DIY Background

26th Dec 2011

I'm picking up some things (render, colours, pond sealer, paint brushes, sponges etc) tomorrow, all going well *L*, to start DIY'ing a custom 2ft tank i now have free

At this stage i am planning to do a full background, which will come part way along the sides as well as the back. I will also be DIYíng some 'rocks' and some retaining walls if it goes as planned lol

Some will be rendered foam some will be siliconed/sanded.

Will update with pics once i get started......just doing out the 2ft first, gotta give it a vinegar treatment so its fully clean and fully dry.

27th Dec 2011

So 5 hours later i have this so far

Full wall (rock in front)


Cave


Intake cover


Used so far
1 tube Selley's Glass Silicone Sealent Clear
1 Chrisco foam box + 2 packing foam pieces
Craft mesh from Spotlight
Lighter
Knife

28th Dec 2011

1st coat of render on....6 hours work, fiddly lol and i'm fussy





Still wet in pic

29th Dec 2011

Coloured render layer - 5.5hous

5th Jan 2012

Coloured and 1st coat of sealer - 2 hours (white is sealer not yet dry)

6th Jan 2012

Siliconed the background into the tank, just finished rendering the join and edges. Will wait until the render is dry then, clean up the edge & put the final coat of sealer on

8th Jan 2012

So i've finished all i can do. Siliconed the free standing "rock" in. I ended up giving it another coat of sealer, so 4 coats all up. Now its gotta sit for 7 days for the sealer to fully cure. Updates once it cured and "fingers crossed" it gets filled for the 1st time!

Wow Alasse! It looks amazing! Can't wait to see what it looks like in the tank

Do you draw or paint at all? All those different hues work perfectly together.

Thanx Flute

Its, i spose, painted on. Not paint though. Just some oxide and a bit of water.

I'm hanging to get it running lol. Waiting on a canister part, looks like it wont get here til around mid to end of the month, anyway i will run it with an internal, i can test it for a few weeks to make sure the background is fully PH stable

That look so fantastic!!!!!!!!!

Looks great! I'd love to try this myself one day.

So i filled the 2ft with the DIY background in it. Learnt some things for next time i make one (will add these at the end) *L* All in all for my 1st go it came up quite well. It did stay where it was meant to....so far. Tank has been emptied again, just finished the 1st coat of black paint on the outside, now gotta wait for it to dry to do a second coat. Once the ssecond coat is on and dry, the tank will be put back in place and substrate put in, then filled and planted. Will be a week or so before goldies go in. But i will be throwing some canaries in (feeders) to make sure all is good. I will be testing daily while the feeders are in there to make sure its safe even for them. I cant run the canister on it until the replacement part arrives and that could be at the end of the month or more. That will give me time to modify the outlet to fit behond the background. So i will put internals to keep the water moving.

Tis a bit exciting now i'm at the business end of the build...pics to come

So horrid pic, tank is definately not clear yet, but gives you an idea of how it looks

Oh wow that looks terrrrriiiifffiiicc!!!!!

Looks great. Well done

Really amazing

Hmmmmm woke up this morning to very milky water and the background has a while hue over it. I've removed the water and replaced with new, will see how it goes.

If it continues i will have to empty it and see if i can find some epoxy to seal it will.

If not i will have to try to remove it and start again *sigh*

Looks absolutely brilliant

Keeping my fingers crossed that you wont have to remove it.

I hope the change of water sorts it out.

So i have decided to leave it be at this stage.

Since the milky water episode the water has cleared considerably. The background colour has changed though. Funny enough i dont really mind the look *L*

So i have tested again today, both the tank and a container of water (same as used in the tank) i stored on top, to make sure the background was inert and not messing with tank stats. I am very pleased to say all stats from both samples are exactly the same.

There is now a feeder fish in there, who is doing great, active and looks wonderful.

Will update as it progresses, what ever that may be

As i is just now (please ignore temp internal filters)

So we have progressed to fishies

Now calling this home is 2 gold and white ryukin (new one today) and a calico fantail.

Will grab a pic once the new guy is settled
(wasnt ideal, but the ryukin were dirt cheap for the size, and waiting would have seen me having to pay triple what i did)

FTS


The fantail is quick and i cannot get a clear individual pic of it (need better lighting)

The 2 ryukin

Looks brilliant, and the fish really stand out against the background