polystyrene rock wall
- Thread starter the lion who ate the sun
- Start date
Was going to install it during a waterchange. I wont be permanently attaching it, but using other decorations to press it up against the back wall, and burying the first five inches in substrate. The "stump" on the left side of the tank is extremely heavy, and presses up against the back of the tank. For all intents and purposes, I have infinite clean river rocks to use if it seems necessary. I have the babackground reasy for concrete at this point! More pics in a bit!
Please be very careful securing it!! DIY foam backgrounds are extremely buoyant and rather difficult to install without physically attaching them to the glass.
Looks phenomenal. Cant wait to see how it looks finished!
I was just lazy and glued slate to the back of my 90g.
Kinda makes me wish I went the route you did. I love the depth to the background. Mine looks so flat.
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I was just lazy and glued slate to the back of my 90g.
Kinda makes me wish I went the route you did. I love the depth to the background. Mine looks so flat.
Sent from my SCH-R950 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
+1
I think you're underestimating how buoyant the styrofoam is.... Sure the concrete will weigh it down a little bit, but it will still be VERY buoyant.
Ask me how I know....
That's a piece of my background that decided to spontaneously float a few hours after filling the tank with water after I heavily siliconed the background to my tank. I ended up cutting big holes in the back of the background and stuffing it with slate and concrete. The piece (about 2 feet wide by 17" tall) weighed at least 50 lbs after I weighted it, and after that it was still buoyant, but the silicone was able to keep it down. My mistake was using silicone as its an acrylic tank, and silicone doesn't stick that well to acrylic, but with no silicone, I don't know how you'll be able to keep it sunk unless you make it weigh 200 lbs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Mpko5rxM9pI
Using the steak knife was the best thing you could've done when creating the formations. Its rough jagged cuts will mimic mother nature.
The link above is for a electric train landscape, but you can see a lot of the technique would still be relevant for your project.
As for sticking it to the acrylic, there should be several posts on that specific topic. You could also visit DIYFishkeepers, and ask around there. They have a surprising amount of knowledge.
GL
Using the steak knife was the best thing you could've done when creating the formations. Its rough jagged cuts will mimic mother nature.
The link above is for a electric train landscape, but you can see a lot of the technique would still be relevant for your project.
As for sticking it to the acrylic, there should be several posts on that specific topic. You could also visit DIYFishkeepers, and ask around there. They have a surprising amount of knowledge.
GL
Thanks for all the feedback guys! Sorry for my lack of an update today-- one of my cats got attacked by a wild creature in the forest behind my house. She sustained severe lacerations on her back legs, which were swollen almost three times their normal size. Had to rush her to an animal hospital, where we sat and waited for three hours before she was seen 
It looks like shes going to make it, but she requires lots of care at this point.
I probably wont be able to get much more done until this coming thursday or friday.
That said, I think the plan is to remove the "rocks" from the foam board (I glued them together, but not to the foam just yet), and attach them to slate or some sort of tile instead.
It looks like shes going to make it, but she requires lots of care at this point.
I probably wont be able to get much more done until this coming thursday or friday.
That said, I think the plan is to remove the "rocks" from the foam board (I glued them together, but not to the foam just yet), and attach them to slate or some sort of tile instead.
Sorry for you and your cat, that is just horrible. I hope she recovers quickly. There is always something that comes up when you are in the middle of a project!
My sympathy for your cat. I've taken a ride to the animal hospital before. Thats No fun. Also not fun for the pocket book either.
Good luck!
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Good luck!
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