D.I.Y. 3D Background - How To - W.I.P.

[DarkSoul]

I stuck mine to the back because the styrofoam will make it float away....

It only weights probably 5lbs, give or take... it isnt heavy.

and yes as mentioned, once your cement is applied in a good solid coat you could use acetone to dissolve the foam, and have a hollow shell.

I cant remember where I read about the toxin thing, but I just figured, even if it isnt true, this is one of those situations where its better safe than sorry.
However, there is no water movement behind the foam (between the foam, and glass) so i dont see why it wouldnt be possible to have water go stale behind there.

Water does get behind half of my background, the other half is air tight.
its the filter intake side that gets the water behind it.... problem is, (hard as this is to explain) where the water is being sucked from, and where the water is seeping behind the foam, are two seperate areas.... so it isnt like the intake will be moving water behind the foam.... though it might.


as for displacement, I cant say ive really tested it, but I was concerned about it taking out a huge chunk of real estate too, and I think its fine now, it only sticks out about 2" into the tank, and a little farther for the larger bumpier areas.

although i think (based on some Aquariogest calculations) that i will likely only have about 30 gallons of actual water in my 50G tank.... and this is due to substrate, the background, decorations(castle) etc.


Ive also been considering ripping out the UGF plates, and instead sticking a foam cylinder on the bottom of the uplift tubes.... it still does the same thing (biological filtration) and probably more effectivly with less area to move the water through.

I can still remove the plates, but they wont go back in afterwards .... foam block might be a better idea to replace them with.

MikenDanielle: I am a little concerned with where your heater is, only because I know foam is an insulator, and your heater, in that spot, may not properly heat your tank effeciently, instead i think the heat will be insulated around the heater, causing the heater to cut out prematurly.

I would either move it, buy an inline heater (you dont have a canister though) or convert it to inline, and maybe hang it off the side of the tank.

 

[MikenDanielle]

I am thinking about altering the top of the background so the a portion of the water coming out of the filer flows over to the heater as I was thinking the same thing. I still have a good week to tweak it now as I was on my way to pick up substrate and the only fish store in town i trust is closed down as it is moving to a bigger store and wont be open until sometime next week. Not that buy substrate from another store would hurt, but there good to me so I like to remain loyal.

 

[DarkSoul]

my BG is doing this thing, the "peeling" as mentioned before, but its not actually peeling.

I drained the tank and gave it a bit of time to dry off, and examined it closely, and its almost as if the epoxy is just lifting slighty off the background, giving it a whiteish appearence, almost as if the paint and everything had come off.
closer inspection in areas where shredded moss was applied reveals that the moss is still intact, and glued to the BG.

Since I used regular white glue to apply the moss, any water contact would have caused it to come off, and the force of the powerhead would have washed off any moss, and possibly paint.

This doesnt seem to be the case as I have no traces of moss floating in the water or stuck to the powerhead filter.

I cant say that it looks bad, because it doesnt really, although there are a couple of spots which are sort of "blotchy" it still looks natural.... and all of the other areas where this is happening, are more "hightlighted" with the white appearence, giving it a natural look.

the only thing that makes it looks out of place is the fact that the BG is dark, but i dont suppose it would be unatural to have dark rock or stone, with white highlights or spots.

I'll see if i can get picture of it before i have to give back the camera tomorrow

my birthday was on the 26th.... anyone wanna get me a camera as a belated gift?

 

[DarkSoul]

More Pics

Well, here is pretty much what it looks like, Im fairly hopeful that this odd peeling/lifting thing is done and over with, and isnt causing any adverse effects.


I might stick a couple of dainos in there and see if they survive.... big problem is, that the tank isnt cycled, and has no real filter, so id have to pickup a filter sponge for my powerhead, and probably some bio-spira and food.

You can see this "peeling" around all the moss parts mostly. It's thje areas that looks as if the cement colour is showing through.

However you can from the closeups, that it is not cement at all, it just looks that way from afar.

 

[Seadaddy]

Looks outstanding!!! It appears that some of the white areas where you say the epoxy is coming loose may instead be the white glue you used for the moss. White glue after it has dried clear will become milky looking if moisture gets under it. The moisture would have come from behind through the unsealed Styrofoam back and wicked right through the concrete.

A complete coating (front and back) of fiberglass cloth and resin would have worked for the entire project instead of the concrete. Fiberglass resin once fully cured. is inert and will not affect the water chemistry.

Color could be applied over the first coat of resin and then sealed again. Your acrylic paints should be fine as they are simply powdered plastic with a water emulsifier. Once dry they are simply a thin plastic film.

I'm not a background expert but I do know a bit about art projects and materials. You have totally psyched me to try my hands at one for my tank (120 gl. 24X24X48):cool-1:

 

[DarkSoul]

Looks outstanding!!! It appears that some of the white areas where you say the epoxy is coming loose may instead be the white glue you used for the moss. White glue after it has dried clear will become milky looking if moisture gets under it. The moisture would have come from behind through the unsealed Styrofoam back and wicked right through the concrete.

A complete coating (front and back) of fiberglass cloth and resin would have worked for the entire project instead of the concrete. Fiberglass resin once fully cured. is inert and will not affect the water chemistry.

Color could be applied over the first coat of resin and then sealed again. Your acrylic paints should be fine as they are simply powdered plastic with a water emulsifier. Once dry they are simply a thin plastic film.

I'm not a background expert but I do know a bit about art projects and materials. You have totally psyched me to try my hands at one for my tank (120 gl. 24X24X48):cool-1:

Im not so sure about that, simply because i think we all know that when white glue gets wet, it pretty much becomes useless, and washes away.
I have not seen any moss floating about in the tank.

Also there is no way water could have gotten through the styrofoam. the epoxy coating on the front of the BG has been sealed over the sides.

I cant see how water could have gotten under it to all of the polaces that it is, without also getting everywhere else.

wouldnt white glue kill fish? my current test subjects seem very happy.

 

[cvermeulen]

Fiberglass resin once fully cured. is inert and will not affect the water chemistry.

I would have tended to agree with you a month or so ago, but there seems to be a feeling in the DIY aquarist community that polyester resin is not, in fact completely waterproof, and will leach over time. I know boats are made of polyester though, so I don't know if this is a wife's tale or not. maybe an experiment is in order.

Your acrylic paints should be fine as they are simply powdered plastic with a water emulsifier.

That, I definitely wouldn't rely on. Maybe you are right, but anything that starts wet, and dries hard is likely to either contain poisons, or not be waterproof over the long haul.

 

[DarkSoul]

id also like to add that ive seen the "peeling" in places where no white glue was applied.

 

[DarkSoul]

Just wanted to update this a bit, I haven't had any fish die from anything leeched off the background. So I'm pretty sure its all good now. Only time will tell if the BG itself suffers from any real problems.

My water is still a little cloudy.... kinda looks like smoke in the water if you look closely. But I also don;t have my filters hooked up yet, although the parts have been ordered and are on their way. So I should have those running in a matter of a week or two.

 

[hatcheridiot]

That close-up of the "white stuff" whatever it is looks pretty gnarly! But all the rest of the pics are sweet! That looks fantastic. Cant wait to see it up and running with substrate and the like!