>how long did it take you to do all that? Def original.
The layout took longest. I bought a mixed bag of tiles, so I had to sort them out and determine how many I had of each color, then figure out a design to use them all on graph paper.
FYI, glass mosaic tiles run about $25/square foot at the tile store. Less online. I went to a store and asked if they had any leftover or incomplete sheets. They had a bunch which I got for less than half price, but not a whole lot of any one color.
Next time I know I want only translucent tiles, not any metallic ones-you can't really see the pattern with those, though they would look cool as a single sheet. And I'll want the bottom pattern to continue with the back.
I laid out the mosaic on the bottom with no glue, then of course, when I put in the water, they all went sheeting all over the place and I had to redo them. Note: pour water in over a dish!
It took a couple of hours to set up the back. I had my colored graph and piles of the different tiles. Or if you don't have cats around to mess it up, lay out the design on a table and transfer it row by row to the tank, starting at the bottom. A small dab of aquarium sealant (have a lot on hand) on the center back. Put the tile in place and give it a little push and wiggle to spread out the sealant and move on. You don't want so much sealant it squidges out between the tiles. Set the tiles edge to edge-no grout lines, which means you get a bit over 13 tiles for every 12 inches-the tiles are actually about 3/4 inch square. Let it air dry very well, the acetic acid smell was overpowering for a couple days.
I have not had a problem with green algae. I suppose there is potential for it to get behind the tiles-if it did get behind the tiles, cleaning would be impossible. If that were to happen I'd probably move the fish and filter to another tank and bleach the algae away, then rinse rinse rinse. The clerk at the fish store suggested hot glue when I was looking for sealant. But, he said things wouldn't stick as long. So that might make cleaning or changing the pattern easier, but if the tiles fell out you'd have to drain and dry the tank to replace them. And I have no idea if hot glue is aquarium safe.
About two months after setup I had a brown algae bloom-everything was covered. Happily the FS finally had otoclinus in stock and three of them scoured the tank in three days better than I could with a sponge. I moved two of the otos out to my big tank and the last one is keeping the tank spotless and is doing well with supplemental algae wafers and zucchini.
I don't really want substrate on the bottom- I love the ease of keeping this tank clean, but I do want objects for Jack to swim around and through and have something he can root around. Still working on the decor issue.
Ellen
The layout took longest. I bought a mixed bag of tiles, so I had to sort them out and determine how many I had of each color, then figure out a design to use them all on graph paper.
FYI, glass mosaic tiles run about $25/square foot at the tile store. Less online. I went to a store and asked if they had any leftover or incomplete sheets. They had a bunch which I got for less than half price, but not a whole lot of any one color.
Next time I know I want only translucent tiles, not any metallic ones-you can't really see the pattern with those, though they would look cool as a single sheet. And I'll want the bottom pattern to continue with the back.
I laid out the mosaic on the bottom with no glue, then of course, when I put in the water, they all went sheeting all over the place and I had to redo them. Note: pour water in over a dish!
It took a couple of hours to set up the back. I had my colored graph and piles of the different tiles. Or if you don't have cats around to mess it up, lay out the design on a table and transfer it row by row to the tank, starting at the bottom. A small dab of aquarium sealant (have a lot on hand) on the center back. Put the tile in place and give it a little push and wiggle to spread out the sealant and move on. You don't want so much sealant it squidges out between the tiles. Set the tiles edge to edge-no grout lines, which means you get a bit over 13 tiles for every 12 inches-the tiles are actually about 3/4 inch square. Let it air dry very well, the acetic acid smell was overpowering for a couple days.
I have not had a problem with green algae. I suppose there is potential for it to get behind the tiles-if it did get behind the tiles, cleaning would be impossible. If that were to happen I'd probably move the fish and filter to another tank and bleach the algae away, then rinse rinse rinse. The clerk at the fish store suggested hot glue when I was looking for sealant. But, he said things wouldn't stick as long. So that might make cleaning or changing the pattern easier, but if the tiles fell out you'd have to drain and dry the tank to replace them. And I have no idea if hot glue is aquarium safe.
About two months after setup I had a brown algae bloom-everything was covered. Happily the FS finally had otoclinus in stock and three of them scoured the tank in three days better than I could with a sponge. I moved two of the otos out to my big tank and the last one is keeping the tank spotless and is doing well with supplemental algae wafers and zucchini.
I don't really want substrate on the bottom- I love the ease of keeping this tank clean, but I do want objects for Jack to swim around and through and have something he can root around. Still working on the decor issue.
Ellen
