DIY 3D concrete + resin Background [lotsa pics]
- Thread starter Liquidplants
- Start date
Mr.Catfish;4490746; said:
I'm taking your advice. last night i decided to rip off all the rocks and then add them with the final coat of cement. using the cement as "glue". i also cut the back to make it smaller and rounded out the tree stump for where my filter overflow is going to be.
I will have to build up cement from where the rocks where... they didn't come out that easily =/
i will be inserting a screen along this edge to prevent fish from falling behind the wall.
Also I'm not sure if you can make it out but so far I have almost 1/8" of cement. I would like to go almost twice this for more weight.
If you intend to use polyester resin make sure all of the foam is covered as the stryrene in the polyester resin will melt the foam,as most polyester resins have approx 35% styrene in them.A better bet might be to use epoxy resin if there is any exposed foam.I have done lots of reasearch in the UK as I am planning to build something similar but dont want to use cement.I intend to use PU rigid foam as it will not react to resin polyester or epoxy and the foam comes in loads of different colours so will be starting with black ,as at least if it does get damaged in the tank wont be a white or pink spot, and then putting tinted colour resin straight on the foam highlight with acrylic paints and the more clear resin coats.
Love the look of the roots on the background,think that is where I will be going and maybe try and create an undcut bank with roots coming down from the top as well.
Good Luck with your project
Love the look of the roots on the background,think that is where I will be going and maybe try and create an undcut bank with roots coming down from the top as well.
Good Luck with your project
very nice! I am currently working on a background for our 120 gallon. I have the styrofoam glued together and stalled at that stage. Really trying not to rush it and plan it out properly. Anyone know where I can look at my backgrounds to search for ideas? Id like a rock background with some caves and maybe a tunnel or two. I have built in extended pieces for the filters already. TY
fishheadPH;4573824; said:
I know a lot of people use G4 pond sealer to seal the concrete.But you must make sure it is fully covered or you will end up with lime leaching from the concrete and raising the PH.Some people on here dont seem to bother and put in the tank and change water evry couple of days until the PH stabalises.This is one of the main reasons I dont want to use cement and I am not really doing just rock.
Have a look here these guys make some great but expensive backgrounds
http://www.backtonature.se/english/inspiration.html
Looks greatLiquidplants;4495764; said:
i made one of these last year and doesn't matter how thick it is for weight it wont make a difference i did about 6-7 thick coats on my bg and it was hard to hold underwater it takes alot of pressure the foam wont lose any buoyancy from extra coats. How do you plan to secure it in your tank? if you load silicone on then weight shouldnt be a problem at all if you change your mind its a pain to remove id imagine.... lol i found a way to secure mine in my tank without silicone thank god cause i changed my mind after almost a yr all i had 2 do was remove egg crate and loosen 2 clamps and it was out in 2 mins
