20g Cork Scape Build

[mellowvision]

a ton of new photos to accompany my nervousness.

Got the new glass today, and found black caulk. you wouldn't think it'd be hard to find black caulk in brooklyn... lol.

I am about to start gluing. In the filtration areas, I'm working with a really really tight space, so I'm worried about future maintenance and breakage, but I'm going to move ahead, knowing the parts I've selected for the plumbing can be modified later if need be. Most of it should be fine, mostly worried about the tom dive clean micro. I love these pumps. I have many. But they need frequent cleaning due to their small size. I'm just praying that I can still connect and disconnect it once the cork shroud is glued in place. (I've practiced, with one hand, with the shroud pressed tightly in place...)


on with the pics:

 

[sunshinetrenie]

WOW THIS LOOKS GREAT! WOULD LOVE TO TRY THAT. WHERE DID YOU PURCHASE THE CORK?

 

[mellowvision]

thanks! I got the cork from herpsupplies.com, I didn't find anywhere else that had full tubes for a good price. I've ordered from them twice, and both times they sent me great pieces. I highly recommend the cork. check out the 5.5g in my signature too.

also, first round of gluing done: ( it really smells in here! )

 

[Inka4040]

Dude... That's an amazing start. Whatever you end up doing with this I bet it'll look incredible.

 

[sunshinetrenie]

JUST CHECKED OUT THE SITE. THE CORK IS ON CLEARANCE! ITS VERY AFFORDABLE.... WHY HAVENT I HEARD OF THIS BEFORE?

 

[mellowvision]

on clearance you say?? I might have to buy him out. i got a 5% off ticket with my last order too!

it's considered a vivarium material usually, so it doesn't show up on the aquarium sites too much. besides, if you think about it, most aquascapers have been focused on recreating little pockets of reality, and cork doesn't occur in or near water really... it's farmed in the middle of portugal... so this is sort of an abstraction from reality. I'm using it the way a lot of people use great stuff foam. I've tried that, not interested.

I got my first bit of cork, a 10"round tube about 16" tall... to test it. I wanted to see if it worked submerged. I was inspired by this video: [YT]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nj6ebKF8eSY&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nj6ebKF8eSY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj6ebKF8eSY which has an all cork background. I haven't seen any other tank like it really, and it was what I based the idea of the 5.5 gallon on. This time around, I want to try it bigger, and fully submerged, to give me terraced planting areas. I hate how my tank floors are always settling into a 3" flat surface, when I start with huge hills. I'm trying a new approach, which will give me deeper planters in some areas, and varying distance from the light source.

both tanks though, are really just research for the next one. I'm hoping to build a large paludarium for my hatchets and otos, and potentially vampire crabs.

and, if I decide I don't like this tank full of water, I've planned it so I can drop the water by half and have islands in a paludarium...

 

[Inka4040]

I think it'll be much more interesting half full. You've definitely convinced me man, as soon as I get settled into my next place the 29 is definitely going palu.

 

[robott]

awesome. so awesome.

 

[BoCoMo]

opcorn:

 

[calivivarium1]

Dang.... You always have something interesting in the works, I can't wait to see the end result of this project