DIY background (in progress)

[C.Anderson]

0ops... cant get this thing done by today.. will continue tommorow morning..

before i procceed any futher, i have a question..

when i touch the cement now, it is like touching a charcoal..
it gives off those very fine dusty black particle on my hand..
is that normal?
mine is a mixed of grout and cement..

sorry, if i am not really good at describing it..

After it cures, while it's still in the water, take a nice stiff bristled nylon brush to it. That *should* remove any extra material off of it and get you down to the cured base layer. You may have to rinse it and clear the water a few times to make sure you got all the loose material.

That's how I'd do it anyhow =).

Cris

 

[davescube]

again, more picture...
u can still see the foam after the 1 or 2 layers of cement

 

[davescube]

so this is the background after final touch...
the background itself looks better than it is in the picture..
it is still wet though, I never really get a chance to see it completely dry...
they suppose to be moist before i finish curing it..

 

[Que]

It's really looking good dave.

Q

 

[C.Anderson]

Definitely looks good!!

One suggestion...you might want to take some concrete color and mix it in with a tiny amount of cement to make a lightly tinted 'slip'...and just brush some light coats of varying blueish, reddish, and maybe a mix over alternating rocks. When you take the nylon brush to it much of it will come off...but it'll likely leave enough on there to make the rocks look bunches more natural. Worst case, if you don't like it you can just recover it with the natural grey/green concrete.

Again, definitely looks great, even as/is!

Cris

 

[smyke]

Looks great.
You could mess with different collors a little but whatever makes you happy.

did you think about hiding things behind it? like heater, filter intake etc? I know its done now but just wanted to throw it out there to make sure you dont realize it when its too late.

 

[davescube]

lets see what the other colour i might have downstair tommorow...
but i am still considering if i should do something extra about it, i am just afraid that it turns out not cool at all...
perhaps i can play with the colour of the light?? paint it?? possible?

i wont have heater..
for the internal filter, i will placeit at the side of the tank and cover it with some big bushy plant..

now i realise that tank is full of scratches, i didnt know that brushing it with toothpaste would create something like that...

 

[theotheragentm]

That looks incredible. I wish I had the steady hand to do something like that. I can picture it in my head, but my hands won't cooperate.

 

[chrismercer]

SWEET! looks awesome man! keep up the good work. post when it is complete please.

 

[Rbishop]

looking good, dave