Building Custom Background

[Aquaguy2330]

Anyone have any ideas on the best material to build a custom background for a 30 gallon tank?

 

[tribalbrit]

Styrofoam, build it out in layers, shape it as required and seal it with epoxy resin and kiln dried sand. Then silicone it in place.

 

[Aquaguy2330]

That sounds easy enough. Thanks a million.

 

[tribalbrit]

I found that if you get two pieces of the same size Styrofoam and cut out shapes out of one sheet and stick them on to the other sheet leaving gaps between them you can create a 3d effect.
When you have the look you're after you can further shape it and smooth off rough edges with a candle or lighter.
Then mix up the epoxy resin and poor over the background, while the resin is wet poor over the kiln dried sand cover the whole area with a good thickness.
Once set 24 hrs shake off any excess sand and leave for another 24 hrs before putting in the tank using aquarium safe silicone, making sure you seal round the edges to prevent water getting behind it.
The only thing you need to be careful of is that the room temperature is about 80 degrees when you add the resin as if not it can set opaque and spoil the background.
Adding sand eliminates the need to paint the foam. If any painting is done it must be 100% dry before adding the epoxy, if not again the resin will not set properly.



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[Zikofski]

wow good guide tribalbrit very handy ,

Aquaguy2330 what do you have in mind? i am still in two minds of 3D backgrounds not sure if they are good or not in my eyes the more i see the more il convert to them maybe haha but yes Styrofoam is i think the only option you have other than polystyrene

 

[Aquaguy2330]

Well Zikofski I was thinking 3D but the more I look I just don't know. It's for a 30 gallon and I don't want to take up too much space away from the fish. I am also thinking about adding some driftwood too so I have to take that into account when building as well. I have a few ideas in mind but not real sure if they are gonna work. Styrofoam is the best option but I think I'm gonna try out a couple of ideas that have popped in my head. They are all going to be relatively on the cheap so I think I'm goin to build them all and see which one works best. One involves fiberglass, which is going to be the most time consuming and probably the more expensive one. The other one just involves plastic signing, silicone and gravel. Not sure how either one will effect the ph level but that's what we do test for.