DIY Background Part 1

Are you going to seal the cement also?

I've had my foam/cement caves soaking in a tub of water for about a year now and the cement is still raising the ph quite a bit. I was thinking about using some stuff called "Liquid Roof" to seal my caves.

Here's a link to this sealer- It costs $74 gallon with free shipping. http://www.epdmcoatings.com/mainframe.htm

It say's on the web site it's fish safe. I have no idea what the stuff looks like though. Which makes me wonder if I should risk buying the stuff. I can probably buy some real nice driftwood for $74 instead. Being an over-ambitious DIYourselfer sure ain't cheap :)
 
you can also soak the cement in a muriatic acid solution. I read somewhere of a guy making base rock to be seeded with live rock this way. I think he said he dupmed a bottle of muriatic acid in a kiddie pool and filled it the rest of the way with water, then let it sit for a few days, refilled it with plain water, and tested again. not sure if that's the exact procedure or if it's effective, but worth a try. careful with the acid though, I've had it eat holes in my skin where it splashed on me. If it gets in your eyes... bad bad bad.
 
I've been using two different articles to do the work.
Here they are

www.catfishheaven.net/day1.html

and

www.chilid-forum.com/articles/diy_aquarium_background.php

I got one hoop that I made covered with 1 coat of cement and it seems heavy enough to sink........but I'm still going to coat it again and see how it works. I will also tint the Background darker but I haven't done this on the hoop. I also have a 10 gallon that I will cure it in salt water to see how high the pH will go and if it will eventually go back down.

I will look in to the sealer but I was trying so say some money in DIY background.$74 a gallon is a little high for my tastes but if I need it I guess I'll have to save up for it.

And if I had to silicone it to the back it wouldn't be too hard to remove it if I wanted to remove the background.
 
The muriatic acid may throw your water parameters out of wack.
I work at a pool and i know its used to lower the ph. Although i'm not too sure how its used in relation to aquariums.
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You don't actually put the acid into your tank water
you make a dilute acid solution in the small kiddie pool and soak the cement in it. the acid neutralizes the basic compounds in the cement so that the cement doesn't increase the ph of the tank water. After the soak, of course, you should rinse the cement with plain water very throughly to avoid introducing any acid into your aquarium. personally, I think sealing with clear epoxy is a better way to do it, but that's just another method.
 
jamzwayne said:
IMO

That takes a talent, patience, and a lot of hard work.

I might give it a try someday. All I'll need is this thread, and this link :D
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Man I was looking for this link for the last couple of days. I have it saved now. :)
 
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