125 Gallon "Angels in Paradise" Journal - Journals

crshadow · 11-30-2005, 05:21 PM

This tank was actually completed a few months ago as far as the final aquascape goes. I had hoped to continue to refine it, but work and other time constraints did not allow me to do so. Also, I apologize for adding this journal at the last minute. I don't know if it will still count for extra points, but even it doesn't I still wanted to share this tank's evolution with everyone.

Here's a pic from 3/23/2005. This was taken shortly after purchasing the tank. The driftwood I purchased quite some time before this off of ebay in anticipation of eventually getting this tank. In the pic, I was testing the rough layout of how I wanted to place the wood.

crshadow · 11-30-2005, 05:26 PM

For this tank I used a background material called "Oceanvisions" which attaches to the back of the tank similar to the manner in which window tint is installed. The result is a very smooth finish.

crshadow · 11-30-2005, 05:33 PM

After this I began a project to build my own canopy. I designed the canopy with my old 3d Studio Max program. The rendering was color coded for different stock size pieces of lumber. (1x6, 1x4, etc)

crshadow · 11-30-2005, 05:38 PM

Here are a couple pics of the construction of the canopy.

crshadow · 11-30-2005, 05:43 PM

Next I primed, and painted the canopy.

crshadow · 11-30-2005, 06:01 PM

For lighting I purchased 6 AH Supply 55 watt light kits... Err.. To be more specific 3 2x55 Watt Bright Kits for a total of 330 watts. This tank was a little tricky to light as it is not a standard 6 foot 125 gallon, but rather it is 5 feet wide and a little taller than a normal 6 footer. I would have loved to fit a little more light under the canopy, but it wasn't feasible with CF's.

Each bank of lights can be controlled separately with switched receptacles mounted to the back of the canopy. I also plugged my solenoid into one of these receptacles so that the CO2 will come on when a specific bank of lights turns on.