My First Background....experimenting

Satanas90

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 24, 2011
160
0
0
Yuma
So i Decided to try out my back ground... I decided to put like an over hang because i want to have oscars.. My last oscar(died like a month ago) i had him for 4 and a half years he didnt like the light much so that way they have some dark spots...i Had some styrofoam left over from my garage project ...so this is how its looking at the moment ..Its my first try so if you have any pointers or see something wrong let me know... I know i will add some stuff to make it sink since its styrofoam.....well i havent decided what to use to cover it dont want to use cement seems to messy..
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still need to do some touch ups and fix some stuff fill in gaps but its a start.. i also have my cutouts for my over flows in the back ..they will be pvc piping will update later.. let me know what u think

oh also i have this new tank i made with a wine bottle from my work i made the stand for it to.. now i need to make two more for some other employees...may make it a business...lol...free bottles... i make $$ for the new tank not bad....oh i have 3 baby guppies i snail n a plant..
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bizmocas99

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 28, 2011
19
0
0
portland oregon
Wow......you've just blown my mind!!!! OMG.....lol so I have a few questions on how you went from blocks of styrofoam to smoothed out edges and lines as if they were mortared in....also what did you in the end decide to use to weight down the styrofoam? What's holding the styrofoam together? Silicone? And does it just sit in there snug or did you dab a few dots of silicone in the edges? Are you gunna paint it? If so with what and where would I find some? A friend that doesn't really mess with fish tanks said that if I painted it with reg spray paint that I could aquarium safe clear coat it and it would be ok....what do you think about this?
 

BayArea_510

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 28, 2011
2,204
1
0
$.HAYWARD CA
dam u wanna make me and ship me a background
 

Satanas90

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 24, 2011
160
0
0
Yuma
wow so many Questions...lol but will answer them since you were my first reply...So i put the styrofoam in my tank to see how many pieces can i make to install it because i have a big centerbace.. so the widest i can go was around 25 inches so my background fits like a puzzle.. and have two over hangs the center and the left side..like i said im putting oscars on there so i want some dark spots....
Tools used:
Marker
box cutter
hacksaw blade the short one that has half the blade sticking out..
glue gun
yard stick
no knifes.or other blades...
to form the rock i just started to form one at a time cutting deep into the foam passing two or three which gave it dept.some. nothing is holding it together (you mean the glue?) if so i used the ge windows and door one i think that what is called..yes silicone .. it fits in there snug the first three pieces get slided in together because they interlock the the last one goes in just goes pressed in .. its kind of snug..the piece one the left goes snug on top because they press together so it looks like one and also i have three spots i can use as returns but you cant see them i put them so their hidden and u cant see.......also the retune pipe can be used to hold it together.. I used the pipe itself to drill a hole through foam..like a drill.. im still in the process of building i will post more picture the last picture is how it looks now...about the weight part i will be cutting in some spots and maybe adding some rocks or pvc pipe filled with sand along the bottom them and filling the spots with filler foam so it will be tight...the center part is the over hang i will not put weights on that its suppos to float and the centerbarce should keep it in place it also attatches to the back ground... i will be using maybe silica or drylok a sealer with quikkrette cement coloring .. i dont want to use cement because i dont want to fill and drain the 200 gallon like 10 time to stabilize the hp....and the weight too..too heavy..I think the sealer is better and i have access to both just have to check around to see which one is better.. about the paint im not really sure maybe its toxic if sealer breaks...not sure though..why dont you go the route im going since your going to paint it and seal it .. Just seal it with a sealer n stain the sealer to give the color you want..theres choices to the color you can get them at home epot or lowes..well sorry for the long answer hopefully i answer all the questions... i will post more on my project later..
 

Satanas90

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 24, 2011
160
0
0
Yuma
so i had some time in my hands today so i decided to fill the gaps on my foam and where the overflow will be i cut to much so i put the pipe where its going to be and filled it with foam..i wraped it with foil so it wont get stuck to foam its only to make the gap..so i filled the gaps need to let it dry.. it not only fills the gaps but it makes it stronger and more solid...some pictures

Heres where one of my overflows will be you can see i cut to much i fill fill it in with foam
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I put some duct tape to hold in the foam so it will xpand
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This gap will be filled in its the back you cant see it from the front because there other foam in the front but i just want it to be stronger

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Heres some rocks you can see where the lines are i will fill them as much as i can.. I tghink the foam is cheaper than filling it in with sealer..
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More to fill.. that suppose to be one rock looks like a line in between
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Heres the Overflow wrapped in foil..
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i filled the cracks or tried at least.
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more cracks to fill
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so just have to wait to dry and will cut i will probably try to sand the foam to see if i get a smother look ...Like i said its my first background so you can flame away if you want..lol..or give me some advise..thanks for looking..

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bizmocas99

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 28, 2011
19
0
0
portland oregon
That makes things a lot easier!!! Thank you here in about a week or so ill be posting pix of my backround project step by step I hope to see your input!!!
 

Satanas90

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 24, 2011
160
0
0
Yuma
That makes things a lot easier!!! Thank you here in about a week or so ill be posting pix of my backround project step by step I hope to see your input!!!
Sure I will see what input I can give..this is my first try at this too so I will help as much as I can
 

UltimateRayz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 30, 2011
48
0
0
Rhode island
Awesome job man. I was just thinking about how to make a crazy background and boom, new post first one i see. Sorry about your oscar!
 
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