Finally took pics of my Room Divider

[b_james]

Photos as of today...

[Delphinus]

Very nice. :cool: Did you have to shore up your floor at all to accomodate the weight of a 230?

[b_james]

Yes.. Because the joists run lengthwise to the tank, I added 2 more joists as well as two 2X8 studded bearing walls directly under the centerline on the tank - Basically a 16" thick studded wall with a 2X8 bearing wall running the width of the tank forming a 'T' wall under the centerline of the tank. The other end closest to the window sits directly over the concrete foundation wall as my livingroom is cantalevered out 24"

Additional photos can be seen here;

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showgallery.php?thumb=1&stype=2&si=BJJ&cat=500&sort=1&ppuser=35561

[cav~firez22]

Damn.. That is nice.!!!!

[muck]

The setup looks great, especially the rockwork on the stand.
What do you all have in there for livestock?

:biggrin:

[christyf5]

Wow that stand is incredible :cool: Nice clean tank too! We need closeups :razz:

[Funky_Fish14]

Beautiful! Well made and designed! The tank itself is really clean looking too! Nice island. Now I cant wait to throw the one for my parents together in their new house!

Chris

[Buddyboy]

I love the look of room dividers/peninsula tanks! I think it's cuz you can see through them to the other side of the tank. Makes the water look so clear and the fish appear to be suspended in air. Almost like they are swimming around the room....... Very nice tank by the way. A work of art! :D

[seashells]

WOW! That looks really great! Like to rock work for the stand. How many lbs of rock for the stand? Aquascaping looks nice too.

Doug

[Samw]

That's pretty amazing. I like it. I'm guessing that's rock veneer. I was looking to get some for my wall.

[mark]

Excellent.

Room dividers are the way to go, like two tanks for one.

[b_james]

That's pretty amazing. I like it. I'm guessing that's rock (faux) veneer. I was looking to get some for my wall.


Its Eldorado Stone, cultured stone. It weighs less than half of real stone. Basically its what is commonly used for exterior commercial & residential construction because its lighter and way cheaper than real dry-stack stone. The cost of the rock was about $300 and is directly glued to 3/4" plywood substrate with PL400 construction adheasive. It was very easy to install - no messy mortar to deal with.

[b_james]

Wow that stand is incredible :cool: Nice clean tank too! We need closeups :razz:

Thanks Christyf5,

Not sure if you saw these, but there are some other photos in my RC gallery

Link to Photogallery (http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=35561&thumb=1)


edit by christyf5: fixed broken link

[christyf5]

Thanks Christyf5,

Not sure if you saw these, but there are some other photos in my RC gallery

Link to Photogallery (http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=35561&thumb=1)

Damn man, you've got one well organized system there. You must have alot of spare time :razz:

One question, do you have 2 tanks? Or did you convert the shark tank? (just browsing through your gallery).

[G1GY]

One question, do you have 2 tanks? Or did you convert the shark tank? (just browsing through your gallery).

Kitchen table in the background = Same tank.

That looks sweeeeeet!:)

[FragFactory]

Awesome :) Love the look..

Mike

[adidas]

Awesome stand, giving me ideas for finishing my divider....

[Diana]

Just beautiful! Definately my style, and I love the life-preserver too :D. You have done an excellent job with that tank. Congrats!


-Diana

[danny zubot]

I love room dividers, one day I'll have a nice big walk around cube (hopefully). How long has it been setup?

I think the life preserver is a nice touch too.:biggrin:

[muck]

and I love the life-preserver too :D.

must be for when hes cleaning that bad boy.. just in case. :wink:

[Ruth]

Great looking tank and stand. I am thinking of doing some of that stone stuff around my fireplace - seeing your stand it makes me think maybe I should do some around my tanks as well.

[b_james]

Thanks for all your comments.

The tank has been running now for about 5-1/2 months now. Maintinence is quite simple at all water changes and dosing are performed in the basement. Since the tank has been set up, I have only spot cleaned the sand twice. The glass is cleaned every 3-4 days as required.

I really like the look of the stacked stone, it really gives a natural texture to the room. Infact I'm planning on replacing the tile on my fireplace and installing the same rock I used on the tank to tie the two together.

One other major change I plan for the system is to upgrade my lighting to the same fixture but in the 250W version - I will end up selling the 150W light system.

[TheReefGeek]

I think I now have a plan for my unfinished wall around my tank! Eldorado Stone sounds much easier that doing more sanding and mudding!

Want to come clean my tank too! :)

Nice setup, love the stone.

[b_james]

[QUOTE=TheReefGeek]I think I now have a plan for my unfinished wall around my tank! Eldorado Stone sounds much easier that doing more sanding and mudding!


If your thinking of going stone, I would be glad to answer any questions you may have. I was a little intimidated at first as I have never worked with stone, tile or alike but I wanted the look of stone and I was determined to learn...

[TheReefGeek]

I do have a few ?'s.

What kind of store do you find that at? Specialty? Hardware? Landscaping? Where should I start looking?

How do you cut it to size? Masonry/Cemend blades? What kind of glue, and do you know if it can stick to walls, or should I put up wood first?

[mark]

IXL showroom (8605 Coronet Rd) has a large display of different cultured stone. Believe it was a Owens Corning product when I was looking at but they have a link to Eldoradostone.

http://ixlbrick.com/

http://www.eldoradostone.com/flashsite/

[TheReefGeek]

Cool thanks! Now I just have to google map coronet road!

[mark]

Just behind the Timmy's on Argyll down from 83st

[TheReefGeek]

Yeah I google mapped it, its not too far from my work so I will definately check them out.

[b_james]

The stone I used was the Eldorado Stone (Nantucket Stacked Stone) from IXL. Talk to Fraser Powel, Mention Bryan James (guy with fish tank) hes the guy I delt with. The retailers/installers will aways recommend using a proper substrate such as lath mesh, morter ect. but he told me "off the record" because its indoors and not exposed to freeze thaw conditions that you can just use PL400 construction adhesive - I would recommend the PL Premium instead - its basically the same but does not have an odour. I went through about 20 LARGE tubes of the PL400 and all I can say is the house stunk for weeks after.

IKL also sells Owens Corning "Cultured Stone" brand but in most cases it has to be ordered where as IXL should have stock of all Eldorado stone. Another reason I went with Eldorado is that it look more realistic, more depth and color variation than the Cultured Stone brand. Also it was quite a bit less expensive.

Installation was quite easy all you need is a masonary blade for your chop saw - assuming you have one. You can even rent one from Home depot. The blade is the same that is uded for cutting tile - looks like a solid black discthat feels like a sandpapery mesh. You can pick them up for about $8 a blade. 1 would probably do, but it doesnt hurt to get an extra as they do wear down pretty quick. Cutting is very messy - lot os white fine power/dust becasue the rock is actually made of a light weight pourous concrete. As far as you existing wall, Im not sure how durable your paint is but it might be a good Idea to rough it up a bit with a course sandpaper. It only took me a day to do all the rock work - mind you thats without a nagging wife pointing out everything your doing wrong.:lol:

[TheReefGeek]

Thanks James. I have a chop saw and masonry blades, so im all good there.

PL400 is amazing stuff, actually my drywall is attached to my stand using it :)

My wall is real nice and rough, its drywall and mud. I have to take the wife over to see if she likes any of the rock colors.