D.I.Y. 3D Background - How To - W.I.P.
- Thread starter DarkSoul
- Start date
havent checked any water stats yet, i was going to give it some more time, I need to see if any of this other stuff is going to come off, but i dont even think its coming off, I think water just got underneath it somehow, and made a few raised spots.... or the spots just got raised somehow (the epoxy raised off of the paint/bg itself)
alrighty, the pH is about 7.5, which means it hasnt changed from tap water (its tap water in the tank right... no dechlor or anything) and the hardness is GH: 9 KH: ~15
I dont know about my KH test, I dont get the "start" colour when I add the indicator, and at around 15 drops, maybe less, the colour remains a urine yellw, and doesnt ever seem to match the end colour on the card.
Not only that, the actual colour itself isnt as "solid" as the other tests.
so im not totally sure what my KH is, but basically, as far as those results go, its still just tap water.
as for other chemicals in the water, i am totally unsure what else might be in there (lime, epoxy oils/resin, silicone, acrylic paint) although by this point, they should have been mostly leeched out, if anything was going to leech.
what sort of fish could i buy as a test subject to stick in the tank, and see if it will survive.
it would have to be a fish that isnt super hardy, and one that isnt expensive.
i know its not quite ethical, but i dont have a chemical spectrum analisys machine.
I dont know about my KH test, I dont get the "start" colour when I add the indicator, and at around 15 drops, maybe less, the colour remains a urine yellw, and doesnt ever seem to match the end colour on the card.
Not only that, the actual colour itself isnt as "solid" as the other tests.
so im not totally sure what my KH is, but basically, as far as those results go, its still just tap water.
as for other chemicals in the water, i am totally unsure what else might be in there (lime, epoxy oils/resin, silicone, acrylic paint) although by this point, they should have been mostly leeched out, if anything was going to leech.
what sort of fish could i buy as a test subject to stick in the tank, and see if it will survive.
it would have to be a fish that isnt super hardy, and one that isnt expensive.
i know its not quite ethical, but i dont have a chemical spectrum analisys machine.
I dunno if you've done this yet. Can anyone else comment? is this accurate? I'd like to build a BG similar to this, but it would be nice if it was removable!
How much does your final product weigh? (i.e. is it a pig to move around?)
How much water would you guess you're giving up? It'd be nice to build a cool 3D background and still only give up minimal waterspace.
I dont think the stryfoam itself will hurt anything, I used a sheet of styrofoam in the bottom of my first cichlid tank, under neath the substrate to give some support if any rocks collapsed and that ran fine for 3 years. Another option would be to build the concrete up nice and thick and then cut all of the stryfoam away to make it take up the least amount of space iny uor aquarium.
That's not a bad idea... could even use acetone to dissolve it away. I was mostly curious about the stagnant water theory though... I think that only applies when you don't get any substrate flow, and you get toxin producing bacteria colonizing. I can't see the same thing happening in the dead water behind your 3d background, but I could be wrong.
I certanily didn't adhere my background to the tank, as I like change to mucha nd will probably get sick of it within a year or two... but the way I did my filter I think it should do ok rotating the water behind the background.
