Reeeeeally looking forward to seeing the finished tank with fish. (I love that background. Very cool.)
DIY 3D Background - Too Much Detail?
- Thread starter Jumko
- Start date
Looks really sharp! I think you were right to keep it black so the gold angels really stand out. Can't wait to see it when it's up and running!
For all who are going to do a background like this--you will go through several tubes of silicone and the acetic acid fumes can be very strong--be sure to work in a well ventilated area!
For all who are going to do a background like this--you will go through several tubes of silicone and the acetic acid fumes can be very strong--be sure to work in a well ventilated area!
Haven't gotten a chance to take any pictures yet as I've encountered a little setback. Filled the tank with water and added some fish the other night. They were fine that evening, but appeared to have labored breathing when I woke up the next morning. Checked the water parameters and both ammonia and nitrites are at .25 ppm. Unfortunately, something must have caused my filter to have a mini cycle (Rena XP4 that's been running on a 55g for many months now along with two emperor 280s). PH seems to be stable, however. Hopefully I can ride out this mini cycle without incident and nothing inappropriate is leeching into the tank.
Sorry to hear about your setback! Hope the fish look better today and that your tank is stabilizing.
Leaching shouldn't be an issue as the materials you used (styrofoam, aquarium safe silicone, drylock, and concrete colorant) have all been proven in these background applications.
Hang in there. Can't wait to see the final reveal!
Leaching shouldn't be an issue as the materials you used (styrofoam, aquarium safe silicone, drylock, and concrete colorant) have all been proven in these background applications.
Hang in there. Can't wait to see the final reveal!
Mini-cycle ran its course and everything's set up, but I forgot my camera at my gf's house and I won't be seeing her again till July 
. Will post pictures then. lol.
I used regular sheets of white styrofoam from Home Depot. They're not very thick - about 1/4" - 1/2" each. Home Depot also carries pink insulation foam that is much thicker and might be better for your purpose.
. Will post pictures then. lol.I used regular sheets of white styrofoam from Home Depot. They're not very thick - about 1/4" - 1/2" each. Home Depot also carries pink insulation foam that is much thicker and might be better for your purpose.
Your first couple of pics, it looks like it's a lot thicker than those insulation sheets. Did you sandwich 2-3 together?
I re-measured an extra piece of styrofoam I had and it's actually a little less than 3/4" thick. The final background is two sheets thick, but even then it's only about an inch and a half thick.
You've got a bunch of options for the styrofoam in your tank backgrounds. I used the 3/4" white styro from the insulation department at Lowe's. The pink styro sheets come in thicknesses of 1.5" and up, but I couldn't justify the cost of buying a whole 4 x 8 sheet. To get the depth I wanted for parts of the background (mostly the upper section) I glued up to 4 pieces of the white styro together with silicone sealant, then shaped it.
Great Stuff expandable spray foam also works well and is moldable when fresh. Be sure to rough up the surfaces of both GS and styro before coating it with Dryloc or pain so that it sticks better.
Hope this helps!
Great Stuff expandable spray foam also works well and is moldable when fresh. Be sure to rough up the surfaces of both GS and styro before coating it with Dryloc or pain so that it sticks better.
Hope this helps!
