after my fish destroyed, I know for sure that it is something I want to do again.
Talk to you Soon,
Raymond John [/b:8f4dbe9392]
For those looking for an inexpensive background and not wanting to get too involved in something time consuming like making your own from epoxy or fiberglass(Don't get me wrong.....I actually can't wait for the warmer months to roll around so I can go outside and try my own hand at a few ideas I've had in the past now that I know the epoxy or fiberglass wont hurt the fish), heres a suggestion:
CORK. Not that stuff you throw up on the kitchen wall for pinning notes to or the thick, chunky looking stuff, but a natural wood-grained strip that can be bought on-line. Sizes vary from I believe 12x12 to 12x24 inch strips. I went and bought the 12x24 inch strips, thats why I'm not too sure of the sizes below 12x24.
My intentions were to silicone the cork tiles inside the aquarium because I use heavy boulders and drift wood and I didn't want anything laying upon the bare glass of the aquarium. I also didn't want the 'what if' aspect of not liking the cork once it was installed in the aquarium.......tearing down a 180 gallon aquarium was not my idea of fun nor was stripping tons of silicone and chunks of cork from the glass.
The idea I came up with was just applying silver-dollar sized gobs of silicone in each corner and in the middle of the strip. Once these gobs were in place, I placed another gob between each corner. This way, I didn't have a BIG mess of silicone and the only cork that I had to clean away from the glass would be only that that stuck to those gobs.
With each tile in place on the glass, I was impressed......since I butted up each tile tightly against each other, no seam could be seen and it looked like one entire length of tile.
After the boulder's and water went in, I had the most awesome display I had ever made.....I couldn't wait for my Tanganyikan Cichlids to be put in.
By the way, I had plenty of time and was in no rush for the fish since I still hadn't chosen which fish I wanted......before the water was poured in, I let the silicone dry and cure for a little over two weeks.
After a year and a half of being set up and having the fish in, I did have some problems occur with the cork......where-ever there was no silicone applied to the cork, the cork had bowed warped, but this only added to the natural effect of the cork and gave it a real nice 3-D appearance. It also gave the smaller fish a place to run and hide between the cork and the glass.
Cork does not rot or decay under water but it does get soft......my fish enjoyed tearing it apart.....I feel that if I would have siliconed only the very edge of the tiles and laying an X inside this border, it would still have been easy to remove and the fish would not have had the opportunity grap the edges that lifted up.
Boy did they tear it up!! I have recently taken the cork tiles out and it was quite simple.....no mess at all......used only my fingers and just like I said, the only cork mess was what had stuck to the silicone.
My experience with the cork taught me a lot and what not to do next time......But I definately will be using the cork again.
My father recently gave me some clear vinyl which gave me another idea......I can completely silicone the cork tiles to the vinyl and lay the entire thing in the aquarium or go out and buy some of the thicker plastic sheets sold at hardware stores and silicone it to that.......
Try the cork.....use my suggestions of securing it and you wont be disappointed......even after my fish destroyed, I know for sure that it is something I want to do again.
Talk to you Soon,
Raymond John [/b:8f4dbe9392]