Floating Tank Design - For something a little bit different!

[bigdhsv]

just an idea and im not sure if it will work, but you could make it out of wook then fill all gaps/holes and what not and sand it to a fine finnish, then (this is where in not sure if it will work) take it to a panel and paint shop, and get it painted, id say 2 undercoats, and two coats of 2pac black, and then several coats of clear coat. id say that would give it a smooth almost roundes finnish. not sure about putting it into practice but it should work and would be water safe aswell as it should seal the wood

[callummc1]

Nah I'm mean build the whole thing and then wrap a thin piece of signwriters vinyl (ie what alot of people put on the back of their tanks) in whatever colour you like around the whole thing.. would be a pain in the arse to get the corners right but I'm sure it'd be doable...

Alternatively, again with wood, build it & fill all joins with putty, sand to a smooth surface, prime & paint in a gloss finish paint.. again should leave you with a fairly seamless finish..

Very interesting concept.... do you by any chance have any shots of this stuff bended around corners?

[callummc1]

Honestly I don’t understand why fluval themselves aren’t making a larger version of there design. They would make a fortune from a larger version considering how many modifications and larger versions have been made by other people. There is a clear demand for it.

Also if they made an all in one marine version like your design it would sell much better than redsea and aquamedic tanks.

Really - I haven't been able to find anyone who has done a similar thing. If you know where you saw it, I'd love to find out what others are doing.

You know, it's funny that you mentioned the commercial aspect.

Nick and I were talking about the amount of time that we have put into this (and the amount of time yet to come) and we tossed around the idea of commercialising it. It wouldn't be too hard to find a manufacturer who could do flat pack stands in a good quality. The whole thing could come as a boxed product.

The only issue we saw with it was that you would need to organise appropriate volumes to appease a manufacturer up front. Although with enough buy in (and pre-orders) with commercial aquariums - it would be possible.

Price wise though - I think that this is going to be similar to the CADE style aquariums. It would be a premium product rather than a cheap mass produced thing like the Edge.

[callummc1]

just an idea and im not sure if it will work, but you could make it out of wook then fill all gaps/holes and what not and sand it to a fine finnish, then (this is where in not sure if it will work) take it to a panel and paint shop, and get it painted, id say 2 undercoats, and two coats of 2pac black, and then several coats of clear coat. id say that would give it a smooth almost roundes finnish. not sure about putting it into practice but it should work and would be water safe aswell as it should seal the wood

Thanks Damien - that's the path that my mind has been wandering down too. You would have thought that it wouldn't be too difficult to get a one off piece of plastic. But apparently it is.

Still interested in alterative suggestions - really want to explore this area thoroughly.

[WarbyD]

I think big d's suggestion is going to be the most cost effective to implement (same thing I was getting at with my 2nd suggestion, except you'd get a *much* better finish by taking it to an auto shop as he's suggested) and would look fantastic... plenty of furniture around the place that's MDF painted with 2-pac. Go into any major furniture retailer and have a look at some of their stuff to see if it's got the sort of finish you'd like

[spanishmack]

i like the idea of what you are doing, looks good

if you did do a wood hood, i wouldn't get an auto repair shop to paint it, go to a cabinetmaking factory and get them to make and paint the hood in "proper" 2 pack paint designed for wood, not automotive paint which is designed for metal cars not wood furntiure. its like making apple pie with pears, sure it may look the same, but nowhere near as good.

[callummc1]

I think big d's suggestion is going to be the most cost effective to implement (same thing I was getting at with my 2nd suggestion, except you'd get a *much* better finish by taking it to an auto shop as he's suggested) and would look fantastic... plenty of furniture around the place that's MDF painted with 2-pac. Go into any major furniture retailer and have a look at some of their stuff to see if it's got the sort of finish you'd like

It might be the way to go.

Initally we had envisaged doing it in acrylic - but apparently it's a royal pain in the ass to paint. Anyone have any hints in that area?

[WarbyD]

i like the idea of what you are doing, looks good

if you did do a wood hood, i wouldn't get an auto repair shop to paint it, go to a cabinetmaking factory and get them to make and paint the hood in "proper" 2 pack paint designed for wood, not automotive paint which is designed for metal cars not wood furntiure. its like making apple pie with pears, sure it may look the same, but nowhere near as good.

Fair call

And I like the applie pie with pears analogy lol... makes me think of all the food in the camps I stay in haha, it might look like real food - but it's just not the same :P

[callummc1]

i like the idea of what you are doing, looks good

if you did do a wood hood, i wouldn't get an auto repair shop to paint it, go to a cabinetmaking factory and get them to make and paint the hood in "proper" 2 pack paint designed for wood, not automotive paint which is designed for metal cars not wood furntiure. its like making apple pie with pears, sure it may look the same, but nowhere near as good.

Yep - that sounds right to me !

I must say - I'm completely taken by Danger's stand : http://www.masa.asn.au/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=148&t=170255
It's simply awesome.

I was initially thinking of something like this : http://www.projectaquarium.com/plantedAquariumArticles_ADAAquariumStand.aspx

But now I want something like Danger's....

Every time I find something new that I like, the price goes up

[callummc1]

Just a thought..... At what point should I be opening a tank journal for this? I feel that I'm very much in the design phase at the moment and I kind of felt that I really should wait until I'm in the build phase. However I've seen quite a few TJ's now that seem to start with design and take a long time to get legs.

What do others think? I just realized that this thread is now 5 pages long and running..... Should we continue the discussion here or should I be starting a new TJ?