Hi All

This holiday period has finally given me some spare time to build my new Amazon tank. My aim is to build a tank that looks like an Amazon river bank.

Please no PM’s with questions, if you have a question please post it up here so that I dont have to answer same questions more than once.

Firstly I want to thank all the great people who have helped me to make this tank possible. Snowy from Western Cichilds, Cobby, Nomis, Vebas team, Mark from The fish bowl and ponds-in SA & Cory, sorry if I have forgotten anyone, I will add people as I remember.

DRAWING
Here is the drawing of the design, this design allows you to hide all plumping and heaters, etc. The holes are placed to allow plumbing to clear a metal stand made from 40mm tube, if you are going to copy the design please be carefull when placing the bottom holes if you are using thicker tube or wood for your stand!

TANK AND STAND
The tank has been laid on its back to make it easier to fit the background, also the straps have been left off so I can fit the background. An important tip, its really easy to hit your head on the top(front) glass when fitting the background, as I found out quite a few times friggin Ouch!

THE BACKGROUND Pt1
OK this is a Universal rock called the Basalt roll, I made alot of efforts to purchase locally but could not find anyone who was helpful. I ended up getting it from Mark at Fish bowl and ponds in South Australia who was extremely helpful. I also was suprised at the price, it only cost about $300 for both peices - considering they are 12.5feet long!.

THE BACKGROUND Pt2
The edges are not square so trim them off so you get a neat finish.

THE BACKGROUND Pt3
Unfortunately these backgrounds only come in heights of 30cm, 50cm and 60cm and are all 12.5feet long, and I needed 70cm to reach the overflow height of the tank. So I bought a 50cm & a 30cm. Make sure you cut the length right!

THE BACKGROUND Pt4
Prepping the background, the background has a very smooth back so I sanded it and roughed it up in the hope the silicone will bond better. I did this as I have previously noticed silicone does not stick well to its smooth areas.

THE BACKGROUND Pt5
Making sure it fits! Yep perfect!

THE BACKGROUND Pt6
OK now overlapping them and clamping the 2 peices together so I can remove from the tank and start the cutting process.

THE BACKGROUND Pt7
Cutting the first layer, to try and hide the join I have followed natural cracks in the rock design and tried to make it as jagged as possible. This hopefully prevents the observers eye from finding and following the joins. I will not tollerate a visible join !

THE BACKGROUND Pt8
Cutting the second peice. During this process it is wise to wear plastic underpants, as a mistake can ruin the whole job and lead to an abrupt and unexpected bowel movement. An important tip, while I was cutting I continued to measure along every foot to ensure I was on track and maintained the total 70cm height I needed.

THE BACKGROUND Pt9
Final trimming, it was impossible for me to get it perfect, once I put the peices together there were some final minor trimming adjustments required before gluing.

THE BACKGROUND Pt10
The peices were glued in place, I got the silicone to meet flush with the small gaps in the join and I have pushed brown ocre into the silicone in the hope that it will bed into the silicone and thus completely hide the join, once the silicone has dried the excess ocre dust you can see along the join here will be removed. I should also add I used 9 tubes of silicone to fit the background.

THE BACKGROUND Pt11
Ocre has been removed and as you can see a little but of the join is visible on this closest side, the fact that the ocre has not been completely removed and the area has a water/ocre stain is not helping, however this join will not be easy to find once the water, plants and wood is added.

NEXT SERIES WILL BE FILTERS AND PLUMBING

1.  Written by Den (Forum member and a Perth cichlid enthusiast)