Tex Gal

Pretty cool! We've all waited for this. I almost feel like it's my own tank! LOL

walterk

Thanks, Tex Gal!

Yes, my first post in this thread was dated 11-27-2010

...and I've been dreaming about a tank like this ever since I was a little kid.

walterk

Growing Christmas Moss in my 46 Bowfont that I will transfer to the new tank. Also, I have an elevated bed of 1" diameter lava rock in there that I will remove and use in the canister filter. Finally, I've placed my two Filter Max III prefilters in there to have them collect good bacteria.

walterk

My LFS gave me an email today. The tank should be delivered in about a week!

I placed acrylic sheets between the wood floor and the stand, shimmed the stand, cut pieces of foam insulation and placed them on top of the stand.

fishyjoe24

sounds awesome.. that is good news.

walterk

Talked to the owner of North Waco Tropical Fish today. He said it would be likely that my tank would be delivered on Thursday or Friday.

I don't know if the tie-dyed cloth will look good as a background. I might want to paint on a background before the tank is placed on top of the stand. I'm experimenting right now with latex paint to see if there is something that would go along with the "flow" of the tank's theme.

It might just end up looking crappy, but I'm taking a look at it anyway. I see so many folks just use a solid dark/light blue or black. The use of gradient colors seems either quite rare, or not done at all. I think a lot of Amanoesque tanks use lighting to achieve the gradient.

I have a sample piece of thin acrylic that I'm painting on using a Strie painting technique (also referred to as "Dragging"). I would rather not have a solid color, but I don't want it to look "freakish" either.

AquaBarren

Great news Walter. Can't wait.

walterk

@$%&*(*!!!

One of the pieces of Manzanita wood I ordered from Florida was host to several wood borers. I killed one, but there are others in my office, I suspect.

Monday, I will be calling an exterminator. I've also ordered some sodium borate. I will be mixing this 1:1 with water and brushing it onto bare portions of the wood on the aquarium stand. It should prevent any wood chewing insects from munching on that.

I'm really paranoid(?) about the damage that these things can do, and I'm not placing the tank on the stand until this issue is resolved. They lay eggs on or in the wood and can hatch out in months (or years) down the road.

Five pics:

http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a1/...urrent=007.jpg

After doing some research, I think this might be a "Black Polycaon Beetle." Lesson learned. From now on, I will put driftwood in water after I receive it. I needed to drown these suckers.

HeyPK

Wood borers are usually fairly specific to the species of tree, if we are talking about long horned beetles, family Cerambycidae. What did these critters look like?

walterk

Click on the above link and view the 5 pics. By everything I've read, I think this is a Black Polycaon Beetle. The "shavings" are actually "a powder." (check), the hole is round and not oval (check), it is fairly large that you can poke a pencil down it (check), the critter is about 1" (check)...the inner jaws are red (not shown in pic, but check). Gotta be this critter.

I've found a wide range of opinions about what wood it is attracted to, how much damage it will cause (if any). I've consulted an online Entomologist (who should reply within three days), and will consult our local, professional "bug guy" tomorrow.

I've ordered the Borax and will apply it to the stand no matter what anyone says. I need that piece of mind with all the weight it will be carrying.

This is exactly what it looked like right side up: http://www.corkyspest.com/wood_pests/blk_poly.html