Thought i would give a DIY background a go.

waynes world

Candiru
MFK Member
Oct 12, 2010
513
12
48
49
North Manchester UK
I got this tank a few week back as a starter to get back into the fish keeping hobby, the plan was for a bigger tank but after words with SWMBO i ended up with a 3x3 area for a tank, i didnt have the cash for £550 to get one made so hel dout for a second hand one, and after a few months i came by this on Ebay and won it with stand and light for £11 :headbang2

So Its now sat in the house waiting to be fettled





So first thing is the background which i decide to make my own, usual Polystyrene in this case a 8x4x2 sheet is all needed. 1 tub of waterproof cement and then G4 pond seal once its had the 3 layers of cement, 2 in natural then the last will be in coloured cement of Bufff and Brown, but for now what i have done

Cut sheet to size to have a nice fit for now, then trimmed later onc ei decide what to do



What i was after was a ledge either side as i want to have lillys in the back corner growing to the top and a small central feature







Siliconed the sections together and clamped over night, well sort of clamped lol



I did it the messy way to shape it as you can see, with a wire wheel in the drill, works a treat though.




Backside





I screwed the ledges in place for now with 5 inch wood screws to see where i wanted them





While i was doing this our Ziggy was on look out, what for i dont know, but SWMBO wasnt happy when she found out that the pup had a new seating area :grinno:



Well in the end i went for this set up





I still hadnt decided and the rock effect yet so i did one on each panel





Other was ok but not enough, but the first was to much





So i went inbetween and unscrewed the heavy rock and and ended up with this









I still had to cut out for the overflow in the rear top corner and blend in the corner seam, no pics of that butt hat been done, as now i started to concrete/seal it, its now had 2 coats and i am waiting for the cement dye to arrive and G$.

I made the mix runny like pancake mix and just slapped it on and rubbed it in as much as possible, Oh before i applied the cement i went over it all with a hot air gun so to stop the poly breakin gup to much.





First coat





Looks a lot better than in white :grinno:



So thats it for now, cant wait to get the colouring on and all done, i mite aslo add sand to the rocks for a bit more texture in between the two G4 coats.
 

PDRed302

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Aug 4, 2011
1,521
90
66
Fort Worth Texas
Looking awesome, great job with the build and the cataloging process thus far!

Going to be keeping an eye on this thread to see the updates as well as it stocked and finished up.
 

waynes world

Candiru
MFK Member
Oct 12, 2010
513
12
48
49
North Manchester UK
Looking awesome, great job with the build and the cataloging process thus far!

Going to be keeping an eye on this thread to see the updates as well as it stocked and finished up.
well glad some body likes, not sure on the stocking just yet, but no monster fish in here as its abit small small, only 38x30x30 inch, what i am thinking is either one or two big shoals and a few cory`s and plecs for the bottom.

Will keep updated though for you ;)
 

waynes world

Candiru
MFK Member
Oct 12, 2010
513
12
48
49
North Manchester UK
Looks great! Have you done this before? How do you keep them in place?
No first time, fed up and out of work still so this is a cheap way to keep busy, although it didnt take long to do this part of the tank. well once decided on the rock to go for lol.

It will be stuck inplace with plenty of silicone a nice big bead around the outer edge aswell as a few blobs in the middle.

This is practice because if all goes well i have just finished plans for next years tank, a 4800l L shape tank.
 

waynes world

Candiru
MFK Member
Oct 12, 2010
513
12
48
49
North Manchester UK
Gave it a bit of colour but not as good as i wanted..yet, i thik it needs a bit of green on the top edgaes of the rock, the rock pile will be holdong back some gravel for a banana lily or the likes to get full height.

just cant decide on the background colour and contrast etc.





Never was that good at art stuff so i hav eonly done the left side, when i am happy i will do the back.

opinions please.
 

surferwilliam

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 2, 2010
27
0
0
37
ireland
looks good you should try putting some sand all over it when the cement is still wet makes it look just like real stone,i just made one for my 6 foot tank and i used lime and cement for the color.
 

waynes world

Candiru
MFK Member
Oct 12, 2010
513
12
48
49
North Manchester UK
looks good you should try putting some sand all over it when the cement is still wet makes it look just like real stone,i just made one for my 6 foot tank and i used lime and cement for the color.
I need to seal it with the G4 first then i was thinking that with the sand, then a second coat of G4, i am looking at some moss to add now to some of the rock edges etc.
Not to keen on it still, bit light on the back ground cement, should of left it grey then added a bit of colour, once i get some moss and finished it should look ok though.

Its all practice as i am thinking on a small fish set up for the 1300g tank i hope to build next year. Or stick with the monster fish then no background will be used.
 

waynes world

Candiru
MFK Member
Oct 12, 2010
513
12
48
49
North Manchester UK
It supprises me at times how quick deliveries can be, i have always been a delivery driver and it still shocks me at times, i ordered the G4 friday afternoon and it got here yesterday morning, so what did i do [/size]))))Now before i get on and show the finished rockery, not fitted yet though as needs 3 days to dry, i think thats with 2-3 coats on thick concrete but this is on mm thick if that, will be dry by late today enough, but not rushing it as thing can go wrong then as here ;( not a disaster but a learning point for next time.The G4 is as good as resin at eating polystyrene, you can see in these pics where it has run onto the back of the rocks where i was told not to cover with cement, i dont know why as it will be sealed then stuck in place with silicone, so next time maybe so, or just an inch onto the back then seal up close to the edge of the cement then silicone there to stick down. So next time ....a few drops if anything had done thisAs said no biggy, its sealed so all good, i will be stick some silicone in there to just...i dont know really lol.Sooooo all done and pritty dam chuffed as all the colours have come out now and see more of the surface.The G4 is very runny so becarefull not to leave puddle on the job.Thanks for all the comments folks, appreciate it as i was worried it wouldnt of come out to good.Just orderd more silicone so i will have 3 tubes to fit it, needd to make it dont float away lol, although it has got 10kg of cement of it.
before it was sealed




now all done :)







 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store