37 gal column conversion to AIO with foam/rock wall

[Cubeman]

I have always run sumps on my larger aquariums but ambient noise and space are an issue for the future location of this tank. I therefore subscribed to the KISS method and decided to make the tank into an all in one. The front pane and the right side are fully viewable so I had to keep that in mind when creating the AIO area.

I originally was going to use acrylic to make the divider thinking it would be cheaper than glass. I went to a plastics shop recommended by a fellow reefer and came away with a quote of $135 for 5 pieces of acrylic and 2 holes drilled. 4 of those 5 pieces were only 4 inches wide so the price caught me by surprise. Thinking I had nothing to lose I went to Payless Glass in Langley (shoutout!) on the advice of another reefer and saved myself 50 bucks. 5mm glass, cut and drilled exactly the same as the acrylic specs, and no sharp edges. Couldn't be happier with the service I received there.

I designed the AIO area to cover 14 of the 20 inches across the back and be 4 inches in depth. This gave me enough room for my equipment (and future considerations), a clean viewing pane on the right side, and enough room to get my manly hand inside and to the bottom when needed.

Glass is cut.


Using my best clamps I placed the 3 pieces of glass that touch the top rim first. Glass was nice and square so they stood by themselves really well.


I then placed the middle piece of glass for the bubble trap (top down shot here).


And then used my biggest clamp to secure the front piece a day later when the others had cured.


And the final product.

[Cubeman]

The next step was to start on the back rock wall. I actually started it while waiting for my glass to come in and the measurements turned out pretty well.
I started with the plastic lighting egg crate cut to size, joined with zip ties, and attached a base plate to help hold it down with live rock once it is foamed and in the tank.


I had previously given 3 pieces of old base rock a good cleaning and multiple freshwater rinses. I then smashed them up into suitable size pieces with a big hammer and gave them the high pressure hose treatment and set them aside to dry. Essentially I created small dead rocks from big old live rock. Here's what they looked like before and after.






I then went about drilling holes in the rock big enough to push a zip tie through (smelled just like the dentist drilling a tooth!). I attached the rock to the egg crate using the lightest pieces of rock towards the top. The egg crate at this point is very flimsy and needs lots of support not to break. When closing the zip ties it is important to have the catch in the front and not the back of the egg crate. With the catches in the back it makes it difficult to get the egg crate to sit flat against the aquarium wall. I left enough space at the bottom of the vertical piece of egg crate to allow the placement of live rock up against the wall on the base plate. Here's what it looks like at this stage.






More to come...

[subman]

following along! Neat idea and great work

[Cubeman]

thanks subman - I hope my finished product looks as clean as yours

[The Codfather]

Looks good, this is exactly what I did as well.
The only suggestion I would give is use more rock.
I wish I had put a lot more on than I did, I used a lot of foam.
Thanks,
Bob

[Cubeman]

Originally Posted by The Codfather

Looks good, this is exactly what I did as well.
The only suggestion I would give is use more rock.
I wish I had put a lot more on than I did, I used a lot of foam.
Thanks,
Bob

Good point The Codfather. I left the bottom part of the egg crate free of rock so that I could place live live rock in front of it on the base plate. I only have 14 inches of real estate front to back so didn't want to crowd it with two rows of rock. I read somewhere else that smaller pieces of rock basically get swallowed up by the foam so I didn't bother filling in between the big pieces. In the long run it gave me a more three dimensional outcome for the big pieces that are there. My build is quite a bit smaller than yours so I only needed the one can.

[Cubeman]

I gave the foam a day to finish expanding and cure and then took a sharp pointed knife and started cutting away the excess. I started with the back and sides because they don’t take a whole lot of thought. Before starting on the front I placed the frame in the aquarium to ensure the back/side fit was okay. It was good so bit of a relief there . The egg crate is no longer flimsy at this point because of the foam structure but is still subject to slight bending. Easy to carry around but still needed to be fully supported underneath when worked on.


While it was in the tank I trimmed the top because I could use the tank frame as a guide on how much to cut away. It was then back outside to do the front. I wanted my end product to be as 3 dimensional as possible with the rocks standing out so I carved out a lot of the foam between and above them. I filled ¾ of the bathroom garbage can with the extra bits.


I left the most foam at the bottom of the rocks to provide extra support for their weight and just gently carved the foam shape to match the rocks a bit better than the ‘intestine’ look. In a couple of spots I carved too much and exposed some small pieces of the zip ties which would have to be camouflaged later. Here’s a close up of the foam once it is carved; no longer smooth skinned but rather exposed air pockets.


The next step once I was happy with the shape was to epoxy and sand. In preparation for this build I spent the most time researching the epoxies that other people had used. I know nothing about epoxy so had to reduce my search to 1) products that had been successfully used in a reef 2) products that were reasonably easy to locate and 3) products that didn’t only come in gallon buckets. I ended up following some European reefer advice and went to the locally hobby shop to buy epoxy that would be used on model boats/planes. I used 1 ½ packages of this 30 minute epoxy to complete the job.


This same epoxy comes in different curing times like 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes etc. labelled prominently on the package. When I compared the small print on the packages the curing time was directly proportional with its ability to used with water. E.g. the 5 min is no good for any water application, the 15 minute was water-resistant, and the 20 minute was the first one to state water-proof. Adding a little bit of security in my mind I went one better and bought the 30 minute blend. Then it was off to the dollar store to buy some bulk throw away paintbrushes to apply it with. Once you have used the epoxy the brushes are absolutely ruined so buy the cheapest ones you can find of suitable size. I ended up using 3 just to get this job done as they harden and become difficult along the way. The big brush on the right was not the right tool for the job - the smaller ones worked much better.


I had some sand from an old reef setup that I had rinsed a couple of weeks prior. It had been drying on a Rubbermaid lid in anticipation of this step. I mixed the epoxy a little bit at a time, coated it on to the foam one section at a time, and then liberally sprinkled sand all over it. Because of the shape of the background I had to keep rotating it in order to be able to sprinkle the sand and get it to stick. This was the longest part of the project taking me the better part of an afternoon but was also the most satisfying.

Here it is drying on the back steps.


Next up is the installation and in tank shots.

[Cubeman]

So the next step was to start applying the foam. For this I purchased a 20oz can of black pond foam which is used to make waterfalls and seal pond rocks outside. It is more UV resistant than the standard yellow "Great Stuff" foam and also has "fish safe" stamped right on the can. Nothing against the Great Stuff foam, it's a lot cheaper and has been documented as used for these types of backgrounds. It is also about 1/4 of the price of the pond foam. If I was doing a huge tank I might have considered it but luckily for me I only needed one can so went with the pond stuff for more peace of mind for me.


I put the egg crate on its back and placed a garbage bag underneath. This would help stop the foam from pushing through and being wasted on the wrong side of the egg crate and also makes it easier to clean up afterwards. This is truly one of the messiest, stickiest substances to work with - gloves and old clothes are a must. I positioned the rocks to make them as prominent (least flat) as possible as the intention is to have them become shelves to place frags on when it is done.


Then it was just a matter of spraying as little as possible for coverage knowing that the foam would expand somewhat. Here's a picture when it was first completed.


And here's a picture about 15 minutes later when the foam has almost completely expanded. If you look just below the bottom-most rocks it is a good comparison.


Here's a look at the can afterwards. I couldn't un-stick the glove.


Up next is making it look real...the arty part!

[subman]

I loving this. I would love to try something like this one day. I seen Bob's (Codfather) and it's spectacular. Your going to love it!