This is the 3D background that i have built for my 135 gal aquarium. This is the secound 3D background that i have built. the first one was with the wrong supplies and it ended up crumbleing on its own! so after researching for a long time, i thought i would give it a try again, but this time with the right stuff, well at least i hope so......
the supply list is:
1 10lb bucket of Quikrete hydraulic cement - $14.99 (kents building supplies)
1 sheet of 48"x96"x2" styrofoam- $18.20 (kents building supplies)
4 tubes of GE 100% silicone 2 - $23.04 (canadian tire)
1 2" paintbrush - $0.99 (canadian tire)
1 bucket to mix cement - Free, (i cut out the bottom of a 4lt water jug)
1 knife - free (used a kitchen knife,one with a broken tip worked the best,go figure)
1 calking gun- free ( had one already)
total cost for me with tax was only about $65!!!!! im sure someone can get better prices than i did.
so here are pics of my supplies i used.
if you get a huge pice of styrofoam like i did, you will have to cut it to the size of tank(the inside of the tank), i used 2 layers for all of it, and 3 -5 layers in other spots to create what i thought would look like rock.
this is the syrofoam i used
this is what i meant with layers, there are 2 big layers the size of the tank, the other layers are small chunks piled up to look like rock(to be) when siliconeing it all together, use lots! outline it with silicone on the edges and then some in the middle of the 2 pieces. press them together hard(i stood on them) and let it stand for around 45 minutes befor cutting begins.
so now the cutting begins!! i used a maker to draw what i wanted onto the styrofoam. when cutting, make 2 cuts slanting towards each other aright along the lines yyou draw, make the cuts apart enough to be able to remove the styrofoam in the middle. after cutting out a few rocks, sweep up the mess and take a break. this cuts down on the mess and lets you get a better idea on what you want. the cutting took around 1-2hrs!
after i made the rocks, i rounded them off to make them look more realistic
i then cut it in half to make sure it would fit into the tank, i realized that they were still too big and made 2 more cuts to make it 4 seperate pieces. dont cut straight down, but around the rocks in a jig jag fashion so the seams are not that noticeable.
now for the messy part!!! the cement was easy to mix. just add water! i made it to a concistency of what seemed like watered down cream of wheat and stirred it with a tea spoon. this sounds very thin, but it sets very fast! and thickens on its own. i mixed small amounts at a time so nothing got wasted. then just paint it on! i did 2 full coats and 1 small coat to areas that looked weak. between each coat, i waited 6hrs. some people use cement coluring, but i didnt, when this drys it looks like real gray rock anyway,so tint would be a waste,plus it was expensive(stuff i saw was $24 for a small bottle).
so after i did my cementing, i waited for 24 hrs for it to harden. then pieced it together to make sure it still fit. i didnt cement the tops,sides or bottom,to ensure a snug fit.
during my clean up, i noticed i had some small pieces that i could glue together and shape into rocks for the bottom of the tank.
so thats what i did!! then i just rounded them off with the knife to look like rocks.
then they all got 2 coats of cement each. the 10lb bucket didnt look like it would go far, but i still have some left after it was finished! so 10lbs is more than enough!
so now came time to empty the tank. i only keep one tank now, so my fish had to go in a bucket! its only for less than a week so they will be fine.
befor siliconeing the background in, i did a dry run first, just to make sure they fit. once they did, i siliconed them all in and siliconed the rocks to the bottom of the tank. both got lots of silicone! this is the tank with it all in and siliconed! after it was siliconed in, i noticed that there were small gaps along the bottom and sides, so used cement to fill them in. i also cemented the areas where i cut them to fit the tank. so there are a few wet spots in the pic, but it is all one color now. i also never added the black gravel back in yet, so the tank does look bare.
heres the tank befor, very plane
i just siliconed today it all in today and will let everything sit and cure for 48hrs. then i will fill the tank with water and alot of aqurium salt to further cure the cement. i will let that sit for 24hrs and then do a full water cahnge. then fill it back up with freshwater, let that sit for 24hrs and then do it again and again. this should bring me to next monday when it should be ready for fish!!! any one have any ideas i could use to speed this up to make it ready for fish?
i'll post more pics as i go
the supply list is:
1 10lb bucket of Quikrete hydraulic cement - $14.99 (kents building supplies)
1 sheet of 48"x96"x2" styrofoam- $18.20 (kents building supplies)
4 tubes of GE 100% silicone 2 - $23.04 (canadian tire)
1 2" paintbrush - $0.99 (canadian tire)
1 bucket to mix cement - Free, (i cut out the bottom of a 4lt water jug)
1 knife - free (used a kitchen knife,one with a broken tip worked the best,go figure)
1 calking gun- free ( had one already)
total cost for me with tax was only about $65!!!!! im sure someone can get better prices than i did.
so here are pics of my supplies i used.
if you get a huge pice of styrofoam like i did, you will have to cut it to the size of tank(the inside of the tank), i used 2 layers for all of it, and 3 -5 layers in other spots to create what i thought would look like rock.
this is the syrofoam i used
this is what i meant with layers, there are 2 big layers the size of the tank, the other layers are small chunks piled up to look like rock(to be) when siliconeing it all together, use lots! outline it with silicone on the edges and then some in the middle of the 2 pieces. press them together hard(i stood on them) and let it stand for around 45 minutes befor cutting begins.
so now the cutting begins!! i used a maker to draw what i wanted onto the styrofoam. when cutting, make 2 cuts slanting towards each other aright along the lines yyou draw, make the cuts apart enough to be able to remove the styrofoam in the middle. after cutting out a few rocks, sweep up the mess and take a break. this cuts down on the mess and lets you get a better idea on what you want. the cutting took around 1-2hrs!
after i made the rocks, i rounded them off to make them look more realistic
i then cut it in half to make sure it would fit into the tank, i realized that they were still too big and made 2 more cuts to make it 4 seperate pieces. dont cut straight down, but around the rocks in a jig jag fashion so the seams are not that noticeable.
now for the messy part!!! the cement was easy to mix. just add water! i made it to a concistency of what seemed like watered down cream of wheat and stirred it with a tea spoon. this sounds very thin, but it sets very fast! and thickens on its own. i mixed small amounts at a time so nothing got wasted. then just paint it on! i did 2 full coats and 1 small coat to areas that looked weak. between each coat, i waited 6hrs. some people use cement coluring, but i didnt, when this drys it looks like real gray rock anyway,so tint would be a waste,plus it was expensive(stuff i saw was $24 for a small bottle).
so after i did my cementing, i waited for 24 hrs for it to harden. then pieced it together to make sure it still fit. i didnt cement the tops,sides or bottom,to ensure a snug fit.
during my clean up, i noticed i had some small pieces that i could glue together and shape into rocks for the bottom of the tank.
so thats what i did!! then i just rounded them off with the knife to look like rocks.
then they all got 2 coats of cement each. the 10lb bucket didnt look like it would go far, but i still have some left after it was finished! so 10lbs is more than enough!
so now came time to empty the tank. i only keep one tank now, so my fish had to go in a bucket! its only for less than a week so they will be fine.
befor siliconeing the background in, i did a dry run first, just to make sure they fit. once they did, i siliconed them all in and siliconed the rocks to the bottom of the tank. both got lots of silicone! this is the tank with it all in and siliconed! after it was siliconed in, i noticed that there were small gaps along the bottom and sides, so used cement to fill them in. i also cemented the areas where i cut them to fit the tank. so there are a few wet spots in the pic, but it is all one color now. i also never added the black gravel back in yet, so the tank does look bare.
heres the tank befor, very plane
i just siliconed today it all in today and will let everything sit and cure for 48hrs. then i will fill the tank with water and alot of aqurium salt to further cure the cement. i will let that sit for 24hrs and then do a full water cahnge. then fill it back up with freshwater, let that sit for 24hrs and then do it again and again. this should bring me to next monday when it should be ready for fish!!! any one have any ideas i could use to speed this up to make it ready for fish?
i'll post more pics as i go
