Slate Wall

[godzuki]

i was thinking this morning well pondering while a gazed lovingly at my wee fishes about the new things I wouls like to do when I get my new tank and had a wee idea and I was wondering when you all thgought and wether it was possible and if there would be any problems with it....

I was thinking about building a slate wall on one side of the tank to in theory create a ocean drop off. I have included a picture at thre bottom its a bit crude but I'm no artist.

would there be any problems with this idea? I know I would need to glue all the bis together with silicon i prosume slate a light weight material but is there any better ones? would a tank hold the weight safely?

thank you
godzuki

 

[pseud]

i was thinking this morning well pondering while a gazed lovingly at my wee fishes about the new things I wouls like to do when I get my new tank and had a wee idea and I was wondering when you all thgought and wether it was possible and if there would be any problems with it....

I was thinking about building a slate wall on one side of the tank to in theory create a ocean drop off. I have included a picture at thre bottom its a bit crude but I'm no artist.

would there be any problems with this idea? I know I would need to glue all the bis together with silicon i prosume slate a light weight material but is there any better ones? would a tank hold the weight safely?

thank you
godzuki

It's going to be VERY dark at the back bottom of your tank!

 

[godzuki]

forgot to add that

A: its not going to over hang that much.

B: im going to add led's rocks to the bottom so it should'nt be too bad..

but other then the small things does it sound like a good idea? would a tank hold it?

kiss kiss
godzuki

 

[pseud]

forgot to add that

A: its not going to over hang that much.

B: im going to add led's rocks to the bottom so it should'nt be too bad..

but other then the small things does it sound like a good idea? would a tank hold it?

kiss kiss
godzuki

It should be able to hold it fine. Just make sure it's stable and not going to fall. And put the rocks in gently. I'd put bigger rocks on the bottom to make it more stable and to distribute the weight more evenly.

 

[simonbrown403]

forgot to add that

A: its not going to over hang that much.

B: im going to add led's rocks to the bottom so it should'nt be too bad..

but other then the small things does it sound like a good idea? would a tank hold it?

kiss kiss
godzuki

I don't think it would matter to much about it being to dark at the back it would create a natural contrast, a place where fish could seek refuge.
I dont know what sort of fis you have but i,ve seen it done to good efect in african rift lake chiclid tanks

If you where to use silicon you would have to build the wall bit by bit, allowing time for the silicon to dry before you add the next layer, making sure you siliconed the next layer to the back and the layer below.

What about the epoxy they use for building reefs in marine tanks, i would of though it might better suit.

Good luck i thing it will look superd with all the crevices and over hangs.

 

[clunkster]

it should work & look the part as simonbrown403 says just build it up slowly & make sure it cant tip over if you do make it how about posting pictures of the finnished artical cheers

 

[shuhu]

if you are going for that design I suggest that you add a couple of rocks at the bottom that are wider and longer than the one at the top, just so that you dont need to attach it to you tank, or even if you glue it to your tank, so that there is not much weight on the glass panel. I you do it right they will stand without the need of being holded by something

 

[Aquascaper]

Hi Godzuki,

I have had quite a bit of experience in building aquascapes (name says it all really) and there's a few things i'd like to add here.

If you're going to build this out of slate then start from the bottom up using a large slab as a base. You want to spread the weight of the slate wall over as much of the tank bottom as possible so creating more of a 'C' shape would be better than a '/'

I personally would build this outside of the tank then lower it into the tank carefully when complete. This will prevent any bumps and scratches to the tank glass as you move the slates around to get the right look. It will also be a lot easier to silicone together as you can do it all at once when you have the right look using the weight of the slates to hold it in place while drying.

Depending on the size of the tank and the size of the slate wall you may or may not get away with the added weight. Have you considered using different materials for the wall? Alternatives would be Tufa rock (significantly lighter and can be carved to an extent) or, if you're feeling arty, polystyrene painted then coated with resin (very light therefore would need a weight at the bottom but you can create the perfect look as it can be carved to any shape). And finally, don't attach anything to the inside of the tank, you'll only regret it later if something gets trapped or needs cleaned, etc.

To give you some reassurance though this is one of my earlier tanks with about 20kg+ piled up in one corner (48x15x18 with 8mm glass), it never had any problems

 

[godzuki]

thanks for all the advice and surgestions there all greatly appreciated..

as soon as I can decide what and how im doing it I'll keep you informed...