making a background....sorta

cdfishie123

cdfishie123

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May 23, 2007
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when i decided to make my 100 gallon an african tank, i knew my tank had to be rockier. i wanted to add more pieces of slate to my tank but they weigh too much. then i got the idea of making artificial slates from styrofoam to create a back ground. can anyone give advice about what kind of products i need to use that are safe for fish, like cement or epoxy(if i need them) i would kindly accept any suggestions
 
would concrete be okay to coat the styrofoam with?
 
yes, and if you use the right cement, and dont want to paint it or anything, you wont need to do anything else to it.

let it cure, and it should be fine without being sealed or anything.
 
i need hellp, the concrete isnt staying on to the styrofoam
 
there are dozens of threads on this.
 
try this link:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117562

he made a lot of mistakes to begin with, but there's a lot of good information and links in the thread.. just read through it first before you follow the same directions, so you dont make the same mistakes... in fact.. you may want to start from the end of the thread and work your way back.
 
cdfishie123 said:
i need hellp, the concrete isnt staying on to the styrofoam
Click to expand...

ok do you mean concrete or cement?

concrete means no sand in the mix...cement means it has sand in the mix...(correct me if i am wrong but thats what i thought anyway)

what type are you using ? there is no reason why it shouldn't stick the background, are you mixing it too thick?

the cement should be a sort of porrage or custard texture and should stick no problems. is yours flaking away? or cracking? if it is flaking or cracking off then it means it dried too fast!! you need to keep the background damp if you can (spray bottle every few hours) and try and keep it in a sealed box, i was lucky the type of cement i used seemed to set really slowly so i never had to bother with any of that but i know a lot of people especially in the states with the quickrete stuff need to constantly spray the cement to stop it drying too fast, i hope this helps.

it may be helpful if you post more details, what brand you are using a description of what you have done so far and maybe a few pictures if you can?

it is really easy to do and you have come this far so don't give up just yet :) chances are it is something really simple you have overlooked


hope this helps
 
i thought concrete meant it had rocks in it.. but i guess sand is little rocks.


anyway.. some people sand the styrofoam. maybe that will help?
 
i found out why the CONCRETE(the one with sand/little rocks) wouldnt stay on the styrofoam. i was being really cheap and dumb and lazy when i decided to use a huge styrofoam sheet that came with my dads tv stand(the packing styrofoam) i told my dad that it wasnt sticking and he said it was probably not the right kind of styrofoam.

just to make sure, but does this kind of styrofoam work?
 
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