The 3D background I've been blabbing about

It has begun! We had a few "snow days" (really ice days) here in sunny Florida, so my store was closed. The highway in front of us was closed by FDOT, so we didn't really have a choice. Anyway, yesterday my wife sent me packing to go and work on this while we were closed, because she knew I really wanted to do it but never have time. Awesome wife

I've been thinking about this for months, and I've changed plans several times before I finally pulled the trigger. Here are the beginnings... It's 55 gallon on a tall DIY stand I built to shelve children's books underneath at the store. The kids are gonna love this one! It is attached to the wall for safety.


The wide view... pictures don't do it justice. It fit perfectly in the test fit, and everything looks proportional. This is only the bottom 75%. The top will be a "terrestrial" area that has a river, side pools, and waterfalls. I'm using a small fountain pump to draw water up through a large sponge mounted in the roof of the cave. All hardware and plumbing is hidden 100% from view within the background.


Side view. Ignore the markings on the foam... I was doodle storming and decided not to go so high with plants since lighting is going to be a totally different challenge. I have a plan though

Substrate: Sand (my first go at it)
Fish: Guppies and Corys
Plants: TBD
Lighting: DIY LED

Any comments or suggestions?

Thanks everyone! I am going to get to work on it again Sunday I hope. It will be a planted tank (never going back to fish only). I wanted to add some dimension, so the "shelves" will raise the level up a little for some background plants. I am also going to try and slope the sand some up in the corner between the plant shelves and the cave planting it to hold the sand up in that slope. This will be my first adventure in sand land as well