DIY Slate wall

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Bk718

No Monkey Business
Nov 29, 2007
7,148
1
60
Brooklyn, NY
During my search of a canopy design i came across bevicking's photo album which included his great canopy/stand making skills and then theres the slate wall.


I loved the look and decided to make my own.
Supplies:
Slate - I went with slate tiles 12x12 alot cheaper than the petstore slate. $1.97 per tile.
Styrofoam - I went with Pink styrofoam since i had tons of that
Glue - Aquarium safe silicone
Tools - hammer and a chisel to break up the tile and break off any sharp edges. Hacksaw to cut the styrofoam. Sand paper to smooth the styrofoam to perfect shape.

And the results are...


 

southpaw

Lefty
Jun 7, 2007
720
0
0
54
Tennessee
I like....looks nice :)
 

mellowvision

Seafood Lover
May 17, 2007
5,099
0
0
Brooklyn NY
www.mellowvision.com
Real Name
Bill Brissette
looks great... where are you getting such uniform slate chuncks? all the aquarium stores seem to have such random, flaky crap.

I made my slate walls with near shards in some places, and broke sheets apart...

makes me realize, I really want to be able to cut and grind stone in my living room.
 

Bk718

No Monkey Business
Nov 29, 2007
7,148
1
60
Brooklyn, NY
Used 12x12 slate tile which i got from home depot.
Tried to score them to get as uniform of a break as possible but wasnt fully successful it just went its own way, so i tried to make the best of it. Thats only 1 tile.
For now the silicone is curing and that will take a few days.. meanwhile i will be finishing off the canopy/lighting and redoing the whole tank..
Have one more tile left. Might make another wall who knows..

Got pix of your wall mellow??
 

Bk718

No Monkey Business
Nov 29, 2007
7,148
1
60
Brooklyn, NY
looks great... where are you getting such uniform slate chuncks? all the aquarium stores seem to have such random, flaky crap.
I made my slate walls with near shards in some places, and broke sheets apart...
makes me realize, I really want to be able to cut and grind stone in my living room.
lol was that to me??
I did all the work outside, brought it inside to finish it off due to the crazy rain/snow.
 

mellowvision

Seafood Lover
May 17, 2007
5,099
0
0
Brooklyn NY
www.mellowvision.com
Real Name
Bill Brissette
no, I meant, I'd like to be able to cut and grind stone in MY living room...

my kitchen is already more of a workshop than a kitchen. I need a garage. or something.

my slate wall isn't really the same function, it contains the gravel in my island, in the 15g tank in my sig. the island hangs on plexi strips suctioned to the walls of the tank. the island itself is a plexi sheet, cut into a corner shape, with a hole in the middle. the hole has a window screen cone glued in, and then stone is stacked around the edge, to build it up... then the cone and shelf are filled with eco-complete. the end product is a removable shelf that is fully planted, with roots in submerged soil. the roots even find their way out into the water column via holes in the wall and the window screen cone.

it works... I'd like to improve the design now that I have seen one in action. it's easy to remove the shelf, but hard to put it back in securely, and I damaged it early on, when the design was a little more complicated, so it flexes a bit. I also would like a wider screen cone.
 
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