Background HELP!

[Lady Hobbs]

I don't want another tank with the standard tank background and want to do something different. I am rather crafty but also am very critical of myself and will tear the whole thing apart if I find one thing wrong with it.
:27:

Obviously I don't want to put a bunch of work into something I will hate.

I was thinking of taking a stab at the foam rock background but I don't think my painting techniques would be very realistic and they really sound complicated with the cement you use, etc. (It appears to me in all my searching that the UK has the only nice looking fake rock backgrounds.)

Today I was thinking of painting the back of the tank black on the outside and then gluing sand to the back of the tank (sand bottom). I have collected several tree branches and have sanded them with coarse sandpaper to remove nearly all the bark. I could silicone these branches to the back as well.

(Using the foam blocks, the branches could also be stuck into the foam and glued in place.) But now I am thinking that these branches should be coated in something to prevent rotting away or snapping off and I was thinking of possibly a resin to harden them?

I was also reading that you can just glue slate all over the inside back of the tank but this would make the tank VERY heavy so that's out.

I can't wrap my mind around all this and what I want to do and need your idea's. Thanks

[salman]

I tried to do that.. Paint the tank.. 2 days later i went and bought another aquarium. Thank god it was the small one i had painted. When i was buying my last aquarium, i found alot of artistic and creative backgrounds. There were alot and some were even funny and they looked so good. But, i decided to go with a natural look. Now i cant change it because my aquarium is the corner aquarium and there is like no room for my to fit my hands in to remove it and put another one.

[Drumachine09]

Ive spray painted many an aquarium background and have had no trouble. Make sure you use satin paint. Gloss is WAY too shiny, its like you are looking in a mirror, and matte is to dull.

[Rue]

I'm anal about doing anything 'permanent'...even on my used 55g, I couldn't get whatever goop he used to stick his blue background paper on off...and it drove me insane!

But you can certainly do neat stuff with styrofoam and appropriate paints that isn't permanent...

I've been looking at backgrounds too...all the really nice stuff is SO expensive...

[coachfraley]

Here's a cool DIY to check out:

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[RobbieG]

I know what you mean - I love those rock backgrounds and I like to try out the DIY stuff but those looked to be a bit beyond me.

I can pretty much guarantee I'd end up with a lumpy grey crooked THING that would fall apart and kill something if I tried it!

[Drumachine09]

Here's a cool DIY to check out:

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

*ponders*


I could do that.

[RobbieG]

Part of me thinks I can - but part of me is convinced that if I try it I will wind up with three grey cats, my face glued to the floor, and my wife beating me about the head and shoulders with a large heavy object.

*Hangs Head and makes clucking sounds*

[coachfraley]

Follow the instructions exactly, including the beer!

[Drumachine09]

Follow the instructions exactly, including the beer!



<----- <21 ;)

[RobbieG]

Was looking for a wood coating for Lady Hobbs and found this DIY

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]


This is the wood coating they used - there is a dealer locator on the page

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Zerileous]

what about a rock wall? I mean real rocks, if you can find enough stable river stone and just silicon it to the wall and togather? Something along ]these lines ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.) but maybe on a bit of a smaller scale. Maybe just a half wall? and you could always integrate pieces of wood. You might want to try some tree roots, they seem to be more interesting than straight branches.

[dev]

It is not very complicated to create your own from styrofoam, or perhaps ready made foam "rocks". Well, it does look a little complicated at first, but as you get started you will see that it is pretty simple.

I just created a 30x50 for my new fry tank earlier today, still waiting for the epoxy to dry :)

Prepare the styrofoam into the shape you want
Apply cement (husfix) as if it was paint, and let dry (two or three hours)
Paint using acryling paint in the colours you want, and let dry (couple of hours again)
Apply clear epoxy paint, and once again let dry (12 hours)
Apply a second layer of clear epoxy paint to be on the safe side, and let dry for 24-48 hours
Rince thouroughly in water before seating it in your tank using some sort of aquarium safe silicone.

You could probably even skip the cement part, but I think it gives a nice effect, smoothing the cut and giving the background a more natural look.

I'll see if I can make a DIY post with some pictures on how I did mine.

[Drumachine09]

using GE grade silicone..


It has to be GE I window and door. Or at least thats the only aquarium safe one i have heard of.

[dev]

Ah, yes. I keep forgetting how different things are over there. Most GE grade silicone here is specifically marked as aquarium safe, either in writing, or with a little picture of a fish.

But let's rephrase it to "some sort of aquarium safe silicone" :)

[Lady Hobbs]

After reading DIY rock backgrounds for 20 hours, the link given me by Coach and Drumachine was the easiest to follow, less complicated and the only site I hadn;t read I think. Thank you both!

I might not be able to make this tho because I have no beer and I can see this would be a vital ingredient in putting this together properly. At least if you made it really ugly it wouldn't bother you as much but that may require remaining drunk for a long time.

I have read from using screen on the back, plastic screen like you would use for UGF, wood and several other items. Even one person used the plastic for a truck bed! I've read to use resin which is about $40 for the amount needed.

One thing that does concern me is that some people had water behind their piece become stagnated and they've recommended a power head to draw the water from behind that may get trapped. What I think that might work........??........is if the back was painted black (or a black background) and the rock sections not be put together too tightly so water from behind can escape? Maybe some holes cut out that would appear as small black caves.

I have also read that marine epoxy works far better than silicone for these projects.

This guy used far thicker styrofoam than I would use but he certainly had an easier way of doing things so thanks again guys for the link!

[Lady Hobbs]

Epoxy is also pretty stinky stuff and needs to be used outside.

[dev]

Epoxy is also pretty stinky stuff and needs to be used outside.

Depends.

The water soluble two component kind doesnt smell much (the kind you would use to cover a cemented floor).

I use epoxy to seal the entire background. Keeps the cement from altering my pH, and makes the background much more solid. - though I don't use it to fit my background in the tank. Would be pretty hard to get it out again if I did.

Oh, and if you make it so the backside is flat and fit it using silicone there will be no water behind it to worry about. On the other hand, you could set up an entire filtersystem behind the background should you wish to, I've seen a couple of guys on the norwegian forum I use do it that way (akvaforum.no)

I'll get started on my little DIY article now, seeing how I can't find one on AC.

[Lady Hobbs]

Are you talking epoxy paint or epoxy glue? I was talking about the glue so maybe that's the confusion?

I noticed several use Great Stuff which is used as a sealer around pipes and air holes in houses, I think.

[coachfraley]

Here is the other background DIY I found when I was looking around. This one uses real rock and rain gutters. I think it is mostly a setup for cichlids, but I imagine you could use it for any fish.

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Lady Hobbs]

I can't imagine the amount of weight using real stone would create. Scares me to think about it!

I read of one guy gluing slate all over the back of his tank in layers. Just sounds like a lot of added stress to the seams to me.

[dev]

Are you talking epoxy paint or epoxy glue? I was talking about the glue so maybe that's the confusion?

I noticed several use Great Stuff which is used as a sealer around pipes and air holes in houses, I think.

Well, I was talking about both. For sealing the background I use epoxy paint. For fitting the background in the tank, I could have used epoxy clue - but I don't. Silicone is a lot easier to cut out of your tank when you want to remove the background. It is also elastic, so you can be sure it wont strain your glass.

Sorry for the confusion :)

[Rue]

The other issue I have...is that when I see something I like...and try to recreate it...

I'm NEVER satisfied with the end result...

AND...I've tried enough DIY projects that have failed miserably...that I've come to the conclusion that I'm ahead financially if I just buy the d*mn thing to start with...

...speaking of which...the 12 year old and I just came back from used bike shopping...he wants to trick out his own BMX trick bike...yup...aha...yes indeed...

...however, we found a complete bike that's good enough for $80...just a bit of rust...hopefully spray painting it is a DIY he can actually do successfully...

[dev]

AND...I've tried enough DIY projects that have failed miserably...that I've come to the conclusion that I'm ahead financially if I just buy the d*mn thing to start with...

But then you would miss out on all the fun :D

I have added my background thread to the DIY section now.

[Lady Hobbs]

Well, I was talking about both. For sealing the background I use epoxy paint. For fitting the background in the tank, I could have used epoxy clue - but I don't. Silicone is a lot easier to cut out of your tank when you want to remove the background. It is also elastic, so you can be sure it wont strain your glass.

Sorry for the confusion :)

Oh OK. Reading from that guys instructions, it doesn't look like he used anything but the cement with colored dye. I'm on my way to go check yours out.

[dev]

Oh OK. Reading from that guys instructions, it doesn't look like he used anything but the cement with colored dye. I'm on my way to go check yours out.

That method has a slight issue. The exposed cement will increase the pH in your tank. This is not a problem in his malawi tank, but I can't use that in my south-american and asian tanks where I'm working hard to keep the pH below 7.

The other benefit of coating it all in epoxy is that you can use pretty much anything for the background, including water based acrylic paint. You don't even have to worry about potential contaminants leaking out from the materials used.

The downside is, of course, that epoxy is rather expensive.